THE NEXT DIMENSION
As we approach the most beautiful holiday of Pesach I would like to focus my attention to its preparation and will therefore pass over the weekly Parsha of Tzav. On the night of the Seder our Sages instruct us that every person must vie w himself as if he himself left Egypt on that night. A strange mitzvah! Did I leave Egypt tonight? It occurred 3,300 years ago and I have no way to even think what it meant to leave Egypt.
We find a similar mitzva regarding the study of Torah. Our Sages teach us that we must re-late to Torah as if it was given to us today. What does this mean? Are supposed to make pretend?
I would like to introduce a concept that I myself do not comprehend but nevertheless recognize it exists. There are two planes of existence. The first one we are familiar with which is the plane that is subject to time. Let us refer to this as the lower plane. The second is the plane which is not subject to time, which we will refer to as the upper plane. In the former, if an event X occurs at 1:00 and event Y occurs at 2:00 then we understand that there are a string of consecutive moments, an hour’s worth of moments to be exact, that separate these two events. Therefore we cannot say that they happened at the same time.
There is however the other plane of existence which is not subject to time. This means that if event X occurred at 1:00 and event Y at 2:00 there would be no moments at all separating the two events because on this plane there is no time! (Of course we would assume that there would not be a one o’clock nor a two o’clock, but let us leave that problem for later.)
I must concede that while we can discuss these two planes I really have no comprehension of this second plane. That is because the human condition is such that if you do not experience something you cannot comprehend it.
Our Sages teach us that there are areas in the spiritual realm that are not subject to time. That is because they exist in upper plane. Among these areas are the giving of the Torah, our Exodus from Egypt, the mitzvos of the Torah. The reason for this unique status is because wherever there is an exposure of the Presence of Hakadosh baruch Hu (the Holy One blessed be He) there is no time. In these three areas the Presence of HaKadosh baruch Hu is exposed and are there-fore not subject to time.
Let us now go one step further. It is possible to exist in both of these planes simultaneously. In fact, every Jew does exist in both planes. With respect to our physical involvement we are subject to time. With respect to these above mentioned areas we are not subject to time.
The idea of living in two planes simultaneously is not unheard of. We find an analog with our relationship to different types of pleasures. Physical pleasures give enjoyment to one part of us while non-physical pleasures touch a different part of us. Once, we can appreciate that we live in both planes the previous conundrum mentioned earlier can be understood. Although event X is not subject to time, it nevertheless occurred when I was at 1:00, because I am subject to time. Event Y as well, although it is not subject to time in its own right, nevertheless it occurred at 2:00 in my time. (It is still more complex than this, but for the sake of brevity let’s leave at this.)
Although our Exodus occurred 3,329 years ago nevertheless it was an experience that was not subject to time. It was an experience in which HaKadosh baruch Hu revealed Himself and extricated the experience from the lower plane. Therefore when we relive the Seder at our family table 3,329 years later, there are no moments of time separating us from the actual Exodus. It is therefore no wonder that the Sages instruct us to feel as if we ourselves are experiencing the Exodus. They are informing us that as we eat the Matzo and the bitter herbs at the Seder table the Exodus is currently happening.
The question remains why discuss these ideas if they are not comprehensible to us? If we are subject to the human condition we will not be able to comprehend this so what relevance can this have on our Seder?
The answer is that although we can never fully relate to these concepts, nevertheless, the more we consider them and discuss them, the more they become alive and we begin to relate to them somewhat. As we become more cognizant of the incredible depth of our own exist-ence, the Seder takes on a new dimension for us and for all those in attendance.
I wish you a successful Seder.
Have a wonderful Shabbos and joyous Pesach.
Paysach Diskind