Big-Time Faith, Big Miracle: Why Shabbat HaGadol Still Matters

Why is the Shabbat before Pesach called "Shabbat HaGadol"?

Our sages, Chazal, explained that it’s named for the great miracle that happened to the Children of Israel in Egypt. As is known, the lamb was the Egyptians’ idol, and the Israelites were commanded to take a lamb—seh — (an acronym for Shabbat HaGadol)—and fulfill the mitzvah: "Draw out and take for yourselves sheep", etc. In other words: withdraw your hands from idolatry and do not acknowledge it, for it is a great falsehood with no substance, and slaughter it so it will not influence you. Indeed, the Israelites took the lamb on the 10th of Nissan (that day was Shabbat) and tied it to the bedposts. When the Egyptians asked why they were tying their idol to the bed, the Israelites answered that on the 14th of Nissan they would slaughter it. The Egyptians were filled with anger and fury that their idol had been shamed and that the Israelites were disparaging it—and yet they did not harm them. That was the great miracle.

This mitzvah drew down kindness, because it showed the complete trust the Israelites had—and whoever trusts in Hashem, kindness surrounds them!

The Sfat Emet teaches that Shabbat HaGadol is like Shabbat Shuva: each person should return to the Blessed One because of the great kindness He did for us in taking us out of Egypt. And just as Hashem asked the people of Israel to do one small act before the redemption—tie the lamb—so too, Hashem asks us to take one small step now: open a door of teshuvah, accept one small resolution before this Shabbat. That small resolution will open the gates of Heaven for you—gates of protection, safety, health and abundance, a zivug (match) and nachas.

Thanks to that small opening, the verse will be fulfilled: "And Hashem will pass over the doorway and not let the destroyer enter your homes to strike." Thanks to the opening we make in our hearts—to teshuvah, to modesty, to love of fellow Jews, to keeping Shabbat and the holiday—Hashem will nullify from us every plague and every destroyer.

This Shabbat is telling us: "We will surely succeed! Everything is possible!" Yes, the beginning is hard, but a great light waits just beyond it—exactly like the parable that Rabbi Nachman brings from the book Kokhvei Or:

A Tale of Maror
Once, a Jew and a German went traveling together,
and the Jew taught the German to present himself like a Jew,
and the matter would not be difficult for him,
since their language was one,
and Jews are compassionate and would surely have mercy on him.
When it came close to Pesach,
he taught him how to behave in the Jewish home that would invite him to the Seder table:
first they make Kiddush,
and afterward they wash their hands—
but he forgot to tell him that they eat maror.
And so it was:
a certain Jew invited him to the Seder,
but he had been hungry all day,
and he expected they would soon get to eat the good foods the Jew had told him about.
Instead, he saw they gave him a piece of karpas in salt water,
and did the other practices of the Seder,
and recited the Haggadah—
and with watchful eyes he kept waiting to eat.
When he noticed they were breaking the matzah, he rejoiced,
thinking that in just a moment he would quiet his hunger.
Suddenly they gave him maror,
and when he put it in his mouth it became bitter for him,
and he thought this was the whole meal—that this alone they would eat—
and he ran out immediately, bitter and hungry,
thinking to himself, "Cursed Jews!
After all that celebration, they give me to eat maror!".
He went to the beit midrash and fell asleep there.
Afterward the Jew came in with a happy face, satisfied from eating and drinking,
and asked him, "How was the Seder for you?"
He told him angrily what had happened to him.
The Jew said to him, "Oy, foolish German!
If you had just waited a little longer,
you would have eaten every good thing—just like me.".
And our Rebbe told this to teach
that purifying the body comes through bitterness,
yet a person thinks it will always be only bitterness—
therefore he flees immediately.
But if he waits a little and endures a bit of the bitterness that purifies his body,
then afterward he feels all kinds of vitality and delight.

This is an important lesson for us—especially in a world of instant gratification: to reach real achievement and satisfaction, we often must pass through a stage of "maror"—difficulty and frustration. Facing the bitter reveals our strength, tempers us, and is essential for growth.

Pesach symbolizes the new beginning of the Jewish people—and a springtime renewal for the whole world.

Remember: "Bitterness is the first taste of freedom." Facing things on our own may be bitter and hard, but it shows true freedom.

This Shabbat symbolizes breaking the chains of slavery and overcoming the yetzer hara that dwells in the human heart—turning bitterness into sweetness.

This Shabbat, the 10th of Nissan, is the hilula of Miriam the Prophetess, who went out with drums and dancing together with all the women.

If we internalize the message this Shabbat brings, we too will succeed in achieving whatever we set out to do—and we’ll arrive at Pesach in full freedom.

This Shabbat is telling us: "We will surely succeed! Everything is possible!"

Prepare your heart to hold great abundance on Shabbat HaGadol, as in the closing verse of the haftarah read on this Shabbat, from the book of Malachi: "Behold, I am sending you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of Hashem."

Shabbat HaGadol Shalom!