There is a special day in the Jewish calendar which is hardly noticed. No mitzvot are performed and there is no ban on labor. The only thing that sets it apart from very other weekday is the omission of the tachanun prayer.

This week we experienced such a day on the fourteenth day of the month of Iyar. This was the day during the time of the Beit Hamikdash when those Jews who failed to offer the Korban Pesach on time a month earlier were given a second chance to do so.

There is a very important lesson to be learned from this. The Torah teaches us that those whose spiritual impurity prevented them from offering a Korban Pesach along with the rest of the community on the fourteenth of the month of Nissan cried out "Why should we be left out?" Their passionate desire to offer their sacrifice was rewarded by Heaven with a second chance a month later.

We live in an era of search. Uninformed Jews of all ages and in all lands are searching for a connection with G-d and His chosen people. Those who truly cry out "Why should we be left out?" are finding that Heaven is giving them a second chance to make that connection.

Taking advantage of that second chance is what will secure Israel forever.

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