Parshas B'eholoscha

In this week’s Parsha we learn that the first Pesach in the desert- a year after they left Mitzrayim- Klal Yisroel sacrificed the Korban Pesach. This was the only korban Pesach they sacrificed in all the forty years they spent in the midbar. Rashi says that this was an embarrassment to Klal Yisroel. The reason they didn’t offer the Pesach any of the other forty years was because they were not able to circumcise their children in the desert, because there was a danger involved. Iif one has a son who isn’t circumcised he is not permitted to eat from the Korban Pesach. The Ramban asks: if they had a valid reason not to eat the Korban Pesach- which they did have- why does Rashi say it was an embarrassment to them?
The pesukim that follow tell of a few Jews who were impure and unable to participate in that first Pesach. They came to Moshe complaining, “Why should we be kept back from offering the korban at the appointed time in the midst of Bnei Yisroel?” Since their yearning was earnest Hashem told Moshe of a new mitzvah- the mitzvah of Pesach Sheini. The Chidushai Harim explains; Klal Yisroel had a valid reason not to bring the Korban Pesach and so did the people were impure the first year. The ones that were impure that first year didn’t give up- they had a real yearning to participate in the festivities. It was their yearning - at a time when they truly were excused from the mitzvah - that changed the reality and created a new mitzvah. Had Klal Yisroel- in all their forty years in the Midbar, really felt like they were missing out on something, had they had that true yearning- something would’ve changed, there would have been a way for them to bring the Korban Pesach. They were excused from bringing the Korban Pesach and that wasn’t anything to be ashamed of. The embarrassment was that they were passive about not being able to bring the Korban Pesach. They were missing that yearning, that real desire to do the mitzvah. There are many things in our lives that we cannot do- all for very good reasons, but do we really have that yearning and drive to do good?