This week, we reach two milestones. One is that we have entered Chodesh Nissan. Pesach is around the corner. We see it everywhere. We feel it everywhere. If you are a female, you certainly feel it, and if you are a male and don’t feel it, please don’t disclose that to your wife or mother.

The second milestone is that we are beginning Sefer Vayikra. Much of Sefer Vayikra deals with korbanos.

Two milestones, two new periods, but is there perhaps one common denominator? Is there possibly one concept that both Vayikra and Nissan share?

Learning from Adam Harishon

To answer that, let us begin by exploring Sefer Vayikra.

The first few parshiyos in Sefer Vayikra deal primarily with korbanos. You might be wondering: What can we possibly learn from korbanos? We don’t even have the Bais Hamikdosh today. Certainly, we must learn about korbanos—it is a cheilek of Torah, and we will need to know what to do when Moshiach comes—but is there any lesson for today?

The answer is yes.

The posuk that begins to teach us about korbanos starts with the words, “Daber el Bnei Yisroel v’omarta aleihem adam ki yakriv mikem korban l’Hashem—When a person from among you will bring a korban to Hashem.” There is no word in the Torah without significance. Chazal ask: Why does the posuk use the word adam when it could have used the word ish?

Chazal explain that the posuk uses the word adam to allude to Adam Harishon. We learn that just as Adam Harishon did not bring a korban to Hashem from stolen goods, so must one never bring a korban to Hashem from something that is stolen.

The Most Important Korban: A Bein Adam Lachaveiro Korban

I once saw an explanation that asks: Why is it such a big deal that Adam did not steal? When Adam Harishon was created, the entire world belonged to him. There was no one from whom to steal.

The answer given there is that stealing does not refer only to taking something that belongs to someone else. It refers more broadly to the realm of bein adam lachaveiro. When Adam brought his korban, he was completely pure in matters of bein adam lachaveiro. Similarly, a person’s korban has a very different impact in Shomayim when he is careful about his relationships with others and how he treats them.

A korban, Chazal teach us, must be brought from one’s best animal. A person should always give his best to Hashem—his best in everything, including his best in bein adam lachaveiro.

What do we do today when we no longer have korbanos? Our davening takes their place. What, then, is the “best” davening?

Certainly, we must daven with kavanah. But the davening that comes from a person who is careful in how he interacts with others—someone who is sensitive to the feelings of others, who tries his utmost to be kind and not to offend or look down at anyone—is truly beloved by Hashem and accepted by Hashem.

People often ask, “What segulah should I do so that my tefillos will be accepted?” I once heard from a gadol that the ultimate segulah is this: Hashem loves the tefillos of a person who is careful in areas of bein adam lachaveiro. Hashem cherishes the tefillos that come from the mouth of someone who sincerely tries his best to care about others—everyone, not only those whom it is fashionable to care about.

The Tefillin of the Pshevorsker Rebbe

The following story was told by the Gerer Rebbe, the Pnei Menachem, whose thirtieth yahrtzeit was marked last month. It is a story that he personally witnessed and that demonstrates what a bein adam lachaveiro korban looks like.

It was before his bar mitzvah, when the Imrei Emes told his ben zekunim, Pinchos Menachem, that he possessed a special pair of tefillin written by the famous rebbe, Rav Moshe of Pshevorsk, who was also a sofer and whose every parsha was written with the highest level of kedusha and taharah.

“I myself have used those tefillin,” the Imrei Emes told him, “and if you are worthy, I will give them to you at your bar mitzvah.”

Later, however, not long before the Pnei Menachem’s bar mitzvah, he noticed that a number of parshiyos were brought to the Imrei Emes to choose from, and the rebbe selected from among them for the Pnei Menachem’s tefillin. The Pnei Menachem also noticed that his father was trying, in various ways, to appease him and make him feel better.

He realized that there must be a reason why his father was not giving him the tefillin written by the heilige Rav Moshe Pshevorsker, but he did not have the temerity to ask why.

The Pnei Menachem later related that when he was in Warsaw at the beginning of the churban of Europe, he discovered that shortly before his bar mitzvah, a Yid had come to the Imrei Emes and told the rebbe that he had an older daughter who had finally become a kallah. The man had promised money for the chasunah, but he did not have a penny and was beside himself with worry.

Feeling rachmanus for the poor Yid, the rebbe gave him the tefillin of Rav Moshe Pshevorsker.

Before handing them to him, he said, “You should know that these tefillin, because they are so rare—among the few in the world written by Rav Moshe of Pshevorsk—are worth an exorbitant amount of money. Make sure not to sell them cheaply.”

Indeed, a true bein adam lachaveiro korban.

Cleaning Our Homes…and Cleaning Our Hearts

Similarly, when it comes to Pesach, there are many physical hachanos: cleaning and cooking, cleaning and shopping, cleaning and kashering.

Yet, it is clear that we must also make spiritual hachanos for Pesach.

Now, what would most of us assume are appropriate spiritual hachanos for Pesach? Learning the story of Yetzias Mitzrayim? Understanding the makkos? Learning hilchos Pesach or seforim that teach us about the avodas Hashem of Pesach?

Certainly, these are all worthwhile ways to prepare spiritually. But let us look at how the Bnei Yisroel in Mitzrayim prepared for Pesach. What did their hachanos look like?

The answer is not what we might expect.

The hachanah of the Bnei Yisroel was to invest their energy into remaining b’achdus, unified as one, helping each other in every possible way.

The Tanna Dvei Eliyahu teaches: “Those who left Mitzrayim had only one mitzvah to fulfill, but that one mitzvah was even more beloved to Hashem than one hundred other mitzvos. That mitzvah was that they were all together as one, and that they made a covenant to perform chesed with one another.”

If we examine further, we find that one of the central themes of the Korban Pesach is “Veshochatu oso kol kehal adas Yisroel bein ha’arbayim”—the entire congregation of Klal Yisroel shall slaughter it in the afternoon.

Every member of Klal Yisroel had to bring the Korban Pesach together, with achdus. In addition, the Korban Pesach had to be eaten together, in a chaburah, a group.

From here we see that the primary mitzvah that the Yidden had at the time of Yetzias Mitzrayim was achdus, helping each other and being there for each other. Ahavah and achvah were not merely nice middos or optional additions to the mitzvos. They were the very preparation and introduction to Yetzias Mitzrayim. Without them, there could not have been a Yetzias Mitzrayim.

So as we prepare for Pesach, it is important that we clean thoroughly so that we do not transgress the issur of bal yeira’eh and bal yeimatzei. At the same time, we should remember that the ikkar hachanah of the Bnei Yisroel during the time of Yetzias Mitzrayim was sticking together, supporting one another and being there for each other, both materially and emotionally.

Yes, the ultimate korban is the korban of bein adam lachaveiro, overcoming one’s own middos and desires for the benefit of others. Similarly, the ultimate hachanah for Pesach is also about middos and achdus, trying to see things from another person’s perspective.

This year, as we prepare for Yetzias Mitzrayim, let us engage in that type of hachanah. Let us try to see things from the perspective of others. Let us place ourselves in the position of others and think about what we would want if we were in their situation.

And let us always act with sensitivity toward the needs of others, even when their needs are different from our own.