Jewish Audio on Chabad.org. This class is presented by Rabbi Leibel Schapiro. Rabbi Leibel Schapiro, a noted Talmudic scholar, is the Dean of the Yeshiva Gedolah Rabbinical College of Greater Miami, the rabbi of Congregation Beit Menachem, and a community leader in Miami Beach, Florida. Tonight's class is on Pesach Sheni and the reason I chose that subject is obviously because Pesach Sheni is this week. We still got a few days to prepare to Pesach Sheni, so it's always good to learn about the holiday that we're preparing for so we know what we're preparing for. In truth, we had a class on Pesach Sheni two, three years ago, I don't remember when it was. So number one, it doesn't matter if we review the same thing that we learned, but besides that, I think, I don't remember exactly, but I think then it was more general, and today I think I will try to get into some more specifics of different opinions in Pesach Sheni. Obviously not the halachic aspect of it, but more the Chassidus aspect of it. But the Chassidus aspect is always an ex- an explanation, a Chassidish explanation on the halachot, certain halachot, or certain details of whatever holiday it is. So therefore, we will talk about certain opinions of Pesach Sheni and then try to explain what that means looking at it from the perspective of of Chassidus or Kabbalah, etc., etc. We'll start off with a simple argument in Gemara: what is Pesach Sheni? Now when I say what is Pesach Sheni, we all know what Pesach Sheni is. Pesach Sheni is that there was a din, there is a din that a person has to bring the קרבן פסח, the special קרבן פסח on Erev Pesach. If a person could not bring it cause he was tamei, he was impure, or he was far away, or some other reason that he couldn't bring the קרבן פסח, so Hashem gave a second chance, that a month later, which is the 14th of Iyar, cause Erev Pesach is the 14th of Nisan, the 14th of Iyar, you have a chance to bring a second קרבן פסח. So we know what the קרבן, what Pesach Sheni is, that's not a question. The question is, what is the geder, what kind of Yom Tov is that? Meaning to say like this: Now first quote the wording of the different opinions and then I'll explain it, and then I will go into try to explain the Chassidish aspect of it. One opinion says that Pesach Sheni is a רגל בפני עצמו. רגל בפני עצמו means it's a Yom Tov for itself. I'll explain in a moment the difference between the opinions. The second one is that it's not a רגל בפני עצמו, it's not a Yom Tov in itself, but it's תשלומין, תקנתא ד- תשלומין דראשון. It's משלים, it finishes off what the first one was missing, was not finished. And the third opinion is it's תקנתא דראשון, it's מתקן, it fixes what the first one was missing. And I'll say, I'll tell exact- explain exactly what the pshat in this Gemara is based on the interpretation of Rabbeinu Avraham ben HaRambam. Cause there are different interpretations in in the Gemara what the three opinions mean. Rashi actually has a little bit different, but the simplest one, the one that makes more sense, it's easier to understand, is the interpretation of Rav Avraham ben HaRambam. And this is what he says: The first opinion is רגל בפני עצמו means it's a Yom Tov for itself, meaning to say that even though the one that brought the קרבן פסח on ערב פסח does not have to bring the קרבן פסח on פסח שני, but the פסח שני is a Yom Tov for itself. And therefore, if somebody was not obligated to bring the first קרבן פסח, he still has to bring פסח שני. If פסח שני is only to make up for what you missed out because you did something wrong by not bringing the first קרבן, so if somebody was not obligated to bring the first קרבן, then he shouldn't have to bring פסח שני. For instance, גר שנתגייר, if a person, a goy, converted in the days of Sefirah, between Pesach and פסח שני, he never was obligated to bring the קרבן פסח. So if you would hold like the other two opinions, that it's to fix up the first or to be משלים, to finish off the first, that means that if you had the first, you got to do something about it. You had an obligation on the first, you missed out your obligation, you got to do it. But if you never had the obligation, then you shouldn't have to do it. Or another example: a child becomes bar mitzvah in middle of, between Pesach and פסח שני, he wouldn't have to bring the קרבן פסח, because he never were obligated. So this opinion says: No, you are supposed to bring, because it's a Yom Tov for itself. There is a Yom Tov that פסח שני is a begin- of an obligation. But there is a condition to this Yom Tov. The condition is that if you brought the first קרבן, you don't have to bring the second. But the second is a Yom Tov in itself, it's an obligation in itself, that even if you did not have the obligation at first. The second opinion, which says it is תשלומין דראשון, means like this, that when a person brings the קרבן פסח, doesn't bring the קרבן פסח in the first Pesach, automatically he has done the sin for which he is he would get the punishment of כרת. We know that for not bringing the קרבן פסח, the punishment is כרת. כרת is a very harsh punishment, punishment that Hashem would make the person die at a young age, etc., etc. If he wants to get rid of that כרת, he has to bring the פסח שני. Now, what happens if, when it came to פסח שני, something happened beyond his control and he couldn't bring it? He still would be חייב כרת. In other words, this opinion holds that פסח ראשון is the Yom Tov, you have to bring the קרבן פסח. For not bringing it, you're