The commentaries struggle with the following question. Why is Shabbos associated with this event and not the calendar date of the 10th of Nissan? It would seem that Shabbos plays a role in this event. Before sharing the Sefas Emes’ answer let us diverge for a moment.

Who is given more credit; the one who voluntarily gives $1,000 to charity or one who is required by the elders of the town to give $1,000 to charity? We would naturally give more credit to the former. And yet, our Sages teach that the mitzvah which one is commanded to perform has greater value than the mitzvah done voluntarily, without being commanded. Why should this be?

One approach to understanding this is based upon the recognition that there are two aspects to every mitzvah. The first aspect is the fulfillment of the given mitzvah. If HaShem commands us to eat Matzo at the Seder or to sit in the Succah then doing as we are commanded fulfills HaShem’s expectation of us. If one ate the matzo and sat in the succah the mitzvah was performed.

There is, however, a second aspect which adds tremendous value to the mitzvah. There is an overarching mitzvah which covers everything we do in life. That mitzvah is to accept upon ourselves the Yoke of Heaven. Just as the subjects of the kingdom must accept upon
themselves the authority of their king and commit their loyalty to him, so it is with every member of the Jewish people. We are all obligated to commit ourselves to accept HaShem’s authority and be loyal to His every command. Hence, the second aspect of every mitzvah is our demonstration of accepting His Yoke.

Although a demonstration of loyalty done voluntarily is admirable, it does not come close to obeying an order that the King issued. Loyalty, by its very definition, is to obey the command of the authority and not to do as one feels like doing.

The word mitzvah derives from ‘tzavsah’ which means to connect, as in connecting people together. In modern Hebrew it is used to define the staff of a company, a ‘tzeves’ a group of people connected together. The reason why mitzvah derives from ‘tzavsah’ is because a mitzvah connects us with our Creator. By accepting upon ourselves His Yoke and obeying His commands, we connect with Him as the subjects connect with their king. Therefore, Chazal teach “Greater is the one performing a mitzvah that he is obligated to perform than one who performs a mitzvah voluntarily”.

The mitzvah of taking the sheep and bringing it into our homes was the very first mitzvah that our ancestors were commanded to do. This was their first opportunity to achieve that “Greatness” that ́¦of obeying.

Shabbos is the special day of the week which is designated for HaShem’s people to connect with Him. Until that Shabbos our connection with HaShem was limited to the voluntary acts we chose to perform. Now, with this mitzvah to take the sheep we were able to demonstrate our loyalty to HaShem on a whole new level. This is why the miracle is associated with Shabbos. It
made that Shabbos, the Great Shabbos.

Have a very wonderful Shabbos HaGadol!

Paysach Diskind