As we have mentioned above in numerous ways, the month of Nisan and the holiday of Pesach are intrinsically connected to creation, rebirth, renewal and rejuvenation. We will now present five complimentary paradigms of the birth process based on comparing it to Israel’s exile and slavery in Egypt, their flight to freedom and the forty years of wandering in the desert before entering the Holy Land.
1)
We begin with the most primordial, the model of creation. The Arizal revealed the idea of tzimtzum, “contraction,” to explain how God (as it were) withdrew His infinite presence, creating a “fertile void,” a womb-like environment in which creation could take place. The withdrawal of God’s infinite light and the formation of this void created the space within which a seemingly independent finite reality could begin and continue to take shape. Kabbalah and Chassidut explain that although this void was apparently “empty” of God’s presence, paradoxically, a reshimu, “impression,” of God’s infinite light remained, for nothing by definition can ever be totally devoid of God’s presence.
Into this fertile void God then shone a single ray of light, which extended deep within to a central point. From this single ray of light, whose source was the very essence of God, all creation unfolded through a long, developmental process of contraction followed by expansion, from the most exalted and sublime spiritual worlds and sefirot, all the way down to our very material and physical world. This process is referred to as Hishtalshelut, and connotes the cosmic chain of being, connecting all of creation back to the Creator, and vice versa.
Kabbalah and Chassidut compare this creative process of tzimzum and the ray of light (contraction and expansion) to the paradigm of birth – in this case to all of the spiritual and physical worlds – as well as to the birth of the nation of Israel. The experience of slavery in Egypt is equated with the tzimzum, the contraction of freedom and the subsequent vacuum of independence and autonomy it causes in the human psyche. Birth pangs are actually referred to as contractions, for as the uterus goes through a series of muscular contractions it actually opens up the birth canal in preparation for birth.
The exile in Egypt is explained as a necessary stage that Israel had to go through in order to prepare it to fulfil its historic mission in the world. The exodus from Egypt in this paradigm represents the single ray of light piercing through the spiritual and psychological void caused by the reality of slavery in order to give birth to a new reality, the nation of Israel.
2)
The description of the next paradigm is closer to the biological phenomena of birth as experienced by a woman. The slavery of Israel in Egypt is compared to a dark womb-like state where the nation of Israel is in a period of gestation. The end of pregnancy, with its accompanying intense birth pangs in preparation for birth, is compared to the ten plagues. Every birth is preceded by the breaking of the embryonic waters of the womb, which in our paradigm is reflected in the waters of the Reed Sea breaking/splitting open in preparation for Israel to pass through, much like a baby exits the womb through the birth canal. Reaching the other side of the Reed Sea represents the baby traversing the birth cannel safely, while emerging unscathed on the other side represents the actual birth of the nation, followed by the Song of the Sea, which is analogous to a baby’s first cry of life. The revelation of God’s Presence during this miraculous salvation was so tangible the children actually pointed and exclaimed: “This is my God and I will praise Him” (Exodus 15:2).
3)
The third scenario likening Israel’s exodus from slavery to freedom to the process of birth is similar to the preceding paradigm, but slightly different in a few key respects. In this model slavery is again equated with a dark womb-like existence, followed by the birth pangs of the ten plagues. However, in this scenario the birth itself occurs on Seder night, rather than on the seventh night of Pesach, as Israel is preparing to leave Egypt in the morning, embarking on an inspired journey toward a new reality of freedom. Crossing the Reed Sea safely while the pursuing Egyptians are cut off, represents the act of circumcision where the foreskin is removed, revealing the crown of the male organ.
4)
The fourth scenario expands our paradigm in temporal terms. In this model, the forty years in the desert represent the forty weeks of pregnancy, whereas coming into Israel, the promised land, represents the actual birth. Just as in the previous paradigms, crossing the Reed Sea symbolizes the passage through the birth canal and actual birth, so too, when the Jewish people came into the Land of Israel, they did so by crossing another body of water — the Jordan River, which according to tradition also split so they could cross over. Just as the crossing of the Reed Sea was accompanied by many miracles, the Talmud also describes in great detail the many miracles that occurred when Israel crossed the Jordan (Sotah 33b-36a).
5)
The final paradigm equating the exile and redemption from Egypt and the attainment of human freedom with the process of birth entails seeing all of history as a gestation period before the final redemption to take place in the Messianic era. Only then will mankind reach its full potential as if born anew into a reality we can only dream of at present. All the prophets prophesied that before the Messianic era would dawn, many trials and tribulations would occur. Like all of the prophecies of old, predictions of impending disaster only happen if people refuse to change their actions and lack the proper morals, ethics and accompanying righteous behavior. These earthshaking events, if they should occur, are equated with intense birth pangs before birth, as alluded to in the term chevlei Mashiach, “the birth pangs of the Mashiach.”
As we suggested at the outset of this section, all of these paradigms are in some sense complementary, as well as independently true within their own given context. One of the foundational teachings of Chassidut is that life is a series of opportunities for constant rebirth, hitchadshut. The month of Nisan and the holiday of Pesach are the “headquarters” for this existential ability to renew ourselves yearly, monthly, weekly, daily, and in fact, at every single moment.
The story of Israel, its descent into Egypt, the subsequent slavery and redemption, and the ensuing forty years of wandering in the desert, make up the vast majority of the five books of the Torah. Although the word Torah is usually translated as “instruction,” the very same root (hara) means “to be pregnant.” The Torah is not just figuratively, but quite literally, “pregnant with meaning,” revealing ever new insights, perspectives and secrets. The more one connects to learning Torah and living according to its precepts, the more we connect to the energy of constant birth and renewal, becoming veritable midwives of a new, righteous and rectified reality.