חייב כרת. Now, if you bring the second one, you take off the karet. If you didn't bring the second, for whatever reason, your karet is there. The third opinion says no, that when a person doesn't bring the פסח ראשון, he is not חייב כרת yet. If he doesn't bring the פסח שני, that's when he's חייב כרת. And therefore, if something came up that he couldn't bring the פסח שני, he's not חייב כרת, because he was a shogeg. According to the second opinion, he's חייב כרת right away no matter what. He could take it away. If his mazal was that he couldn't take it away, so too bad on him, because you're חייב כרת right away. So the second is just תשלומין. The third one says it's תקנתא דראשון. תקנתא דראשון means it is the tikun. In other words, the first one is not finished. When you don't bring the first, there is it's not over yet, your karet is not there till you bring the second. If you don't bring the second, you get karet at that only time. Obviously, if you were shogeg, you couldn't bring the second beyond your control, and you're not חייב כרת. These are the three opinions. So basically, to get back, one opinion is that פסח שני is a Yom Tov in itself. The second one is that פסח שני, that the פסח ראשון is finished, and פסח שני could come and be משלים it. And the third one is that פסח שני, that פסח ראשון, right away in פסח ראשון, right away we have the fact that you're able to bring פסח שני and you don't get karet yet till after פסח שני. What we need to understand is that since we know that even though when there's a machloket in Gemara, the halacha is usually like, not usually, is always like one opinion, you can't have the halacha like all three, it's one of the three, but אלו ואלו דברי אלקים חיים. Because they're opinions in Torah, all of them are true. Not physically, physically the halacha is like one, but spiritually, they're all true. So we have to find the spiritual interpretation of these three opinions in פסח שני, which will explain to us what they are, so we'll see how all three are true.

The halacha actually is like the first opinion, that it is a רגל בפני עצמו, it's a separate Yom Tov. Because it's a separate Yom Tov, because that's the halacha, the Rambam in Sefer Hamitzvot, where he enumerates every single mitzvah, he counts the mitzvah of Pesach Sheni as a separate mitzvah. One mitzvah is to bring Pesach Rishon, then there's a separate mitzvah to bring Pesach Sheni. And the reason the commentaries say is because since the halacha is that it's רגל בפני עצמו, it's a separate Yom Tov, so it's a separate mitzvah. So therefore, Pesach Sheni is a separate mitzvah in the count, in the numbers of mitzvot. But the question is, as much as it's a רגל בפני עצמו, it's a Yom Tov for itself, nevertheless, the one that brought Pesach Rishon does not have to bring Pesach Sheni. So it would seem that as much as it's a separate Yom Tov, but the inyan, the concept of it, is a substitute for the first. But not in a way that if you were not obligated you don't have to bring, you have to bring it anyway. But it still should not be a separate mitzvah, because after all, it's only a repeat. It's a repeat as a Yom Tov for itself, but it is definitely a repeat of Pesach Rishon. The proof is that if someone brought Pesach Rishon, you don't bring Pesach Sheni. So if it's a repeat of Pesach Rishon, why in the mitzvot should it be counted as a separate mitzvah? So that's another thing that we have to understand, and again we're not going to go into this according to halacha, according to pilpul, according to nigleh, the way it will be understood according to Chassidus. So to understand this, let's just first look at other details in connection to Pesach Sheni. The difference between Pesach Sheni and Pesach Rishon, and the regular קרבן פסח. The din by Pesach Rishon is that when you bring the קרבן פסח, you are not allowed to have any chametz. You bring it at a time when chametz is already forbidden. You couldn't bring the korban Pesach before midday, only after chatzot, and then already was a time that you were not allowed to have any chametz. פסח שני, at the time you bring the פסח שני, at the time you're eating the פסח שני, you're allowed to have chametz in your house. You're just not allowed to eat chametz together with the meat of the korban Pesach. But there is no din of בל יראה בל ימצא. There is no din that you're not allowed to own, see, or have chametz in your possession. You're allowed to. You're allowed to even have eaten chametz five minutes before, you can eat chametz five minutes later, just at the time you can't. While on the first Pesach, פסח ראשון is a time when you are not allowed to have chametz. Then there's another thing the Gemara says as a difference between the first Pesach and the second. The first Pesach, the Gemara says, is seven days. The second Pesach is just one day. Now, even though the korban Pesach, even by the first one, is only once, you don't bring the korban Pesach for seven days, but nevertheless, the Gemara refers to it that the korban Pesach is a is a korban which has along with it seven days. All seven days are an extension of Pesach. Actually, we call the יום טוב פסח in connection to the korban Pesach. So the din of Pesach which is connected to the פסח ראשון is seven days. While the din of Pesach in connection to פסח שני is one day. They brought the korban Pesach on the fourteenth of Iyar, and then they later on at night you ate it, and that's it, there is nothing more with the korban Pesach. What is the reason for it?

