The Rishonim say that the connection between Parshas צו and Pesach, is that in Parshas Tzav, we learn of the mitzvah of הגלת כלים. All the flour offerings throughout the year, except the קרבן תודה (ten out of forty loaves), which was not a חיוב, and the שתי הלחם on שבועות were of matza- לא תאפה חמץ . In the בהמ”ק, there was a taste of Pesach all year round. The תפארת שלמה says a yid must sanctify his mouth, making it a כלי שרת, so that the matza eaten, will enter a holy place. The same way we perform all mitzvos with זה א-לי ואנוהו, like a beautiful expensive אתרוג, so to the matza we eat has to be in a holy mouth. The second part of the first Rashi of the Parsha says אר”ש ביותר צריך לזרז במקום שיש בו חסרון כיס refers to the קרבן עולה, which is totally consumed on the מזבח, and there is a loss to the כהנים in that they don’t receive any meat. The Bris Avraham explains this as אין אדם מת וחצי תאותו בידו, that a yid has to be happy with his lot- הסתפקות. The opposite being that the יש that he has is always lacking, and what he doesn’t have- חסרון כיס, is a יש on his mind.

The first part of the Rashi says אין צו אלא לשון זריז, teaches that one of the most important things in Yidishkeit is to do things with excitement and quickness. The very first mitzvah in ש”ע is to get up in the morning like a lion, to serve the creator, that is one’s day has to begin with זריזות – excitement. The mitzvah of מצה is the example to all the mitzvos, and is one of זריזות (made in less than eighteen minutes), as it says ושמרתם את המצות. We shouldn’t read מצות but מצוות – כשם שאין מחמיצים את המצות אין מחמיצים את המצוות – that we shouldn’t delay when the mitzvah comes our way, but to do it מיד, immediately. The yidden are considered זריזים, starting with Avraham Avinu. The בעל התניא says that it wasn’t the Akeida that was so great, as many yidden were מוסר נפש for Hashem, especially since the Almighty spoke directly to אברהם. The זריזות of אברהם, was the חידוש, by getting up at the crack of dawn, and saddling his own donkey ויחבש את חמורו, all with זריזות and excitement in fulfilling the will of the Almighty, even though it was totally against his שכל. Matza is flat and low, hinting to humility, while חמץ is blown up, hinting to ego or גאוה. The source of all sin is גאוה, and haughtiness, thinking that everything is deserved. A yid has to be a זריז all of his days, to nullify his ישות.

Parshas צו, is in most years שבת הגדול, the Shabbos before Pesach, and has in it the light of Pesach. The Parsha begins with the removal of the ashes, from the alter, and then taking them out of the Mikdash שטן=359=הדשן . This is the only time the Torah mentions תרומת הדשן. Rashi says that צו is a language of זריזות, and is written here by תרומת הדשן since maybe a Cohen might think, that the janitor should be the one to remove the ashes, the wastes. No one could pick and choose when it comes to mitzvos, and no one knows which mitzvah is greater than another. We have to do the will of Hashem, with no חשבונות. Every day they would remove these ashes לקראת הגבר, when the rooster crowed, as the sun rose. The first עבודה is to remove the יצה”ר, doing the mitzvah of ביעור חמץ, with a freshkeit and excitement, and then after forty nine days of working on and humbling ourselves, on שבועות, we could use the חמץ, that is elevate the יצה”ר. In the morning, our service is the same, by first removing the wastes preparing ourselves for the עבודה of tefilla. By Mincha and Maariv we are already up, but שחרית requires זריזות. The sun, which rises the first thing each day, is a symbol of זריזות. We compare the sun to a chasan- והוא כחתן יוצא מחופתו. A חתן is very excited on his wedding day, and he gets up very early with tremendous זריזות. Avraham was מתקן שחרית, and Pesach is the שחרית of the year.

