Sicha 1

Our usual custom
at these rallies,

is to begin by asking about
the unique connection

between the "Army of
God" -- Jewish children,

and the occasion.

This rally takes
place during Passover,

the "Festival of our Freedom,"

so we don't need
to ask that question:

We just celebrated the
first days of Passover

which begin with the Seders,

and our Holy Torah instituted
that the Seder begins

with the children asking
the Four Questions.

Every Jewish child

is naturally enthusiastic
about Judaism.

This is true even
while in exile,

as we learn regarding
our exile in Egypt,

where the children were first
to recognize Godliness,

they were connected to God,
the Giver of Torah and mitzvot,

more than their parents.

So, with the onset of a holiday,

especially the first
holiday of the year,

"The Festival of Matzot" -- Passover,

we begin, as defined in
the Code of Jewish Law,

with a Jewish child standing up

and asking about
the proceedings:

"What is Passover?"

"Why is this night different,

from all the other
nights of the year?"

Only afterwards do we proceed,

and his father or the leader
of the Seder answers him,

and the entire Seder is
an answer to his question,

including the Torah teachings
which are delivered

and the mitzvot and the
traditions which we fulfill.

So it is self-evident,

that a rally for children

which is held during
the holiday of Passover

-- the connection between the
two is clear and self-evident.

Because it is Passover, it obviously
has a connection to Jewish children.

The connection
is to the extent

that at the very
beginning of Passover,

on the Seder night,

at the opening of the Seder,

we begin with the question
of the Jewish child.

This is a lesson about
the "Order of the day,"

the command and the special
directive for the days of Passover:

That a Jewish child must
belong to the Army of God,

and therefore -- obviously --
fulfill all of His mitzvot.

And because a Jewish child is
inherently connected with Torah,

which is God's wisdom,

he will surely personify the
"wise son" of the Haggadah.

This is true of the overwhelming
majority of Jewish children --

they are wise.

And obviously, once
a child carries out

all the directives of the
Commander-in-Chief, God,

being a "wise son," he will
certainly approach and ask

his rebbe, his instructor,
teacher or counselor:

"What lesson should I learn,
what is the purpose and intent

of the mitzvah that
I just fulfilled?"

We then point him to the
beginning of the Haggadah

-- and this also addresses most
questions about Judaism:

"Why are we different?"

"How is a Jewish child different
from children of all other nations?"

We answer:

"You should know, 'Our ancestors
were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt' --

long ago, our ancestors were enslaved,

and were it not for Passover,

we would still be
slaves to Pharaoh.

'And the Lord our God
took us out from there,'

God liberated us, the children
along with the adults,

thus liberating all Jewish
people, for all generations.

We then became subjects of
the Commander-in-Chief,

Who took us out
'from bondage to freedom

and from darkness
to great light.'

And obviously, if God brought
us to such a fortunate state,

to such 'great light,'

out of such deep misfortune of
being 'slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt,'

clearly, we are totally different
than all nations of the world."

To the extent,

as you just recited in the
Twelve Torah Passages,

"God stands over him and scrutinizes
his inner recesses and heart

to see if he serves Him properly."

God, the Commander in Chief,
observes every one of you,

to see if you serve Him properly.

Because He redeemed them
-- and all of you and all of us --

from being slaves to Pharaoh,

it is clear that we must
serve Him appropriately,

and that we must therefore
fulfill all His instructions,

even though they set us apart
from all other nations.

Passover begins with the mitzvah to
eat Matzah and drink the four cups,

and the other special mitzvot
of that evening and day.

These set the tone for every
night and every day of the year;

we are constantly different.

When it comes to eating,
drinking, or how we dress

-- the Jewish boy wears Tzitzis,

and the Jewish girl
dresses modestly,

unlike other girls who might
not dress so modestly.

With a Jewish girl,

we can see by her dress
that she is different;

and a Jewish boy, as well,
through seeing his Tzitzis,

we see that he is different
from his surroundings.

The child is not bothered by the
question "Why are we different?"

because he sat at the Seder
and heard the response:

We are different because "We were
once slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt,

but the Commander-in-Chief took us out

'from bondage to freedom, and
from darkness to great light.'"

It is totally logical to the child

-- and he explains it
to everyone around him,

especially if he finds a child
who, for whatever reason,

is not yet "a wise son" but one
of the other three types of sons;

perhaps he even encounters a child
who "does not know how to ask"

-- a child who, for
some strange reason,

did not yet encounter a
child in Tzivos Hashem,

who told him: "You should know
that you are a Jewish child,

and you were once a
slave to Pharaoh in Egypt."

You must initiate
the conversation,

and help him understand
what to do and how to act,

especially if you
take into account

how Torah considers it so vital to
"Love your fellow as yourself."