So in order to give the reason, we have to understand what is the spiritual difference between פסח ראשון and פסח שני? פסח ראשון is when a person brings the korban Pesach as he is supposed to. That is the proper order of things. The seder is there's a certain time when the korban Pesach has to be brought, a person brings the korban Pesach in its proper time. בזמנו, in its time. פסח שני is when a person brings the קרבן פסח not in its proper time, in a time when really this is not the time of Pesach. And therefore, there would have been even a thought, a hava amina that you shouldn't be able to bring. Like we find by all other sacrifices, עבר זמנו בטל קרבנו. When you have to bring a קרבן at a certain time and the time passed, that's it, you can't bring the קרבן again. You have to bring the קרבנות of מוסף. On Shabbos, they would bring the special קרבן מוסף, that's why we daven מוסף. Let's say for some reason they didn't bring it, they didn't have the animal, whatever, they didn't bring it, too bad, you can't make it up, say, 'Well, I'll bring the מוסף tomorrow.' So there would have been a thought here also, since it's not the right time, you missed out the time, you can't bring it, so you shouldn't be able to bring it again. Nevertheless, the קרבן פסח שני means that at a time when it's not the right, proper time, you still are able to bring the קרבן. And that's where the famous expression of the Frierdiker Rebbe comes in, that פסח שני means az s'iz nisht a kein farfalen, it's never too late. That's what it means. This is a type of קרבן that's never too late. You missed the time, but you didn't miss the boat. You still are able to fix it. Which basically means, if we want to put it into other words, that the difference between פסח ראשון and פסח שני is that פסח ראשון represents what we would call in חסידות עבודת הצדיקים. And פסח שני represents עבודת הבעלי תשובה. A tzadik is a person that does everything correctly, does everything properly, does everything according to the proper order. There's a pasuk that says, 'אלקים עשה את האדם ישר,' Hashem made a person straight. And a tzadik is a person who works straight, does everything right. A baal teshuva is a person who missed out, he didn't do things right, and now he's trying to fix later on what he missed out before. And that is basically the difference between the two קרבנות. פסח ראשון is the עבודת צדיקים, that's when you do things right, he brought brings the קרבן פסח in its proper time, and פסח שני represents the fact that there are people who serve Hashem as baalei teshuva, that they did not do the right thing before, they missed out on what they were supposed to do, and now they are changing themselves and coming back and doing the right thing. That's what פסח שני represents. As the Frierdiker Rebbe said, Pesach Sheni iz nit a kein farfalen, there is no, not too late, means a baal teshuva is never too late. When we look at the circumstances of the two קרבנות, we see exactly that's how it was. What were the circumstances of the first Pesach? Of the קרבן פסח. The circumstances were at the time of יציאת מצרים. When the Yidden went out of מצרים, they were basically all tzadikim. Why? Because we know that at the time of יציאת מצרים, that's when the geirut, the conversion of the Yidden started. So the Yidden were like gerim. As bad as we always say that the Yidden were in מצרים and they had to run away from מצרים, etc., etc., but that all didn't count, because they were like gerim. And what's the din of a ger? גר שנתגייר כקטן שנולד דמי. A ger that converts is like a child that's born. All the things that he did before don't count. They don't exist. He's a new human being, actually a new human being. Even his relationship to his relatives don't count. His father is not his father, and his mother is not his mother, and his sister not his sister. There are certain דינים מדרבנן that they still have to keep in order people shouldn't look, say look what happened, he became a Yid, he doesn't care about his parents. So the Rabbanan made certain דינים, but be'emes, he's like a newborn child with everything from before is off. So when the Yidden went out of מצרים, since they were gerim at that time, they were tzaddikim, because they had no past. So they had no aveirot to say that they're now doing teshuvah for aveirot. What they did have were mitzvot. They had the mitzvah of korban Pesach, they had the mitzvah of milah, that's all they had. All the other things don't count, so they were basically tzaddikim. Let's look at the circumstances of Pesach Sheni. What happened with Pesach Sheni? There were people in the מדבר, in the desert, that was a year later, that were tamei. And when people are tamei, that shows that they