The Ari HaKodesh asks why do we say the Bracha of שלא עשני גוי every day, since we are always Jewish, and answers that sometimes a yid wakes up with a part of a goyish soul. How do we know this? If we wake up with absolutely no enthusiasm, then we could have woken up with some goyishkeit in us, whereas if we wake up with זריזות and excitement, we know we’re okay. Matza is called לחם עוני, flat not fancy- simple. When it comes to physical pleasures, a yid has to be happy and satisfied with simplicity, with מצה. Avraham was happy with the simple, and he wouldn’t take even a shoe lace from מלך סדום. It says in the Tur, that Avraham represents the י”ט of Pesach, as most the events of his life took place on Pesach that is – his Bris Mila, being visited by the angels, saving Lot and the overturning of Sodom, the Akeida etc… Avraham was clear, with no doubts that Hashem is one. Every day when the sun rises, we proclaimהויה אחד שמע ישראל הויה אלה-ינו. Avraham taught the world that there is just one creator. When we remove the עצלות -Amelek, the חמץ, with the mitzvah of תשביתו, then the clarity that Hashem is one, is revealed – אחד=1118=תשביתו שמע ישראל הויה אלה-ינו הויה

By the מכות, Hashem told Moshe to השכם בבוקר, and stand before Pharoh, השכם בבוקר והתיצב לפני פרעה, teaching us that the way to fight the פה רע, the יצה”ר, is with זריזות. The Satan put many obstacles in the path of Avraham trying to prevent him from doing the עקידה, but the alacrity and enthusiasm of Avraham, won the battle. The Zohar says that matza is מאכל דאמונתו, that eating matza is eating אמונה. The matza is baked with זריזות and לשם שמים. Big Tzadikim knew which matzos to use by the ליל הסדר, by sensing the proper intention, used in the making of the matzos. Avraham was the ראש מאמינים, and we inherit all our Jewish traits from Avraham- זריזות ענוה הסתפקות במועט ואמונה, all which the matza symbolizes. The שם יוד הא ואו הא is known as the שם מה, as this name adds up to 45. מצה=135=3 x 45, or 3 xמה and לחם =78=3 x 26 or 3 x הויה. The name מה represents humility ענוה. Moshe was the greatest ענו, who said נחנו מה, where Avraham said אנכי אפר ועפר, and David HaMelech said אנכי תולעת. The simple peshat of why what Moshe said denotes more humility, is that dirt, ashes and a worm are still something, whereas, מה is nothing. The בעל שם טוב says that Avraham and David said the word I, whereas Moshe didn’t and couldn’t say I, but we. י”ם is the city of זריזות, opposite of laziness -ירושלים=596=עצלות =596=אכילת מצה, and the Cohanim are known as the זריזים. Eating matza, especially in י”ם, is the tikun for עצלות. Really we were supposed to be in Egypt for another 190 years – חשב את הקץ, and so Hashem is saying that he wants us to perform מצוות with זריזות, the same way He took us out of מצרים with זריזות. If they would have remained for another moment, the yidden would have fallen into the קליפה of Egypt, which is עצלות. Avraham was known as the Cohen. On the Seder night, we wear a kittle, similar to the בגדי כהונה on יה”כ and the Afikoman is like the קרבן פסח. The Rav says that every yid is a כהן גדול by the Seder night, the י”ט that we became גוי גדול וממלכת כהנים.

The שבת before Pesach, the י”ט of זריזות is called שבת הגדול, where we anticipate in what’s written in מלאכי, the last prophet- היום הויה הגדול והנורא, where the final Geula is referred to as גדול. Shabbos HaGadol is always prior to the Geula. כלל ישראל is referred to as גוי גדול, א”י is גדול, the נהר הגדול the Euphrates is called so since it borders on א”י. The day of the year that requires the most זריזות is ערב פסח, the day that the חתם סופר says, is when Hashem gets rid of his חמץ, which is Amelek. The mida of זריזות is needed to counter Amelek, who comes when the yidden are lax –

וילחם עם ישראל ברפידים, where רפידים is רפיון ידים, meaning lax and apathetic. It says that Moshe was punished for his lack of זריזות in the war with Amelek וידי משה כבדים. Rashi says that the reason for this heaviness of Moshe’s hands, was נתעצל במצוה, by appointing יהושע to fight Amelek, instead of doing it himself. Because of this, Amelek was not totally eradicated. Besides this, on the way to Egypt, Moshe delayed in going- ויחר אף הויה על משה, which led to Moshe being punished in that the כהונה was given to Aharon and not to him. Cohanim are זריזים.

