This year, the Torah is perfectly synchronized with the Hebrew calendar — something that does not happen every year. Parashiyot Vayikra, Tzav, and Shemini were all spoken on a single day: the first of Nissan, year two in the desert.

Rosh Chodesh Nissan fell this year on Thursday. We are literally inside these days. And remarkably, this year's Pesach calendar aligns exactly one-to-one with the original Exodus from Egypt — as we will see in the next section.

Shabbat HaGadol is named for the great miracle that occurred on it. God commanded Bnei Yisrael on the 10th of Nissan: "Each household shall take a lamb, tie it to the bedpost for four days." On the 14th of Nissan — they slaughter it.

This is not coincidence. God arranges time so that we feel the truth from within. We are not merely retelling a story — we are standing inside it.

There are two types of korban: the olah — the ascending offering, brought by one who wishes to draw close and give to God — and the chatat — the sin offering, brought by someone who sinned and needs atonement.

The question is simple: if there were a designated area for slaughtering chatat offerings, everyone would watch a person walking there and think: "There goes the sinner, coming to bring his chatat." He would be publicly shamed. Keep this question in mind — the answer comes at the end.

Year one — they slaughtered the Pesach before leaving (all had been circumcised). Year two — the Mishkan was inaugurated on Rosh Chodesh Nissan; the Nesi'im brought offerings for 12 days; and on the 14th of Nissan — they brought their first Korban Pesach since the Exodus. So far so good.

The proof that they entered on the 10th of Nissan? The verse says they crossed on "the tenth of the first month" — the very same day the lamb was tied! Joshua's entry into the Land is also linked to the 10th of Nissan.

The Ibn Ezra says: Not only were they uncircumcised — most of Bnei Yisrael had no livestock to bring as an offering at all! They had no "mila hakriv" — the essential prerequisite for any korban.

And even if they tried to buy — Edom and Moav refused to sell them anything. "Lest I come out against you with the sword" — they would not sell them water, let alone livestock.

If there existed a special "chatat corner," anyone who walked there would immediately be identified: "There goes the sinner, bringing his chatat." Everyone watches. Everyone points. He is humiliated. To spare him that shame, the Torah commands that the chatat be slaughtered in the very same place as the olah. It is impossible to know whether a korban is an olah or a chatat.

This idea appears again and again throughout the Torah: human dignity — the honor of every person — is so great that the Torah adjusts mitzvot to protect it.

An embarrassing moment. The person who ate — everyone would stare as he stood to leave. Rabbi Chiya stood up — and left. One of the greatest of the disciples. Everyone else stood up and left too. If Rabbi Chiya leaves — we are not staying.

The answer is simple and profound: because man was created in the image of God. And when it comes to Israel — it is truly the image of God, a portion of God above. Whoever humiliates a Jew — humiliates God Himself.

And therefore: sins between a person and their fellow — Yom Kippur does not atone for them until one reconciles with that person. Yom Kippur atones for sins between a person and God. But when you have hurt a fellow Jew, you must go directly to that person.