Rabbi Charles P. Sherman
March 15, 2002
A Second Chance
I don’t know about you, but I am starting to think more and more about Pesach. It is my favorite holiday. Just 12 days from now, I look forward to our family seder and having Ruth home with us this year. Since we ask questions at the seder, I am going to ask you to think about a Passover question. How many different Passover celebrations are required in our Torah?
If you answered "two," you are correct. Yes, two different Passover festivals are prescribed in the Torah. The Book of Numbers, Chapter 9, actually mandates a second Passover — identical to the original holiday, complete in every detail, except that it was scheduled exactly one month after our regular Passover celebration.
Now what was the purpose of the biblical authors scheduling a second Passover? The Torah informs us that it was for the benefit of those Israelites who were legitimately unable to observe Passover at its appropriate time. These were people who had some kind of ritual impurity which restricted their access to the sacred, including the Passover offering. These were Jews engaged in travel who were unable to make it home in order to observe Passover with their family. So the Torah ordains a Pesach Sheni — a second Passover — in order to accommodate those who needed a second opportunity to observe the holiday.
I believe there is a great lesson in this. The ideal of a second chance is important to everyone today, even if we observe Passover at the regular season. A second chance is a psychological necessity for people who have experienced failure or disappointment despite putting forth their best efforts. It is a very real need of people who have gone astray in their lives and who need to start over again. For these reasons, our Torah mandated a second chance Passover, and it is in that spirit that we must understand the importance of a second chance for ourselves and for those around us.
Counting my student pulpits, in the more than 35 years it has been my privilege to serve congregants, I know of so many individuals who flourished and succeeded because they were offered and accepted a second chance. I think about a young woman who had anorexia and other eating disorders years ago and who is healthy and secure today. I think of a former gambler who had virtually lost his material holdings — all of his family possessions — and who has overcome that dangerous habit and lives responsibly today. I think of a family who nearly got lost in one of the cults and who have reclaimed Judaism and all the blessings that it brings us, and them. These are people who needed and who took a second chance; in the spirit of Passover, they have all gone free from those personal Egypts which had held them captive.
Sometimes we need a second chance in our relationships. If our marriage is struggling, we need to realize that we marry imperfect human beings who really love us and want to live happily with us, but who sometimes need a second chance. And sometimes the marriage cannot be saved, and people remarry. They take a second chance at marital happiness and succeed the second time when they could not the first time.
Parents and children often need to extend a second chance, and we may need to take the initiative. The Haggadah instructs — at p’tach lo — you speak up first. Don’t hesitate, because we don’t know whose seat at the seder may be empty next year. Reconciliation between the generations is such a major priority in Judaism that God sends Elijah the prophet as a special guest at every seder to restore love and respect between parents and children. The prophet said that he would restore the hearts of the parents toward their children and the children’s hearts toward their parents.
Students often benefit from a second chance. You try out for a team and don’t make it the first year. But you keeping practicing and improving your skills, and the next year you make the team. Boys, being turned down for a date doesn’t have to be a permanent "no." Ask her again for another event and day. Friendships don’t always "take" the first time around; if there is someone you want to get closer with, try again.
Passover reminds us to extend a second chance to God, Torah and the Jewish People. Many people feel alienated and estranged from their heritage and its traditions, yet they reconnect at this season and attend a seder. A colleague recalls praying at the Wall in Jerusalem with a minyan, and he observed an onlooker. So, in good Jewish tradition, he invited the person to join in. "Oh, no," said the passerby, "I am just a tourist."
Let’s not be tourists as Jews. There is a place for everyone in the Jewish family, and we need to give Judaism a second chance and reclaim that place.
Sometimes I think that we Americans become pessimistic and cynical about our great nation; in the midst of all the crime and drugs, violence and corruption from the highest reaches of the government to the worst ’hoods of the big cities. Yet America is also a great treasure trove of love, kindness, honor and patriotism. We need to offer our country a second chance and reclaim the greatness which sometimes eludes us.
Israel needs a second chance with world Jewry. Some Jews are angry with the Jewish state and with the present government over political and religious issues. Passover directs our hearts and attention to the entire Jewish People and to our ties with our ancient homeland. Tourism is down, spirits are down and the Zionist ideal is down among all too many Jews. We need to rededicate ourselves to a secure Israel that will be a true light unto the nations and a Jewish home to all of our People.
Friends, why is it that we seem all too willing to grant a second chance to those who go bankrupt financially, but are less willing to do so for those who go bankrupt personally, spiritually, socially and morally? Let me remind you that forgiveness is an integral message of all the festivals in Judaism. In our Torah service, we address God as El rachum v’chanun — gracious and compassionate, patient and forgiving. The traditional Jew says in the Musaf prayers: "We were once exiled because of our wrongdoing, but because of God's willingness to extend a second chance, we have re-gathered the dispersed of the Jewish People from the farthest corners of the earth."
Pesach Sheni — the second chance Passover. Is that not what Lisa Lang will enjoy this year. A new kidney, a new lease on life — a miracle! And what of the miraculous generosity of that 19-year old donors’ family, who in the midst of shock and grief at the tragic loss of their loved one, gave Lisa a second chance. Our festival of Passover reminds us to extend or take a second chance, so that life's blessings may be enjoyed by all. Amen
This message is based on the work of Rabbi Richard J. Margolis.
I am indebted to him.