When you encounter a Jewish child
who "doesn't know how to ask,"

or one who knows how to ask,
but isn't aware of the details,

and asks like the simple son,

"What is this?"

or even if you encounter
a child who does know,

but doesn't understand
why he should obey --

"If I desire something,

why should I assess whether
it is considered theft or not?

I want it!"

This refers to the second
son of the Haggadah --

a boy should tell the boy and
a girl should tell the girl:

"You should know that both of us,
and the entire Jewish nation

-- had God not liberated
our ancestors from Egypt,

we would have still
been slaves to Pharaoh,

and the reason we currently
belong to the Army of God,

and belong to the
Jewish nation,

is because God
took us out of there,

and it became a
'Festival of Freedom'

for every Jew, every day,
in every generation."

After this explanation,

they will fully embrace their identity

and moreover,

they will do so with great joy,

as you just recited in the
Twelve Torah Passages,

"God delights in his creations,"

and "Israel delights
in their Creator."

Each and every Jew

-- and especially the Army
of God, on Passover --

recall how the children acted in Egypt,

and remember how they must conduct
themselves now in actual deeds,

and they fulfill all the instructions
of the Commander-in-Chief,

especially those associated with
the current holiday of Passover,

with joy and a happy heart.

There is an additional lesson
from our Festival of Freedom:

If we were liberated
from the external Egypt,

we must certainly free ourselves
from the Evil Inclination

who is the representative
of Pharaoh, King of Egypt.

In our times, as well,

the Evil Inclination wants the Jewish
child to be his slave, Heaven forbid;

to behave, Heaven forbid, as the
Evil Inclination instructs him to.

Comes the Haggadah and tells
us that there was a great war,

and just as God took us out of Egypt,
"with war and with a strong hand,"

so too, every Jewish child

goes out "with war and a strong hand"
against his Evil Inclination.

What are your weapons?

Performing mitzvot,

and conducting yourself
as God wants you to,

and influencing the
children around you,

as mentioned earlier,

loving them selflessly,
"As you love yourself."

And doing so with might,
as one would fight a war.

Although the Evil Inclination
wants to confuse you,

you battle him

until you completely
free yourself from him,

because you stand with
an "outstretched arm" --

the Jewish child stands resolute.

Therefore, you are not intimidated
by the Evil Inclination at all;

on the contrary, the Evil Inclination
is drowned in the Red Sea,

and no trace remains of him at all.

Then you are truly free
of all disturbances,

and you can serve God,
the Commander-in-Chief,

as mentioned earlier,
with joy and a happy heart,

truly complete and truly liberated.

This further hastens the coming
of the final redemption:

When the Commander-in-Chief sees,

and "scrutinizes your inner
recesses and heart,"

that notwithstanding
our state of exile,

whenever it comes to Judaism,

you are a free person,

a free child,

free of anything that could
possibly be a hindrance

to "serving God appropriately,"

and you indeed
carry out God's will

-- it further hastens the reenactment
of the Exodus from Egypt,

when God "didn't delay them
even for the blink of an eye,"

God didn't keep them in exile
for a single extra second,

and "the Jewish people
left with a strong arm,"

during the true redemption
of the Exodus from Egypt.

Our conduct hastens the time
when God will show us wonders,

and we will immediately be redeemed;

"He will not delay them
even for the blink of an eye."

God will redeem every Jew,

"With our young and our old,
our sons and our daughters."

Moreover, "The children were
first to recognize Godliness" --

Jewish children
will lead the way,

because they demonstrated,
even while in exile,

that they are the
genuine Army of God,

to the extent that they
transformed all four sons

into a one and only son, the wise son,

and likewise, the girls
made from all four types

one single type of
girl -- a wise girl.

And then we will all go,
speedily in our day,

from this exile to our Holy Land,

"The land which
God's eyes are upon

from the beginning of
the year until its end."

We will take along
all our good deeds

and all our good behavior,

which brought the
greatest joy and pleasure

for the Commander-in-Chief

-- He will obviously bring
our mitzvot along as well,

because he enjoyed
them so immensely.

He will bring them
out of exile as well,

and we will go
with "great wealth,"

with a great wealth of good deeds,

especially of Jewish children,

and we will go, within
the Land of Israel itself,

as we said before --

within the Land of Israel we'll
go to the holy city of Jerusalem,

and there, onto the Temple Mount,

and there, into the "Temple
formed by God's hands,"

in the Holy Temple,

where we will fulfill the mitzvot

according to His will.

This will all occur through adding in
your enthusiasm and in your actions,

in fulfilling the orders,

the instructions of the
Commander-In-Chief,

more and more

-- the redemption will
come earlier and earlier,

and Moshiach will come now,

with joy and happy hearts.