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BEGIN WITH A GRIN

Moshe prepared a lavish meal in honor of his son’s pidyon ha’ben. In the middle of the meal, one of the guests said to Moshe, “You’re a kohen and a kohen is patur from pidyon ha’ben!”

Moshe was annoyed and replied, “Now, you tell me? With my eighth son?”

PATERNAL REDEMPTION

One of the mitzvos that appears at the end of parshas Korach is the mitzva of pidyon ha’ben. Every boy that is his mother’s firstborn, “petter rechem,” needs to be redeemed on his thirtieth day. The father of the baby gives five coins to the kohen and this is how he redeems his son.

On the words, “He relates His words to Yaakov, His statutes and laws to Yisrael,” the Medrash says, G-d’s attributes are unlike man’s attributes. Man tells others to do something while he himself does nothing. G-d is not like that. What He does, He tells Yisrael to do.” That means, that every mitzva that G-d commands us to do, He does.

How does G-d fulfill the mitzva of pidyon ha’ben? Since when does G-d have children and which one is the firstborn?

The Rebbe explains, based on the Medrash, that “the father is G-d and the son is Yisrael.” Just as a father is obligated to circumcise his son, teach him Torah and mitzvos, marry him off, feed and clothe him, so too, G-d circumcised Yisrael (through Yehoshua bin Nun), gave them the Torah and taught them the mitzvos, commanded them (and gave them the ability) to procreate, and He (until today!) feeds and sustains them. It’s actually not a chiddush of the Medrash because this is already stated in the Torah. Regarding the entire Jewish people the Torah says (Shemos 4:22), “My firstborn son is Yisrael.” That means that we are not merely G-d’s children but His firstborn, which is why there is an obligation and mitzva, as it were, for G-d to redeem the Jewish people from exile to the Geula shleima. Thus, G-d fulfills the mitzva of pidyon ha’ben.

Some will want to say that the Gemara states that “G-d is a kohen” and kohanim (and leviyim) don’t have the mitzva of pidyon ha’ben and G-d is exempt (G-d forbid) from bringing the Geula and redeeming us from the bitter exile.

The Rebbe says something remarkably novel which is so connected with the inner essence of Geula. According to the Rebbe, really, every firstborn (even a firstborn of a kohen or levi) is obligated to be redeemed, because every firstborn belongs to G-d. The reason that kohanim and leviyim do not redeem their firstborn is because due to the intensity of their inborn holiness, the redemption does not help and is not sufficient to take them from G-d’s domain. It is impossible to redeem such a massive holiness, like the holiness of kohanim and leviyim, with five coins. Even ten or twenty coins wouldn’t help. A kohen and levi are holy in their very bodies and beings, “because they are surely given to Me from among the Jewish people.” This cannot be changed or substituted for money!

So too with the Geula; since we are “children of a kohen,” it is incumbent on our Father in heaven to redeem us from exile and bring us to the Geula, but not a Geula in which we feel and live with our own individual existence, not a Geula in which we “belong” to our own domain. Rather, a Geula in which we go out of exile and remain in G-d’s domain forever, holy and united with Him for eternity!

ETERNAL REDEMPTION

While on the topic of pidyon ha’ben, it’s important to mention the Rebbe’s extraordinary explanation at the end of the tractate of Pesachim. The Gemara says that the Amora, Rabi Simla’i, was at a pidyon ha’ben in the course of which he got into a halachic discussion about the bracha of the mitzva. The questioners wanted to know who recites the “shehechiyanu” blessing at the pidyon ha’ben. They said they were sure that the bracha over the mitzva (”asher kidshanu … al pidyon ha’ben) should be said by the father of the boy, but what about the “shehechiyanu?” Does the kohen say it because he enjoys the pidyon money, or does the father of the boy say it since it’s his mitzva?

Rabi Simla’i did not know so he went to the Beis Medrash and asked. Those in the Beis Medrash said the father of the boy says two brachos and that is the halacha.