are not tzaddikim. Tumah, impurity, shows that they're not at the level the way it should be. A tzaddik is tahor, is pure, is clean. They were not, so obviously they were not, at that time things were not right. And what kind of tumah did they have? We have different types of impurity in the Torah. The worst one of all is טומאת מת, from one perspective. There are other perspectives, מצורע and stuff, but from one perspective טומאת מת is the worst, when you become tamei by touching a dead body. And that's what they were. These people, as it says in Chumash, were tamei because they touched a dead body. And that shows their level was very, very far from kedushah. It represents that, because the whole concept of death has to do with the חטא עץ הדעת. When did death come into the world? From the sin of the עץ הדעת. So טומאת מת shows an extension of the עץ הדעת, which is the source of all sins. So therefore a person who's טמא מת shows on a very, very low level. Actually, it says in Midrash that when Moshe Rabbeinu heard from Hashem the laws of טומאת מת, that there is a person who could become טמא from a מת, the Midrash says the words, נתכרכמו פניו של משה. Moshe's face became white, became frightened, and he said to השם, זה מת, במה טהרתו? Something like this, such a terrible thing, will he ever be able to get pure and clean again? So Hashem said, don't worry, I'll give you, you know, פרה אדומה, and there is a way to get clean. Why did Moshe get so scared? When he heard about other טומאות he didn't get so scared, the טומאת נבילה and stuff, מצורע, because this represents the lowest level a person could reach. So here we're talking about people in the מדבר who were on the level of טמא, טמא מת, and they came to Moshe Rabbeinu, and they said, למה נגרע? Why should we miss out in bringing the קרבן פסח in its proper time? By them saying למה נגרע, you know what they did? Teshuvah! That was teshuvah! What is a baal teshuvah? A baal teshuvah, how does a person do teshuvah? Comes to Hashem, and he says to Hashem, I feel bad for what I did, I don't want to have that, I want to change, and I want to have an opportunity to do everything good. That's exactly what they said. They came and they did vidui. What's vidui? One of the things in teshuvah is vidui, confession. That's what they said, למה נגרע? We are טמא, why should we lose out? So basically the circumstances that brought about Pesach Sheni represent teshuvah. So here we see when we're dividing the two levels, that Pesach Rishon is the level of the way a tzadik works, and Pesach Sheni is a baal teshuvah, we actually see it not only because this is the proper time, so that's like a tzadik, and this is someone who lost time, missed, and therefore he's like a baal teshuva. The original circumstances where they both started show that this is tzadikim and this is baalei teshuva. Which is the reason Chassidus says why the din of Pesach Sheni came from Hashem, different than most of the mitzvot in the Torah. Most of the mitzvot in the Torah did not come after a request. Hashem told Moshe, \"Tell the Yidden put on tefillin, tell the Yidden to do this, tell the Yidden to do this, tell...\" Very few we find. This is one of them, that the people came and they requested and they wanted, and Hashem answered them, \"Okay, you could have it.\" Why is this if why if there if Hashem wanted there should be Pesach Sheni, and obviously He did want, and the best proof He wanted is that He gave it, so why didn't He give it Himself? Why did He wait for them to come? The answer is because Pesach Sheni represents teshuva. And this is the whole concept of a baal teshuva. A baal teshuva, it says in Chassidus, does not come because there is some גילוי אור, some light that shines upon him from shamayim. Because a baal teshuva means a person who, before he is a baal teshuva, in simple words, he is a בעל עבירה. He is a person who does aveirot, a person who is on a low level, a person who is not a כלי, not a vessel to respond to any Godly Godly revelations. So, what pulls him out from that mud? It comes from within himself. A baal teshuva, it says, comes because a Yid has a neshama. So, from within, מלמטה למעלה, that's exactly what it says, that a tzadik's avoda is מלמעלה למטה, it comes from above. And this is as from himself, from himself he comes to realize, and something happens within him, and he comes and turns back to Hashem. That's what baal teshuva is. That's why Pesach Sheni, which is the level of baal teshuva, came because they asked for it. It has to come מלמטה למעלה. So, here we have, according to Chassidus, that the difference between Pesach Rishon and Pesach Sheni is: Pesach Rishon is צדיקים, פסח שני is the level of baalei teshuvah.