The Parsha begins and ends with צו, as it says in the last pasuk- ויעש אהרן ובניו את כל הדברים אשר צוה הויה ביד משה. The question here is why does the pasuk say ביד משה instead of the common את משה? Another problem is that Rashi says on ויעש אהרן ובניו, to להגיד שבחן שלא הטו ימין ושמאל, when in the very next Parsha- שמיני, we see that the sons of Aharon, נדב ואביהוא did not do exactly what Hashem commanded אש זרה אשר לא צוה ה”. The Ramban says that this is the reason that it says ביד משה, and not את משה, hinting to them doing not exactly what Hashem commanded. However Rashi says that they didn’t deviate left or right. According to the peshat, נדב ואביהוא didn’t deviate on the שבעה ימי מילאוים, but only on the שמיני, the eighth day ר”ח ניסן, and so here in צו, they did exactly what they were supposed to (not like the Ramban).

The Opter Rav, the אוהב ישראל, in the ליקוטים, brings in Parshas Korach the question אשר דיבר הויה ביד משה, that Hashem spoke to the hand of Moshe? He answers that originally the Torah was supposed to be given on Moshe’s hands. On the hands are lines that are unique to every individual, and could tell his entire life. Especially with צדיקים, these lines are their portions in Torah. It says of the אמוראים, when they didn’t have a sufficient response לא הוה בידיה, literally meaning that it wasn’t in their hands that is his חלק in Torah. Moshe, encompassed the entire Torah 613=משה רבינו Mitzvos, as he was the נשמה כלליות. On Moshe’s hands were etched the entire Torah, which we would have understood, just by looking at them, if not for the חטא העגל. In Parshas בשלח יז:יב, (even though this Parsha came before the עגל ) the אוהב ישראל darshens like this- וידי משה כבדים it could’ve been that the Torah was read and understood from Moshe’s hands, ויקחו אבן -but now, the לוחות האבן were to be the fitting vehicle to transmit the Torah. The pasuk says next -ואהרן וחור תמחו בידיו. They were both trying to lift his hands to the מדרגה of seeing the Torah on Moshe’s hands. ויהי ידיו אמונה עד בא השמש -when משיח will come, the hands of Moshe will be the source of the Torah, and all yidden should have אמונה that this will take place in לעתיד לבא. Now we are on the level of את משה, and in the future it will be יד משה. The Torah of משיח will be revealed from his hands. יציאת מצרים is the root of all Geulos- ויהי ידיו אמונה עד באו השמש=891=יציאת מצרים

This is the Shabbos that takes us into the Geula, potentially into ימות המשיח. The redemption from מצרים, is the source of all גאולות. Rav Tzadok says the first time a word is written in the Chumash is its source. In both ויקרא and צו, both usually in the month of Nisan, it mentions the word משיח, for the first time. In the הפטרה of Shabbos HaGadol it saysהני אנכי שלח לכם את אליהו הנביא לפני יום הויה הגדול והנורה. This could be the Shabbos before יום הויה הגדול – משיח. Avraham, the י”ט of Pesach is referred to as האדם הגדול בענקים, the first yid- וירא ישראל את היד הגדול. The leaving מצרים is connected to thisגדולה .

Tzav is also referred to as ע”ז, and also a לשון of מלכות as when Hashem told Moshe to anoint יהושע. On Pesach every yid became a part of the ממלכת כהנים, a מלך. We don’t eat any bones on Leil HaSeder, since we are all royalty. Every yid is a Cohen, who are זריזים. The greatest זריז, as we already said, was Avraham. The Torah always says ועתה –now, of which the יצה”ר attempts to prevent, telling us to push off, what we could do now. All the preparations of Pesach are done with זריזות.

