This Shabbos is Shabbos HaGadol.  The Big Shabbos.  The Shabbos before Pesach.

Many families have already “turned over” their homes to be completely clean for the holiday.  Some people have been working tirelessly all week vacuuming, scrubbing, and washing every corner of the house to eliminate any trace of chamatz (bread or leavened product).  

And yet.  On Shabbos, we have a mitzvah to bring out two full loaves of bread, break them, and share them with the whole family.  The fear that some child could scatter his bread crumbs about the room like an exploding pinata and ruin the whole cleaning process is a real one.  

Some people eat pita instead of challah to reduce the amount of crumbs.  Some eat their Shabbos meal on the porch to remove any chance that crumbs cross the threshold.  Others eat their bread course quickly, change table cloths, and eat the rest of their meal with the bread isolated in the corner like a kid with a dunce cap.  

Regardless of the strategy, there is definitely a motive to minimize the Shabbos meal and just take a nap so you can have energy to finish preparing for Pesach.  Almost like this is the Shabbos we try to make into the smallest Shabbos of the year.

So why is it called Shabbos HaGadol?  The Big Shabbos?

Perhaps our Sages wanted to specifically counter this urge within us to minimize this Shabbos.  Similar to how they named daytime kiddush “kiddush rabah” the “big kiddush,” so that we don’t think it’s less important than nighttime kiddush.  There is no such thing as a small mitzvah, after all, certainly not Shabbos.  

We shouldn’t let the specter of Pesach overshadow the holiness of Shabbos.  We shouldn’t forget the opportunity in front of us because of other mitzvah opportunities coming down the tracks in the future.  

We should remember, despite everything, that this Shabbos is also a Big Deal.  

I’m not saying you should heedlessly give your toddler a crumbly handful of challah as he is lolloping through the house wildly in his hippo car.  But I would suggest that we don’t let the stress of Pesach prep get in the way of appreciating the beauty of Shabbos.  

Because Shabbos is the holiest day of the year.  And this Shabbos, is a big one.

Good Shabbos HaGadol,

Rabbi A and the JET Team