Which of the two is greater? So, we all know. On one hand, tzaddikim are greater, and therefore פסח ראשון is greater, and that makes sense. פסח ראשון, which is the right way to do it, that's the right way. That's the... פסח שני is already, if you say in Yiddish, shoyn gelatet, that's already patched up. So, that's not the same. So, פסח ראשון should be higher. On the other hand, we know that baal teshuvot, a baal teshuvah is greater than a tzaddik: במקום שבעלי תשובה עומדים צדיקים גמורים אינם יכולים לעמוד, the level of בעל תשובה צדיקים don't stand. And there are many explanations why. But one of the explanations why a baal teshuvah is higher because a baal teshuvah can elevate and be מברר things which a tzaddik can't. A tzaddik, when he eats, he elevates the food. When he does a mitzvah with something, he elevates the גשמיות, he brings a lot of kedushah into the world, obviously. But there is a limit of how low he could go. He could only elevate things which are kasher. There's no way a tzaddik could elevate חזיר, because the Torah said, \"Don't eat it.\" He can't. He could lower himself to drink water, which is not a mitzvah, but by making a berachah and and making a ברכה אחרונה and drinking it l'shem shamayim, he elevates it, but there's a limit. A baal teshuvah is able to elevate something that's very, very low. And the koach to do that has to come from a very, very high level. Because in order to have that power of lowering yourself to something that's so low and being able to bring it... Like a baal teshuvah, how does a baal teshuvah do it? A baal teshuvah did aveirot. He ate חזיר. And now when the baal teshuvah does teshuvah, we know, זדונות נעשו לו כזכיות, the aveirot turned into mitzvot. So now the חזיר that he ate has an elevation. So, he has the power. Where does he get that power? It says that's from such a high Godly level, which Chassidut would call למעלה מהשתלשלות, that's higher than השתלשלות. Because from the level of השתלשלות, which is limited, even spiritually limited, this cannot happen. Even spiritually, there is a limit what you can do. There's a limit how far you could bring Godliness. But it could only come from a higher level. That's why we find an interesting thing in Midrash. It says in Midrash that three were asked, \"What should a person who did an aveirah do?\" חכמה was asked, נבואה was asked, and Torah was asked, these three. No one came up with the answer, \"Let him do teshuvah.\" Then finally שאלו להקדוש ברוך הוא, they asked Hashem Himself, and Hashem said, \"חוטא מה תהא עליו? What should a sinner do? יעשה תשובה ויתכפר לו, he should do teshuvah.\" So, chassidus explain, what does that mean? That only because of such a high level which is higher than השתלשלות, that's why there could be such a thing as teshuvah. From the lower level, even from the level of Torah, the level of נבואה, the level of חכמה, this couldn't happen, because it makes no sense. If you did an aveirah and something is bad, how could you elevate the evil that you have within you? How could you change it? It's impossible. But only because Hashem Himself, who is beyond everything and there is no limits to Hashem, so Hashem could do it. And that's what happens by Pesach Sheni, that by Pesach Sheni there is this koach koach of teshuvah, which is stronger than the one that brings Pesach Rishon. This is the explanation to the two differences that we said between Pesach Rishon and Pesach Sheni. Pesach Rishon we said, you're not allowed to have chametz in your house. Pesach Sheni you are. Another thing, Pesach Rishon is seven days, Pesach Sheni is one day. The difference is because of what I just explained now. Why is it that by Pesach Rishon you can't have chametz in your house? Because chametz represents gaavah, chametz represents evil, chametz, always in the Gemara when they use, not sometimes when they want to say someone became bad, turned bad, it says החמיץ. He became sour. Chametz actually means sour. So chametz represents קליפה, evil. In the time of Pesach Rishon, which is the avodah of tzaddikim, tzaddikim cannot elevate the evil. They could elevate things which are not holy, but things which are evil they can't elevate. They could elevate, as chassidus says, קליפת נוגה, but not שלש קליפות הטמאות לגמרי, not things which are complete kelipah. That's why Pesach ראשון, which represents the avodah of tzadikim, you can't have chametz. Because chametz is a contradiction to serving Hashem. So when you're serving Hashem with the קרבן פסח, which represents your service of Hashem, so