The Yeshiva University Basketball Team and Pesach preparation!

A few weeks ago, there was major news in the Jewish Sports World! The Yeshiva University men’s basketball team, for the first time in its history, made it to the NCAA tournament! Of course, when the tournament schedule was announced, their first game was scheduled for Friday Night (on shabbat). If you want to know how this got resolved and some other fascinating issues that came up, stay tuned till the end of the sermon!

This shabbos is Parshat Hachodesh. Why do we read this section on this shabbat, two weeks prior to Pesach? Well Rashi (Megilah 29a) tells is that we read Parshat Hachodesh on this week because it includes the description of the Korban Pesach (Pesach Sacrifice). The problem is that if this would be the only reason, why is it called Parshat Hachodesh and not Parshat HaPesach? It must be that there is some connection between the first verse “החדש הזה לכם - this month is for you the first month” that relates to Pesach and is the reason we read it now.

If I would ask an random jew (or maybe even non-jew) what is the “jewish new year”? What would the answer be? Most people would probably say Rosh Hashana. But, they would be wrong! Rosh Hashana (1st of Tishrei) is actually the beginning of the universal new year. The first Mishna in Rosh Hashana tells us that the first of Tishrei (i.e. what we call Rosh Hashana) is new year for years (non jewish kings) for shmita, yovel and all of the agricultural laws. Tishrei is the beginning of the rainy season when all farmers (Jewish and non-jewish ask for rain). On Rosh Hashana, כל באי עולם עוברין לפניך - all inhabitants of the world (jews and non-jews) come before G-d. In other words, Rosh Hashana is not the Jewish new year (it is a universal newyear) and the calendar year that follows is not the Jewish year.

So when does the Jewish year begin? Well this is Parshat Hachodesh. As the Jews are about to leave Egypt and become their own nation, they are given a new calendar. A uniquely Jewish Calendar. “החדש הזה לכם - this month is for you.” לכם ולא לאומות העולם - for you and not for the nations of the world. Our holidays, which represent G-d’s unique relationship with the Jewish people, all flow from the month of Nisan. Note that every time the torah lists the holidays, Rosh Hashana is not first. It is almost at the end because the list begins with the month of Nisan and the holiday of Pesach.

The idea of living with multiple calendars is not foreign to us. Think about your own lives. You have your school calendar, your work calendar, hobby calendars, sports calendars,  tax calendar, secular calendar etc etc. And of course we have our Jewish Calendar. For me, I have them all overlapping on my google calendar neatly color coordinated. The challenge is, what happens when two of my calendars conflict with each other? What happens when it is the 7th game of the world series and I have ticket but it is also the the first day of Sukkot. What happens when I have a very important work event and it is shabbos. Which calendar is החדש הזה לכם - which calendar is “Yours.” Which one wins out? Which calendar is is the primary one around which all the others revolve?

We as Jews in the Modern World are supposed to fully engage. We are supposed to work and participate in the arts and culture and even sports. We are supposed to have all of these overlapping calendars but we have to remember which one is לכם  - “Yours”.

When I study with conversion candidates, we primarily use three texts. One - the Torah, they must study the entire Torah; parshah by parshah. Two - a book on jewish law as they must become conversant in the Laws of shabbat, Kashrut and family purity. Three and maybe most important, I literally take out the Jewish calendar and go through it with them. The dates, the times (for prayer and shabbat etc), the special occasions. If the conversion candidate cannot make the Jewish calendar the rhythm of their lives, they will not be successful jews. We are not expected to give up the other calendars, but we must make the Jewish calendar לכם - “Yours”.  

Now back to the Yeshiva University basketball team. So the game was supposed to be on Shabbat. After a time change request, the NCAA and the opposing team agreed to have the game on Friday afternoon. But there was another problem. That week (thursday) was Purim. Which means that Wednesday was Taanit Esther (Fast of Esther). All the players fasted and they were not able to hold a practice just two days before the most important game of their lives! Wednesday night and thursday were Purim so I am sure they got a quick practice in but they also had to hear the megilah (two times), do the other mitzvot of the day and maybe even get drunk!

So think about it. The basketball team had a very important calendar, the NCAA calendar. They started months before with tryouts, the regular season, practices and now their calendar extended into the tournament for the first time in history. But when the NCAA calendar conflicted with the Jewish calendar, they knew which one was their most important calendar. Which one was לכם.

So what happened. We would hope for the fairytale ending which would go something linek this: Because they did not play on shabbos and fasted on Taanis Esther, they won in the final seconds with a buzzer beating 3-pointer! Wouldnt that be great! But that is not what happened. They lost by 14.

But that is ok. Judaism is not a fairytale. We don’t keep shabbat, to win the game. We don’t fast to make the three-pointer. We do these things because they are reflections of the most profound values of our tradition. We do it because our Jewish Calendar is לכם - “yours.”

As we go into serious Pesach preparation, let us all remember the lesson of the Jewish Calendar. We left Egypt but in order to actualize our values and make Torah the guiding force of our lives, we need the Jewish Calendar. And we need the Jewish calendar not to be just one of many overlapping calendars on our google calendar app. It must be לכם - yours. And if it is, may G-d help us make our commitment to Torah and Mitzvot stronger every day.