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    SHABBOS HAGADOL

    The Tur (430)
    writes, “The Shabbos
    before Pesach is Shabbos HaGadol because a
    nes gadol, a great miracle, happened on that
    day. [On this final Shabbos in Mitzrayim],
    everyone took a sheep for the korban Pesach
    and tied it to their bedposts. The Mitzrim
    asked, ‘Why are you doing this?’ The Yidden
    replied that Hashem commanded them to
    slaughter the sheep as a korban Pesach. The
    Egyptians were distressed that the Yidden
    planned to slaughter their G-ds, but they
    didn’t have permission to say anything.
    Therefore, in remembrance of this great
    miracle, this Shabbos is called Shabbos
    HaGadol.”
    Tosfos (Shabbos 87:) states that there is
    more to this story. The firstborns of Mitzrayim
    asked the Yidden why they tied the sheep to
    the bedposts. The Yidden replied that they are
    for a korban Pesach to celebrate the deaths
    of firstborn Egyptians. Because on the night
    of Pesach, Hashem will smite all firstborn
    Egyptians. The firstborn Egyptians rushed
    to their parents and Pharaoh and demanded
    that they free the Jewish nation to spare their
    lives. Pharaoh and their parents didn’t heed
    their shouts.
    At that point, the firstborns declared war

    on Mitzrayim. As it states (Tehillim 136:10),
    בבכוריהם מצרים למכה “,To smite the Egyptians
    by their firstborns.” Many Egyptians died
    in that war. This is the miracle that we
    celebrate on Shabbos HaGadol.1 Whichever
    translation of Shabbos HaGadol you prefer,
    Shabbos HaGadol is a day to praise Hashem
    for the miracles He performed for us.
    Therefore, this week
    we will discuss the
    important avodah
    of praising Hashem.
    We will study how to
    praise Hashem, and
    the great salvations
    that come from it. We
    should praise Hashem
    for the miracles of
    yetzias Mitzrayim and
    the myriad of miracles
    that He performs every
    day.
    Focus on the Good
    To praise Hashem, you first have to
    recognize all the goodness you enjoy in life.
    If you do not focus on the good, you will
    think you have no reason to praise Hashem.
    Therefore, instead of thinking about how
    much you lack, consider all the good you
    possess. With this in mind, you will be able
    to praise Hashem. Of course, this is easier

    said than done because people tend to take all
    the good they enjoy in life for granted. They
    think that it couldn’t be otherwise and don’t
    feel compelled to thank and praise Hashem
    for all the good He bestows upon them. There
    was a gadol in Yerushalayim who wanted to
    help parents recognize the goodness in their
    lives, so when someone came and told him,
    “I get a mazal tov!
    My wife just had
    a baby,” he would
    respond, “That’s
    wonderful news.
    How many fingers
    does the baby
    have?”
    “Ten.”
    “Ten? Baruch
    Hashem! Mazal
    tov! Mazal tov! You
    should have much
    nachas!”
    He would mention the ten fingers to remind
    the parent that he should thank Hashem for
    that, as well. Once, a baby was just born, and
    the parents watched in horror as the doctor
    painstakingly examined each of the newborn
    child’s fingers.
    “Doctor, is something wrong?” they asked.
    “Everything is fine,” the doctor replied.
    “It is just that as a doctor, I must check
    the child’s health and report it in writing.
    Part of my job is to count and make sure
    that the child has all ten fingers. So I
    was looking at the fingers and counting
    them.”
    Yes, we must be thankful for that too, and
    for the billions of other miracles Hashem
    does for us each day. Reb Shlomo Brevda
    zt’l was walking down the stairway from
    his second-floor apartment and slipped.
    He could have fallen all the way to the
    street below, but with
    Hashem’s help, he grabbed onto the
    handrail. He considered this a miracle
    and was sure that he would never be the
    same person anymore. His Torah, his
    tefillah, and everything he does would
    be different. But soon enough, he forgot
    about the salvation and went back to
    serving Hashem as he had before. He went
    to the Chazon Ish zt’l to ask him why this
    occurred. The Chazon Ish replied, “Do
    you think miracles happen only to you?
    Everyone experiences miracles. That’s
    why we say in [You praise We, ‘[ ניסיך על
    עמנו יום שבכל Modim for the miracles You
    perform for us each and every day.’ But
    there is a yetzer hara that is appointed
    specifically to cause people to forget.
    That’s what happened to you. You
    forgot the miracle. A person’s avodah
    is to remember the good chasadim that
    Hakadosh Baruch Hu does with him, all

    the time.” I heard about an eighty-seven-
    year-old man who was hospitalized

    and was placed on
    a respirator. Two
    weeks later, when he
    recovered, the hospital
    personnel told him,
    “Your condition
    became critical,
    and we were in an
    emergency, so we put you on a respirator. But
    now that you are well enough to be off the
    machine, you will need to pay for it. It will
    be ten thousand dollars…”
    The old man began to cry. “O.K., we’ll give
    you a deduction.” He cried some more. “You
    know what, we’ll charge you half because we
    see that it is so hard for you to pay for it.”
    He replied, “I wasn’t crying over the cost.
    I was crying because when I heard that to
    breathe for two weeks the cost is ten thousand
    dollars, I realized how thankful I should be
    to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, Who enables me
    to breathe all the time. And Hashem gives
    it to me for free and without any pain. How
    thankful I should be to Hashem!”
    This story reminds us of the following
    Gemara (Bava Metzia 86.): On a sweltering
    day, Reb Shimon ben Chalafta sat on the top
    of a mountain and asked his daughter to wave
    a fan for him. He told her that he would pay
    her with a package of besamim. And then the
    wind blew, and Reb Shimon ben Chalafta
    was relieved. He said, “How many packages
    of besamim do I owe to the Creator of these
    winds!”
    The Toras Chaim (Bava Kama 16.) writes,
    “Hashem does kindness with every person
    every day and every moment. Mankind does
    not recognize the miracles that happen to
    them.
    They perceive the world and all that
    occurs in it as a result of nature. They don’t
    appreciate that their every step, movement,
    and breath are from Hashem Yisbarach.
    It would be proper for a person to praise
    Hashem every moment, as Chazal ” say כל
    Hashem praise should we, ה י תהלל הנשמה
    for each breath. But it is impossible to do
    so. Therefore, Anshei Kneses HaGedolah
    instituted to recite Modim three times each
    day. When we say this prayer of gratitude,
    we should praise Hashem for everything.
    When we say לך הפקודות נשמותנו על ,we thank
    Hashem for each נשימה ,each breath. Chazal
    instituted that one should bow during Modim,
    in the manner that people bow to one another
    when they express their gratitude. Chazal say
    that if one doesn’t bow during Modim, his
    spine will become a snake in his grave. This
    is because he didn’t bow by Modim to praise
    Hashem for His kindness, which means he
    doesn’t believe in Hashem’s kindness. The
    Midrash says that the snake (who came to
    entice Chavah) stood upright ( קומה זקופה .)It
    didn’t bow in gratitude to Hashem. When
    one doesn’t bow by Modim, he resembles
    the snake, who didn’t recognize Hashem’s
    kindness.”