going to Hashem and elevating, you can't have chametz in your house. While a בעל תשובה, Pesach שני, he has that power of elevating even evil, even שלש קליפות הטמאות לגמרי, which is completely evil, he has that power as we said. So Pesach Sheni, to show that it this represents the level of a בעל תשובה, you're allowed to have chametz in your house. That means that there's a קרבן פסח and you're serving Hashem and you have chametz. Because you could even bring up the chametz. It's similar to what it says the difference between Pesach and Shavuos. Pesach chametz is forbidden, forbidden. All year round, not forbidden, but it's not a mitzvah. Shavuos chametz is a mitzvah. The שתי הלחם, the special two breads that was brought in the בית המקדש on Shavuos as a special din, had to be chametz. Normally chametz was forbidden in the בית המקדש all year round. Not only Pesach. A קרבן מנחה that was made with bread didn't have chametz. The pasuk says, כי כל שאר וכל דבש לא תקטירו, you can't bring chametz. The לחם הפנים, the bread, what's it what's called, the showbread, which were a tefach thick, a tefach, but it was matzah, it wasn't chametz. There was a special way to bake it. It shouldn't become chametz, but you're not allowed chametz. Shavuos, the two special breads that they had to bring on Shavuos was chametz. And Chassidus says the difference is like this: Pesach is a time when we just start, and therefore we cannot get involved with chametz. Chametz is dangerous. By the time you reach Shavuos, and then you already passed the seven weeks of Sefirah, which means you counted the days and you elevated, you refined yourself, you purified your middos, by then, when it comes to Shavuos, already you could have chametz, you have the power of elevating. Similar to that is the idea of Pesach Sheni. Pesach Sheni is not Shavuos yet, but Pesach Sheni represents the level of a בעל תשובה who has the power of elevating even chametz. Which is similar to Shavuos. For that same reason, Pesach Sheni is one day and not seven like Pesach. Like Shavuos. It says in Chassidus, why is Shavuos one day? Other holidays are not. Shavuos is one of the שלש רגלים, the three special holidays, Pesach, Shavuos, and Sukkos. Pesach is seven. We're talking from the Torah, now it's eight. Sukkos is eight, now it's nine. Shavuos is only one. So normally we'd think Shavuos is one because it's a shvache Yom Tov, it's a smaller Yom Tov, so one day is enough. Pesach is a special Yom Tov, with matzah, we're not allowed to eat chametz. Sukkos with sukkah and with lulav, with esrog, it's a special. Shavuos, what do we do on Shavuos? There's nothing special, Shavuos is just a Yom Tov, that's it. Eat blintzes, what else do you do, I mean there's nothing special on Shavuos. So it's one day. So Chassidus says the opposite. Shavuos is one day because it's a higher level. One represents unity. One represents a nekudah. It represents something that's beyond limits. Seven is a limit. Eight is a limit. The reason Pesach is seven, it says clearly, because seven days is the time when we purify our seven middos. Seven days means that we have all seven days of the week. Just like it says by עשרת ימי תשובה, why are there seven days of עשרת ימי תשובה? Between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah is two days, Yom Kippur is one day, altogether it's 10, there's seven days in between. So the HaAriZal says, because no matter which day it starts, if you have seven days, you have every day of the week. So we need seven days of עשרת ימי תשובה to do teshuvah. The Sunday of עשרת ימי תשובה is teshuvah for all Sunday The Mondays for all Mondays, etc., etc. The same thing with Pesach. Not teshuvah, but the idea is Pesach is we have to work with one middah, another middah. But Shavuos, it says, since it's the day of קבלת התורה, השם gave us the Torah, that's something that's a nekudah. A nekudah means it's a, how would you say it in English, nekudah means a dot, but it means it's very essential that's beyond the limitations. And that's connected with teshuvah, because we know by teshuvah, the Zohar says, how long does it take to do teshuvah? בשעתא חדא וברגעא חדא. You can do teshuvah in one split second. Certainly if you want to expand on it, but the concept of teshuvah is בשעתא חדא וברגעא חדא, in one second. Shavuos, it says, is a day, it has to be a day, it can't really... In theory, Shavuos should have been a second. But it can't be a second, so it's one day. The moment you have more than one, derabbanan it's a second day, but if you