Rabbi Raphael Katz

Pesach 5782: Two Paths to Renewal

by Rabbi Raphael Katz

In parshat Yitro, the Torah describes the miraculous manner in which Am Yisrael went out of Egypt and arrived at Har Sinai.

“You saw what I did to Egypt and I bore you on the wings of eagles.”

The metaphor of an eagle appears in two other places as a symbol of renewal and rejuvenation. 1) Tehillim 103; 5. “Bless Hashem … Who satisfies your mouth with goodness so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” 2) Yishayahu 40; 29-31. “[Hashem] gives the tired strength and to him who has no strength, He increases strength.

Now youths shall become tired and weary, and young men shall stumble. But those who put their hope in the Lord, shall renew vigor, they shall raise wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not tire.”

The verse in Yishayahu hints at one

of the ‘secrets’ of renewal—“HOPE”!— “Those who put their hope in the Lord, shall raise wings as eagles.” This essentially is the essence of the Pesach message. Am Yisrael was on the 49th level of impurity and on the brink of losing their identity as the Jewish people and yet under those conditions Hashem redeemed the Jewish soul for eternity, indeed there is always Hope. The metaphor of an eagle appears in two other places as a symbol of renewal and rejuvenation. But why are the eagles chosen as a symbol of renewal? All birds molt and renew their feathers; some species change their plumage twice a year. It appears that there is a second hint on the capacity to renewal—to connect to matters and thoughts which are majestic and lofty like the soaring flight of the eagle.

Am Yisrael whilst still in slavery, encountered all that was noble and profound. They saw Hashem’s miracles [10 plagues], Providence, witnessed the Holiness and Righteousness of Moshe and Aharon and heard messages of their future role as being a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation”.

All this enabled them to extricate themselves from despair and degradation of years of slavery.

Pirkei Avot 5; 23. “Rav Yehuda ben Teima says. ‘Be bold as a leopard, light as an eagle, swift like a gazelle and brave as a lion to do the will of your Father in Heaven.’”

Rav Shlomo Wolbe ztzl commented that in fact the eagle is a big and heavy bird! Why did the Tana refer to it as being light? [In fact, the eagle is relatively light—its wing span can reach 8 feet yet it weighs only about 2.5 pounds.]

The lightness of the eagle is in its capacity to ‘defy’ gravity and soar to high altitudes. We also have wings, God given talents that help us to soar upwards and connect to all that is ‘Higher and greater’.

In our various sources, Pesach is described as not only a time when Hashem skipped over the houses of Israel, but every Jew is able to skip and fly beyond his normal capacities and merit extra levels of purity and renewal. Pesach sameach to you and your families,

Raphael