13 Apr TAZRIA/METZORAH- HASHEM IS EVERYWHERE

The number 4, as we all know, features very prominently at the Pesach seder. There are four cups of wine, four questions, four sons, four pesukim from the Book of Devarim around which the crux of the Haggadah revolves, and four instances of the word ךורב† in the passage, ךורב†םוקמה . Hashem promised redemption with four different expressions, and the sheep for the korban pesach was prepared four days before it was sacrificed.

One explanation for the signifi cance of the number 4 at the seder is that the most widely-used Name of Hashem, the Name of “Havayah” (spelled ה¨ו¨ה¨י ) has four letters. The number 4 is therefore pronounced at the seder because it represents Hashem Himself.

The deeper message of this explanation is that Hashem is EVERYWHERE, even when He does not appear to be present.

Yetziat Mitzrayim was brought about ENTIRELY by Hashem. Sure, there were people involved – mainly, of course, Moshe Rabbenu. But even their role was just an extension of Hashem’s control. It was all done by Him, and by Him alone. And so throughout the seder, we have reminders of Hashem’s Name – to emphasize the fact that He was behind the entire process, and it happened only and solely because of Him.

This message is very relevant to our lives, as well.

A number of years ago, a famous New York Times columnist wrote a piece for the newspaper about his trip to Pomegranate, a kosher supermarket in Brooklyn. He was struck by the specialty items that are made to accommodate halachah. He writes:

There are the dairy-free cheese puffs in case you want to have some cheese puffs with a meat dish. There are the precut disposable tablecloths so you don’t have to use scissors on the Sabbath. There are the specially designed sponges, which don’t retain water, so you don’t have to do the work of squeezing out water on Shabbat.

What this demonstrated to the author was how every little thing in life is part of a higher purpose. He says:

They go shopping like the rest of us, but their shopping is minutely governed by an external moral order. The laws…give structure to everyday life. They infuse everyday acts with spiritual signifi cance…making religion an everyday practical reality.

In our life, Hashem is everywhere. He is there when we shop. He is there when we socialize. He is there when we’re at work. He’s there when we’re at home. He is there when we eat, when we wake up, and when we go to sleep. He is everywhere.

This is one of the beautiful aspects of leading a Torah lifestyle – everything we do, without exception, has meaning and significance.

When we celebrate Pesach, Hashem’s taking us from Egypt to be His special nation, this is something for us to think about – that the number 4, representing Hashem, is everywhere, in every part of our lives. This is the special relationship that was created on the night we left Egypt, and the relationship we are privileged and blessed to have with Hashem each and every moment of our lives.