have more than one originally, it shows it's already, there's a limit, there's a limit of two. Then it would be less than Pesach. Two is less than seven. But one is not less than seven. One is less than seven, but one represents something that's completely beyond, that's why, since there's no limit, so it's one. And that's why Pesach Sheni, because it's teshuvah, teshuvah is in one second. We find it in the famous story in the Gemara for ר' Elazar ben Dordia. ר' Elazar ben Dordia was a big baal aveirah, he did all the aveirot in the world. He did all aveirot in the world. So finally something happened that caused him to realize his mistake, and when he realized that, he sat down, it says, by big mountains. That it's a separate avodah. And that's what it is. It's the avodah of teshuvah, which comes if you didn't, if you're not a tzaddik, then you do the avodah of teshuvah. But it's a separate mitzvah. A separate mitzvah means it's a complete different avodah.

This is the explanation for the three opinions of what Pesach Sheni is, according to Chassidut. Because since we just said that we're saying that Pesach Sheni is teshuvah, in teshuvah you have three types, three levels. One level of teshuvah is that when a person does an aveirah, in the aveirah itself is built in the fact that he could do teshuvah. It's an aveirah, when you do an aveirah, you have at that moment a chance to do teshuvah, which is parallel to that level, that opinion that says that when you do, when you miss the קרבן פסח, you have the chance to bring the Pesach Sheni. See, what did we say there are? One opinion is that there's a separate Yom Tov. Another opinion is, one opinion is that says that right away, when you do the קרבן פסח, you're not חייב כרת. In other words, right away you have that chance of Pesach Sheni. Another opinion says no, it's finished, you're חייב כרת, then if you want, you could come later and fix it, and if you made, if you couldn't do it, then you get your karet. So here too, we find teshuvah normally, when a person does an aveirah, you're able to do teshuvah. As soon as you do the aveirah, you're able to do teshuvah, which is similar to that opinion that when you didn't bring the קרבן פסח, you have at that moment the opportunity to bring Pesach Sheni. You're not finished yet, because you could bring Pesach Sheni. When you do an aveirah, you're not finished, you could do teshuvah. But then there is a case where a person cannot do teshuvah. האומר אחטא ואשוב, if someone says that, \"I'm doing the aveirah because I know I can do teshuvah,\" אין מספיקין בידו לעשות תשובה. They don't allow him to do teshuvah. So as far as the aveirah is concerned, you are finished now. You can't do teshuvah. Nevertheless, we all know that there is a concept called דחק ונכנס. If you push hard, you could get through. But that's something that's new. It's not that like in the first case, a normal case when you do aveirah, right then and there you have a possibility of doing teshuvah. That's something new, that there is no possibility now, but if you later on work hard, you could push in. That's what the Alter Rebbe says, that even those places where it says אין מספיקין, that they don't let you do teshuvah, it just means they don't help you, they don't give you the opportunity. But if you want, you have to work hard, you push through. The re'ayah, the famous re'ayah they bring for the Alter Rebbe is from the story of Acher. Acher, the famous Acher who used to be a great Tanna and then he turned away from Yiddishkeit, whatever, and he heard a voice from heaven say, שובו בנים שובבים חוץ מאחר. I want all My children to return to Me, except Acher. So Acher said, when he heard that, he said, if Hashem doesn't want me, that means He's not going to give me Olam Haba anyway, so what's the use? That's when he went completely out, all the way against Yiddishkeit. So the Maharsha asks the question, how can we blame him? If Hashem himself made this announcement that I don't want you, you're not going to be able to come back anyway, so why do we blame him? So the Maharsha asks, says, that Hashem takeh said it, but דחק, had he pushed, he would have gotten in, and he should have pushed. So we see that even where there is a case where they make an announcement from heaven that you're not, that means that when you did an aveirah you are finished, you are able to push in. So the same thing by אחטא ואשוב, if someone says I will do an aveirah and I will do teshuvah, which אין מספיקין, that means as far as you're concerned