Passover Summaries
Passover 5770-2010"The Festival of Liberation"
The care, some would say, obsessive concern, with which Jews try to avoid chometz is widely acknowledged. If that is the case, why has matzoh not been prohibited, since it embodies the exact ingredients found in chometz? |
Passover 5769-2009"What is the Prophet Elijah Doing at Our Passover Seder?" What is Elijah, the zealous and angry prophet of Israel, doing at our joyous Passover Seder? This seemingly inappropriate guest turns out to be a most appropriate visitor who adds important dimensions to our Passover Seder. |
Passover 5768-2008 The Passover Haggadah cites the verse from Deuteronomy 26:7, “Va’yah’ray’oo,” which states that the Egyptians treated the Hebrews badly. Rather than translate “va’yah’ray’oo,” to mean that they treated us “badly,” the Abarbanel indicates that its root stems from the word “ray’ah,” or friend. Rabbi Piron concludes that Jews need to be on guard more from our so-called friends who embrace us and draw us away from our moral and ethical moorings, than from our enemies who try to physically destroy us. |
Passover 5767-2007 "Hitting Bottom" |
Passover 5766-2006"Ancient Customs in a New Light" |
Passover I 5765-2005"In Every Generation"
The story of the Exodus and the celebration of the Passover recalls the physical salvation of the Jews from the slavery of Egypt at the hand of Pharaoh. But more than the physical suffering of the Jews throughout the ages, the spiritual losses have taken an even greater toll on the Jewish people. The festival of Passover is an important opportunity for the vast majority of the Jews of the world who are now rapidly assimilating to experience a true spiritual redemption during this Festival of Redemption. Link to full |
Passover II 5765-2005"On the Seventh Day the Walls of Water Split"
According to tradition, the children of Israel marched through the Sea of Reeds (the Red Sea) on the seventh day of Passover. The Torah in Exodus 14 declares twice that "the waters were a wall for them on their right and on their left." This unusual repetition of the phrase begs elucidation, and, of course, there is much to learn from this repetition. Link to full |
Chol Hamoed Pesach 5764-2004 If the Egyptian magicians were able to replicate some of the plagues G-d visited upon Egypt, why couldn’t they remove any of the plagues that G-d sent? Was Moses the agent of G-d who brought about the plagues, or was he more than that? Through the Biblical text, an interesting lesson is learned about the true nature of leadership. |
Passover 5763-2003 A major theme of the Passover holiday is the elimination of chametz--leaven, and the substitution of matzah, unleavened bread in its stead. Oddly enough, both chametz and matzah are made of the same ingredients, flour and water. However, chametz is allowed to ferment. Matzah, on the other hand, is not permitted to stand and ferment, but must be constantly kneaded. Flour and water become chametz automatically if the mixture is allowed to stand. We learn from the matzah that a truly meaningful life never comes effortlessly, but only through significant exertion and labor. |
Passover 5761-2001 For Jews who live in the Diaspora, the last day of Passover is meant to be a day of unity, hit’chab’root, of coming together. Just as the ancient Children of Israel go down into Egypt as 70 souls, as members of 12 disparate tribes and emerge as one united nation, so are contemporary Jews bidden to emphasize what common bonds we have, rather than the differences. Passover, after all, is in the month of Nissan, the month of redemption. Only through unity will the Jewish people be fortunate enough to achieve ultimate redemption. |
Passover 5760-2000 Even before the enslavement of the Jews began, Pharaoh instructed the midwives to kill all newborn Jewish babies. The Midrash goes further, asserting that Pharaoh’s disproportionate hatred of Jewish children led him to try to remedy his leprosy affliction by bathing in the blood of Jewish children. On Passover night, every Jew is a child, and every Jew becomes a parent, to underscore the importance of nurturing the next generation. |