There's a holiday for that

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I messed up!  I missed out!  Or as they say in Yiddish, “s’is farfallen.” It’s over. All lost. How often do we say that in our lives?  How many regrets do we have?  Besides feeling upset and beating ourselves up, regret for what we have missed just depresses us. “I messed up so now I can’t [fill in the blank].” How do we handle this?

Well, you guessed it - we have a holiday for that!  


It’s called Pesach Sheini - the “second Pesach” - and it dates back to when the Jews were in the desert.


Originally, the Jews were commanded to observe the holiday of Pesach, including offering the Paschal Lamb, on the 14th of Nissan. In order to partake in this sacrifice, the people had to be in a state of Tahara, ritual purity. Now, some of the Jews had been carrying coffins with the remains of Joseph and his brothers out of Egypt and were therefore not in a state of purity to fulfill this great Mitzvah. They felt that they had missed out on a life-changing spiritual opportunity.


They went to Moshe and asked “why should we be left out?” Moshe brought their case to Hashem and He gave them an opportunity to make it up. And not just then, but for all future generations too (as long as the Holy Temple stands)! Anyone who missed the Pesach sacrifice in Nissan because they were Tamei (ritually impure) or far away from Jerusalem, could make it up in the next month, on the 14th of Iyar.


Though we don’t have the offering today, we still observe Pesach Sheini as a minor holiday. We skip the tachanun (confessional) during prayers and it is customary to eat Matzah to commemorate the day. This year Pesach Sheini will be tomorrow, Friday, May 5. 


But the day is not just a historical event. It is a day for us to think about its message and internalize it.There is no such thing as “farfallen” - over. Pesach Sheini tells us that instead of throwing up our hands and giving up in despair, we can always make up for what we missed and move forward. 


Think about it: the Jews who had missed out on the first Pesach sacrifice could have just given up on gaining that spiritual energy. Instead, they stepped forward and asked for another opportunity. Hashem rewarded this request and even added a new holiday specially designed to make it up.


By not giving up and working to overcome our deficiencies, we are able to not only make up what we lost but to grow even more spiritually. This day is reminding us never to give up.


Another important lesson for us is that we should not be complacent and just accept the fact that our Holy Temple is still in ruins and therefore we can’t offer the Paschal and other offerings. We should be praying and demanding, as did our forefathers, “why should we miss out?”  We should be asking Hashem every day to give us the opportunity to offer the sacrifices in the holy Temple.


This is one of the ways to hasten the coming of Moshiach. To actively yearn for his coming and to pray for it every day. As we say at least three times in our daily prayers, “for your redemption we wait all day.”

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