First, let's look at what happened on the first Shabbos Hagadol. The pasukim say (Shmot 12, 3-6) Moshe was told to tell the Jewish people to take a lamb into each Jewish home on the tenth day of the month of Nissan. On the fourteenth of Nissan, they were to slaughter the same lamb as the korban Pe-sach. Our sages point out some amazing things here, the 10th of Nissan was Shabbat, and the lamb was the god of the Egyptians. Combined, these events make for one great miracle in the midst of all that was happening in and to Egypt at the time. (The 10th of Nissan came between the ninth plague of darkness and the tenth death of the first born Egyptians.) The Egyptians saw the Jews take the lambs into their homes and tie them to their beds and were prevented from reta-liating, as we can imagine they wanted to. So we can understand why the events that happened that day are great and why the fact that it was Shabbat makes those events even greater. But there is still a nagging question about all of this: Why did Hashem want all of this to happen on Shabbat? Especially since capturing a live animal and tying it down are not exactly recommended Shabbat activities. Yes, the fact that it was Shabbat makes the miracle of Egyptian impotency in the face of such Jewish

Rav Pincus often said, speaking even about his own neighborhood in Israel, that so many Jews keep Shabbat every week without ever knowing what Shabbat is all about. They only know what we can't do, without realizing the profound nature of the day. He often pointed out that the end result of this problem is feeling like Shabbat is a jail.

So what is really going on every week on Shabbat? The divine presence is there to be found. We often say that Shabbat is the source of all blessing during the week and in the world. What does that mean? The Zohar says that one of Hashem's names is Shabbat. What is a name? If a person lived alone in the dessert, he wouldn't need a name. The point of a name is that, through it, someone or something can be recognized by others. And the name reveals to others what and who the name belongs to.

I would like to posit that this is why Hashem wanted the events of Shabbat Hagadol to take place on Shabbat, and specifically the Shabbat before the exodus. The exodus marked our becoming a nation, but not just any nation. In order to claim our inheritance as G-d's nation, left to us by our forefathers; we needed to show that we wanted to and were ready to become great. This was done through the korban Pesach. But first, we needed Shabbat Hagadol- unparalleled access to G-d that every Shabbat offers combined with an act that completely dem-onstrated our readiness and desire to gain that access (like taking an Egyptian god hostage for four days). Then we we’re ready to perform the mitzva of the korban Pesach, to leave Mitzrayim and to become G-d's chosen people. What makes this coming Shabbos great, aren't they all? Yes, every Shabbat is great. And it is the greatness of every Shabbat that made

Have a great Shabbos,