the aveirah now doesn't leave place for teshuvah, you if you want, later on you could do teshuvah. So that the second level type of teshuvah, that the teshuvah doesn't come directly after the aveirah, but it comes later, which is like by the קרבן פסח, the other opinion which says that when you don't bring the קרבן פסח you are finished, you have karet. But then you have another chance later on. So the normal case of an aveirah is the other opinion, the opinion that right away within the not bringing the קרבן פסח already there is built in the fact that you can bring a פסח שני, and then this type of aveirah is that as far as the aveirah is concerned it's over, later on there's a new thing of teshuvah if you push. Then there is another level of teshuvah that is not for aveirot. We all know that the Baal Shem Tov said that there is a level of teshuvah which is not for aveirot. The Baal Shem Tov said every tzaddik, every talmid chacham have to do teshuvah, which is by the way one of the sources, causes for the machloket between chasidim and mitnagdim in the time of the Baal Shem Tov. They said, how could you say that? You are mezalzel, you're going against the kavod of tzaddikim of talmidei chachamim, but he explained what he meant was not teshuvah for aveirot. The neshamah of a Yid came down from heaven and is not at all at the same spiritual level as it was before it came down, and our job is lashuv, to make the neshamah return back to that same level. That's also called teshuvah, and it also has a lot of things in common with regular teshuvah, not for now, but it's another level of teshuvah which is not for aveirot. That level of teshuvah, we could call, is a רגל בפני עצמו, that's a separate Yom Tov for itself, a separate level for itself. And since Pesach Sheni is the level the the day that represents teshuvah, so in Pesach Sheni we have all kinds of teshuvot, all three possible levels of teshuvah. And that's why in Gemara we find three opinions, and we said they're all right. B'halacha it's one, but they're all right spiritually, because spiritually, Pesach Sheni will represent teshuvah. On one hand, the fact that represent teshuvah, so it's a רגל בפני עצמו, teshuvah is something that is a separate issue, nothing to do with aveirot, nothing to do with Pesach Rishon. It's a Yom Tov for itself. Even if he didn't miss out on Pesach Rishon, he was never obligated, he was a ger, he was a child before, he wasn't obligated, he have to bring Pesach Sheni, because it's an avodah for a for a person even if he did not do aveirot. Then there's the second opinion, that when you do the aveirah, right away you're finished, and then later there is something else, that's the other level of teshuvah, if you say אחטא ואשוב, and then the third other level of teshuvah is like a regular aveirah, when you do an aveirah, you have the opportunity right away to do teshuvah, that's the third opinion of the קרבן פסח. But the bottom line of all that is that when it comes to Pesach Sheni, and when it comes to the days before Pesach Sheni, when we prepare ourselves for Pesach Sheni, we have to keep in mind that this is another opportunity to do teshuvah. And not only opportunity, it's a time when this is the obligation. People think the obligation to do teshuvah is תשרי, Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah, עשרת ימי תשובה, אלול. A person always has to do teshuvah, but besides the fact that you always have to do teshuvah, there are certain times of the year when that is the, I wouldn't say the mitzvah of the day, but that is the ענין of the day. Pesach Sheni is one of those things, the ענין of the day, that it's never never too late. And it says in חסידות that Pesach Sheni, it's called the second Pesach, is connected to another שני that there is. In Tanya, it says in the beginning of the second פרק, ונפש השנית בישראל, there is a second נפש. He says every person, every yid, every yid has two נפשות. The first one is the נפש הבהמית, ונפש השנית, the second נפש, is a חלק אלוקי ממעל ממש, it's part of Hashem. And it says in חסידות that Pesach Sheni has to do with נפש השנית, that when a person's נפש השנית, his נשמה is very very strong and shines very strongly, this person will fulfill the mitzvah of Pesach Sheni very much. Because if your נשמה is strong, you always are able to do teshuvah, whether it's for aveirot or even not for aveirot, teshuvah as a mitzvah, for as a ענין for itself, and we're able to get closer to Hashem in the time of Pesach Sheni more than other times of the year.