After נדב ואביהוא were consumed by fire, both of their נשמות were fused into one, and entered פנחס. That’s why it says פנחס בן אלעזר, who were בן אהרן. Pinchas is אליהו, of whom we read in the הפטרה of שבת הגדול. What נדב ואביהוא did was a ‘Geuladik’ עבירה. They held that they were in the עולם השמיני, the future world. On ר”ח ניסן, after the שבעת ימי המלואים, Moshe started this day with the inauguration of the Mishkan, however he did not complete the day, as all the עבודה was passed over to Aharon. It says that נדב ואביהוא brought אש זרה אשר לא צוה ה”. In גמורה נידה it says that מצוות בטלות לעתיד לבאו. Many commentators ask the question how this is possible since the ninth of the שלשה עשר עיקרים, says that the Torah will never be changed, and there will be no other Torah from Hashem. The תולדות יעקב יוסף says in the name of the בעל שם טוב, that in the future, there will be no need for צוויים, as all yidden will do the will of the Almighty on their own, since there will be such a revelation of Hashem’s light. Both Nadav and Avihu held it was already the future- יום השמיני, and it was the time like Adam HaRishon before the חטא. Nadav and Avihu had a burning love and passion to come close to Hashem, and they felt they reached the point where there were no צוויים, and it was the period of יד משה. Really they were on this high level, but Tzur and the generation was not. Nadav and Avihu were נתגלגל into אליהו, who will usher in the עולם השמיני. Elisha asked of אליהו הנביא, his Rebbi before אליהו ascended to heaven- אלי נא על פי שנים רוחך ..where נא is the acronym of נדב אביהו. There were many other opinions on what their sin was, but they all have the same תירוץ. There are those that said that they paskened a Halacha, in front of their Rebbi, where in the future Rebbi and talmid will be equal- לא ילמדו איש אל רעהו. Others said they entered inside the ק”ק, while שתויי יין, after drinking wine. In the future there won’t be the ill effects of wine, even after drinking a full cup. Because of the חטא העגל, wine today has a negative effect. On Pesach by night, all yidden reaches the level of the future world שער נ of קדושה, or יד משה.

The Yahrzeit of the אמרי חיים of Vizhnitz, is on ט ניסן. When he first came to א”י, he used to hear frequently the expression ‘הכל בסדר’, to which he said, was true, that a yid’s whole year is determined on how his ליל הסדר was conducted. We have קדש before ורחץ, that even before washing, we’re holy, on the Pesach night.

As we said the Parsha begins with the mitzva of the removal of the ashes, the wastes- the יצה”ר, which will bring us to the משיח and the יד משה that isמשיחא=359=יד משה=359=שטן=359=הדשן

On ז ניסן, Yehoshua officially took over the נשיאות from משה, after the thirty days mourning period, and prepared the yidden for entry into א”י. On this date- ז ניסן, the נשיא from Efraim, אלישמע בן עמיהוד, the grandfather of יהושע, sacrificed his קרבן. Normally we celebrate a י”ט or event, by the date, and not by the day -שבת הגדול. We should have held י ניסן, as special, however since Miriam passed away on this date, which led to the מי מריבה, and Moshe not being allowed to enter א”י and completing the גאולה, we celebrate שבת הגדול instead. On this day, the first born Egyptians were shocked that the yidden were schlepping sheep through the street, into their homes. The sheep was the ע”ז of Egypt. Two miracles took place. One was, the yidden were not prevented from doing this command of Hashem, especially since this was the Egyptian’s ע”ז. Secondly, the first born Egyptians were told of the final plague of מכת בכורות, which resulted in a civil war- מכה מצרים בבכוריהם, where many of them were killed.

Yehoshua taking us into א”י, also on י ניסן, was a step down in relation to Moshe taking us in. Yehoshua is compared to the moon, as opposed to Moshe, the sun. The sun has a protective layer around it, the נרתיק, similar in concept to Moshe coming down from הר סיני, wearing a mask. In the future the world will be worthy of witnessing the sun w/o its נרתיק, when the צדיקים will be cured, and the רשעים burnt. The final גאולה will be on the level of פני החמה, as משה is Mashiach משהיה הוא שיהיה. The date י ניסן will have a tikun, and משיח will prepare us to enter into ארץ ישראל.