Yechezkel HaNavi on Pesach and Corona[virus]

Hello readers. Yechezkel (HaNavi) Hirshman here.

Okay, we all know that I am an imposter. Not close to a Navi. But…there is a real Yechezkel HaNavi and he says some interesting things.  I will get to them in a minute.

I have been debating whether to write anything about our current situation over the past few weeks. Quite obviously, there is really no purpose because there are many prominent and well-respected Torah speakers who have given us both mussar and chizuk. You can access it all over the [newly discovered] Internet at Kol Halashon, Torah Anytime, as well as links posted by all the usual suspects – Yeshiva World News, Vos is Neis, MatzavBlasts, Chadrei Haredim, Kikar Shabbat and your personal WhatsApp contacts.

Owing that I am neither prominent nor well-respected, I don’t suppose I hold much sway. Besides, I don’t have a whole lot to add. And, lastly, the situation is changing so fast (בעתה אחישנה) that many of the initial insights are not relevant. I am sure we all learned our lesson about not making lavish weddings and bar-mitzvas and that just maybe shidduch dates over Zoom is not such a bad idea, after all. But what now?

Nevertheless, it is now erev bedikas chametz and the onset of Pesach which we hope will usher in our geulah shleima (אכי"ר) and there are one or two messages that I haven’t seen mentioned by anyone else. So – במקום שאין נביאים, השתדל להיות נביא.

Yea, hear the words of the prophet Yechezkel…

Message 1

Tomorrow night is the [first] seder and, as we know, the highlight of the seder is Maggid – sippur yetzias Mitzrayim. The Haggadah is an analysis of the four psaukim about the geulas mitzrayim that we recite when we bring the Bikurim to the Bais HaMikdash. The first pasuk is:

ארמי אבד אבי וירד מצרימה ויגר שם במתי מעט ויהי שם לגוי גדול עצום ורב  

In reference to the last word, ורב, the Hagaddah links us to a well known pasuk in Sefer Yechezkel 16:7:

רבבה כצמח השדה נתתיך ותרבי ותגדלי ותבאי בעדי עדיים שדים נכנו ושערך צמח ואת ערם ועריה  

Strangely, and for no clear reason, the Haggadah then adds the previous pasuk (reverse order):

   ואעבר עליך ואראך מתבוססת בדמיך ואמר לך בדמיך חיי ואמר לך בדמיך חיי

Most of us dip a finger in the wine and spill a drop each time we say “בדמיך חיי” to symbolize a “blood bond” with HKBH.

Interestingly, this is not the only time we recite this pasuk and “spill” wine to symbolize a “blood bond” with HKBH. We do this at every briss. We recite the pasuk and spill a drop of wine/blood into the baby’s mouth.  

We all know that this is the special blood bond that we have with HKBH which we commemorate with two special mitzvos – Korban Pesach (or now, our Seder) and briss milah. These are the two mitzvos that make us unique. The two mitzvos that almost all of Klal Yisrael observes, even if they observe no other mitzvos. And these are the only two positive mitzvos that are so vital to our identity that if one willfully neglects to do them, he is disconnecting himself from HKBH and His nation. He is liable for kares.

So let’s take a broader look at Yechezkel 16 which is the source of these powerful pasukim.

This entire perek of Navi is delivered as a mashal – a parable. It speaks about a baby girl who was cast away at birth and even the placenta was still attached. A well-to-do person chanced by this forlorn foundling and for the first 14 pasukim talks about how he nurtured her back to health and helped her grow into a beautiful young woman and adorned her with the finest clothes and jewels and took her as his bride. Finally, in pasuk 14 the Navi says that she was known among the nations of the world for her exquisite beauty:

 ויצא לך שם בגוים ביפיך כי כליל הוא בהדרי אשר שמתי עליך

But in the next pasuk, things start to turn sour. She becomes unfaithful and betrays they Great Benefactor who gathered her from the gutter and turned her into a princess. She begins to consort with everybody except her benefactor. This goes on for another 20 pasukim.

From pasuk 36-58 the Navi then describes what terrible punishments the princess turned harlot needs to undergo as retribution for her treachery. She will suffer along with those “lovers” (nations) that she consorted with in place of her loving suitor.  

Finally, in the last 5 pasukim of this perek, the Navi says that HKBH will still remember the covenant that He made with the young princess and take her back for His sake so we will all know “that I am G-d”.

So, we see that HKBH initially made us the crown of the nations. We were supposed to remain that way but we strayed. He needs us to come back to be worthy of the כליל that we had. The two crowns that we received at Har Sinai when we said נעשה ונשמע.

Let’s look one more time at that last pasuk just before the princess starts to turn sour:

 ויצא לך שם בגוים ביפיך כי כליל הוא בהדרי אשר שמתי עליך

What does Rashi say on this word “כליל”?

"כי כליל הוא" - לשון מכלול ד"א כי כליל הוא כי שלם היה ד"א כי כליל קרונ"א בלע"ז כמו נזר דמתרגמינן כלילא

I don't really know what to make of this, if anything, but did Rashi know something we don’t?

Message 2

This Shabbos will be Shabbos Chol HaMoed Pesach. On Shabbos Chol Hamoed Pesach we read the Haftara in Yechezkel 37 – The dry bones that Yechezkel HaNavi brought to life.

The Hebrew word Corona – קורונה – does not appear encoded in Tanach as a Roshei Teivos or Sofei Teivos. But, like almost any word, it can be found as an ELS (Equidistant Letter Sequence) code. The most significant ELS is always the shortest one, and the shortest ELS for the word קורונה (by far) is 9 letters. It is found in this pasuk from the upcoming Shabbos Chol HaMoed Haftara (Yechezkel 37:8-9):

וראיתי והנה עליהם גדים ובשר עלה ויקרם עליהם עור מלמעלה ורוח אין בהם ט ויאמר אלי הנבא אל הרוח הנבא בן אדם ואמרת אל הרוח כה אמר ה' אלקים מארבע רוחות באי הרוח ופחי בהרוגים האלה ויחיו

The gemara in Sanhedrin 92b discusses who were the dry bones and what became of them. Some say that they stood on their feet and sang songs of praise to HKBH and then died again. But others (Rabi Eliezer the son of Rabi Yosi HaGalili) says that they made aliya to Eretz Yisrael and married women and had sons and daughters.

Evidently, like this opinion, this is what they were brought back to life for. This was the purpose of their “קורונה”.

Amidst all of our tragedies and trials and tribulations, there is no room for despair. We are all praying for life and good health. Even for those who have succumbed to this plague, there is a future. The world says, “Where there is life, there is hope.” But Yechezkel HaNavi teaches us that, “Even where there is death, there is hope”.

ה' ממית ומחיה מוריד שאול ויעל.

Heed the words of Yechezkel HaNavi.

Have a happy, healthy, and Kosher Pesach.

With love to all the Jews,



Yechezkel