In a deep, complicated hadran, that bridges the Bavli and Yerushalmi, the Rebbe explains the Gemara according to Nigleh and Nistar. The following is the mystical/kabbalistic explanation that pertains to our subject.

The ‘father of the boy’ and the ‘kohen’ symbolize two very different spiritual levels. ‘Abba’ symbolizes the sefira of G-dly ‘chochma’ which is beyond the parameters of the world. Torah preceded the world and the wisdom of the Torah preceded the existence of the world. Therefore, when we refer to G-d as ‘Father’ or ‘Father of the boy’ (and we are the ‘boy’), we are referring to Hashem’s miraculous conduct which is absolutely beyond the parameters of nature. The ‘kohen,’ on the other hand, symbolizes the ‘man of chessed,’ the G-dly attribute of ‘chessed’ which is a central aspect of the creation of the world. “The world is built with chessed.” The ‘kohen’ symbolizes the natural, limited conduct of the Creator, conduct which reckons with the existence of the world and the boundaries of nature.

When Rabi Simla’i ‘encountered’ the subject of the redemption of the Jewish people from exile, it was clear to him that the bracha for the mitzva would be said by the father of the boy. That is, he understands that redeeming the Jewish people from exile can only be attributed to the ‘Father of the boy,’ to the level of G-dliness which is above the world.

The Geula itself will come only with the supernatural G-dly power (‘Father of the boy’) just as with the first Geula, the exodus from Egypt. “The King, King of kings, was revealed to them in His Glory and Essence and redeemed them.” Despite the claim of the attribute of justice that this is incorrect, not right and makes no sense, since “they worship idols and they worship idols,” they were redeemed.

So too, with the final Geula, our redemption will come directly from G-d Himself, beyond the normal order of things and beyond any calculations of mitzvos and sins.

SUPERNATURAL REDEMPTION

Rabi Simla’i knew this, which is why he had no doubt. Rabi Simla’i’s dilemma began when he thought about how the Geula will actually occur, how it will affect and change the world, how it will manifest within (“that He gave us life…” to) ‘this time.’

Will the Geula come in an orderly, gradual manner, according to the rules of nature and the world (the kohen recites the bracha) or will the Geula come quickly, “in one hour, and in one moment,” with enormous kindness and mercy, not in accordance with the limitations of the nature, as is fitting for the mercy of a father for his children (the father of the boy says the bracha).

And what is the logical reasoning behind the debate?

On the one hand, a kohen says the bracha because he benefits, G-d Himself is in exile with the Jewish people and suffering with them the vicissitudes of exile. When the Jewish people will be redeemed, G-d will also redeem Himself! He is the one who will “benefit” the most from the Geula! If so, we can say that just like G-d took on the guise of nature and suffered in the terrible exile, so too, He will clothe Himself within nature to bring the Geula.

On the other hand, we can say that it’s proper for the father of the boy to say the bracha because he is doing the mitzva. The Geula is not only just a profit or benefit but an essential mitzva in Judaism, to the extent that it is part of the thirteen principles of faith. Therefore, G-d will bring the Geula His way, beyond nature.

The halacha paskens that “the father of the boy says two brachos” – both the source of the Geula and the actual manifestation of the Geula will be in a way that go beyond nature within nature, with great kindness and haste.

TO CONCLUDE WITH A STORY

We will end with a story about the power of the mitzva of pidyon ha’ben as told by Rabbi Avrohom Yaakov Cohen, rosh kollel of Ohel Yaakov:

One time, a woman who looked irreligious came to my father and asked him to make a pidyon ha’ben for her son. My father asked her how she came to him when, after all, she didn’t look religious.

She said that one day she was walking with her son in his carriage when she met an older woman whom she had never seen before (or since). The woman said to her, “What a cute baby… Have you made him a pidyon ha’ben?”

She made inquiries about what is a pidyon ha’ben and how it is done and somehow was referred to my father. My father did the pidon ha’ben and informed the woman that there were other mitzvos in the Torah like Shabbos, kashrus, etc. In the end, the woman became religious and the baby grew up to be a frum, distinguished person.

Good Shabbos!

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