"Why Should We Be Deprived?"
Unlike all the other commandments of the Torah, the mitzvah of Pesach Sheni[1] was not given by G-d in the first place; it was only initiated as a result of the Jews' demand, "Why should we be deprived from offering G-d's sacrifice at its appointed time, among all the children of Israel?"
Recalling this plaint during the present long exile, when our people are either wandering "on a distant road," or "defiled by contact with the dead" (for since the Destruction we do not have the ashes of the Red Heifer through which to become ritually cleansed[2]), we ought to state our claim to G-d: "Why should we be deprived from offering G-d's sacrifice? We want -- now -- to participate in the sacrificial offerings in the Third Beis HaMikdash!"
Likkutei Sichos, Vol. XXII, p. 215
The Subject of the Request
In response to the request of Moshe Rabbeinu that he be permitted to cross the Jordan and see the Promised Land, G-d says,[3] "Enough! Do not speak to Me any more about this!" On this Rashi comments, "...in order that people should not say, 'Look how hardhearted the master is, and how persistently the disciple is pleading!' "
It is self-evident that this argument does not apply to prayers and requests for the coming of the Redemption. On the contrary, it is G-d's will that Jews entreat Him for this -- and, in fact, the Men of the Great Assembly incorporated such supplications in each of the thrice-daily prayers.
When it comes to supplications for the coming of the Redemption, G-d is prepared to overlook any misgivings as to whether people might say, "Look how hardhearted the master is, and how persistently the disciple is pleading!" Why? -- In order that through their multitudinous prayers and entreaties, the Jewish people will bring about the coming of the Redemption.
From a talk of the Rebbe Shlita on Shabbos Parshas Acharei-Kedoshim, 5745 [1985]
Thirsting for Dear Life
King David writes,[4] "As a deer pants after the water brooks,... my soul thirsts for G-d."
In these words, speaking for every single Jew, the Sweet Singer of Israel[5] expresses the Jewish people's anguish over the exile, and their yearning for the Redemption. "Mashiach now" is not only something that they want: it is something for which their "soul thirsts," like the intense thirst of a man who is desperate for water to save his life[6] -- for the Redemption is something on which one's very life depends.
From a talk of the Rebbe Shlita on Shavuos, 5745 [1985]
"Be Not Silent!"
"O G-d, be not silent; do not hold Your peace and be not still, O G-d!"[7]
Commenting on this verse, the Sages teach:[8] "The righteous tell G-d what [He] should do;... they tell Him, 'Be not silent,' and He hears them."
As a classic instance of this, Chassidus[9] cites Choni the Circle-Drawer, "whose prayer changed (so to speak) the will of the Creator"; as one of the Sages said to him,[10] "You fondly plead with G-d, and He fulfills your request, like a son who fondly pleads with his father, and he fulfills his request." The same source likens this case to "someone who takes his friend by the hand and does not let him go, and changes his will...."
It is self-understood, then, that when a Jew asks G-d, "Be not silent," He certainly hears his request and actually fulfills it, since every Jew is "like a son who fondly pleads with his father," as it is written,[11] "You are children of the L-rd your G-d." This relationship may be appreciated even more richly in the light of the teaching of the Baal Shem Tov,[12] that every Jew is esteemed and cherished by G-d like an only son born to parents of an advanced age.
From a talk of the Rebbe Shlita on 11 Nissan, 5744 [1984]
1. A person who was unable to offer the Paschal sacrifice on the 14th of Nissan because he had become "defiled by contact with the dead" or because he was "on a distant road," was given a second chance to do so one month later, on the 14th of Iyar, which is called Pesach Sheni ("Second Pesach"); see Bamidbar 9:6ff.
2. Bamidbar, ch. 19.
3. Devarim 3:26.
4. Tehillim 42:1-2.
5. II Shmuel 23:1.
6. See the commentaries on this phrase.
7. Tehillim 83:2.
8. Midrash Tehillim, loc. cit.
9. Yahel Or, loc. cit.
10. Taanis 3:8.
11. Devarim 14:1.
12. Keser Shem Tov (Hosafos), sec. 133.
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