Passover is one of the most celebrated among the Jewish people. Every year they clean their homes and remove unleavened products, chometz. As they celebrate the seder, the story of the leaving of Egypt and slavery is told as family and friends enjoy fellowship, prayer and good food in the service of the holy One, blessed be He.

It was late in the afternoon erev Passover, and the holy Rabbi was wandering through the streets of the Jewish quarter when he came upon some smugglers. From one he quietly asked how much for some tobacco, from another he enquired about the availability of smuggled brocades and imported embroideries. No matter item he wanted, it was available for the right price. 

But when he asked if the smugglers could get him some bread or whiskey, they became upset and one stepped forward and said: “Rabbi, are you trying to insult me? The seder will be starting in just a few hours and no Jewish person would have even a speck of chametz left in his home or business.” 

Not one merchant was able to come up with even a crumb of bread or drop of alcohol. No matter the price offered, not one merchant was willing or able to come up with even a crumb of bread or drop of alcohol. The town had removed its chometz and was ready to fullfill the religious requirements of the seder meals and holiday. 

Thrilled with the results of his failed quest, the rabbi looked up to heaven and declared: “Ribbono shel olam (Master of the Universe), look down with pride at Your people! The Czar has border guards and tax-commissioners dedicated to his commands. The law-enforcement and justice systems are devoted to tracking down and punishing smugglers and black-marketers and yet anything one could possibly want is freely available. Compare this with the faith and devotion of Your children. It has been over 3000 years since you commanded us to observe Passover. No police, no guards, no soldiers,  no jail-and yet every Jewish person  keeps your laws to the utmost! 

“Mi K’amcha Yisrael – Who is like Your nation, Israel?!”

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The seder begins with a recitation of the 15 elements of the seder. Each aspect of the seder is important and has many meanings. The seder takes us from slavery to freedom on many levels. Preparation is necessary to experience the wonder and beauty of the seder. Unfortunately many are so entrenched in the daily oworld they are blind to the significance of the Passover seder and merely  go through the ceremony mechanically. 

A man once sat and listened to a rabbi teaching about the many elements of the Passover seder and wanted to follow in the Haggadah, but could not because he was blind and therefore could not read. At one point someone handed him a piece of matzah. The blind man carefully felt the matzah and became angry and frustrated and than exclaimed: “Who wrote this trash!” 

All the elements of the seder run into one another and compliment each other. The third part karpas is when a green vegetable is dipped in salt water and eaten and the next part is yachatz when the middle matzah is broken in two. 

The word karpas is related to the words kar \ which refers to one’s pillow, and pas  the palm of the hand. Taken together with yachatz, which also means to share, these words suggest the idea that one must learn to share his possessions, both spiritual and material, with others (i.e., one must take his pillow in the palm of his hand and share it with others). This is what Pesach night is all about – we share our spiritual treasures with our children and teach them of our people’s heritage, and we also share our material treasures with the poor and the needy, who are freely and generously invited into our homes. 

There is another message to be extracted from the (karpas) and the (yachatz) here. One’s pursuit of a livelihood should be divided. In other words, one should not totally immerse oneself in purely material gain, but should rather divide their pursuits between the material and the spiritual. Thus, for example, one should engage in serious Torah study half one’s time and in earning a livelihood the other half, as our Sages tell us: “Half for bread and half for the Almighty” (Chatzi lechem v’chatzi l’Hashem). This is a proven recipe for a successful and meaningful life and enriches the individual, his family and his community.

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Passover is coming fast. It is a time of questions and sometimes we need to look to ourdelves for answers.

What is the first question in the Bible?

Before man was created, there were no questions. The first occurs in the Garden of Eden. The man and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit. G-d calls out to them, “Ayecha?” “Where are you?”

How can that be? Does G-d not know where the man and Eve are? For centuries, the Jewish people have recognized that this question has a deeper meaning. G-d is not seeking to find the man and Eve. That is why they do not answer, “We are over here!” Instead, it is a question of spiritual geography. The man, under­standing the importance of G-d’s question, and answers that he was frightened, so he has been hiding.

That question is not only the first question; it is also the eternal question. At each moment in our lives, this question is addressed to us: Where are you? Where are you spiritually? Where are you morally? What have you done with your life, and what are you doing with it now? Are you proud of your conduct in the garden?

The first question is a single word, whose echoes are end­less. “Ayecha?”

Where are you?

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So often one looks at the outer trappings of world and misses the deeper meaning of life. The physical beauty of  the world often clouds the perception of what is good and wholesome. Major signs of change in T’NaCh (Bible) where often plain unassuming things:

• burning bush to communicate to Moses

• Mt. Sinai is a small low moubtain

• shepherd that become leaders (Abraham, Issac, Jacob, Joseph, David, Solomon, etc)

So often one must try to understand the most basic, unattractive, plain things contain the meanings of the important aspects of their lives.

Once upon a time the daughter of the Emperor asked Rabbi Yoshua ben Chananiah, “Is it not very strange that there is so much Torah (scriptural learning) in you and you are so terribly ugly? So much wisdom in such a disgusting vessel!”

“Let me ask, where do you keep your wine? In what kind of vessels?” Rabbi Yoshua inquired.  The daughter of the Emperor answered, “We keep our wine in simple earthen­ware vessels, because for many years past wine has always been kept in earthen vessels.”

Rabbi Yoshua suggested, “You are very wealthy people, you ought to keep your wine in vessels of silver only, the ordinary people keep it in earthen jars.” So she went and told the Emperor, who poured all the wine into silver jars. Within a short time the wine turned sour, and they reported to the Emperor that all his wine had turned into vinegar. Then the Emperor asked his daughter, “Who advised you to pour the wine into silver jars?” The princess replied, “Rabbi Yoshua ben Chananiah.” So the Emperor sent for Rabbi Yoshua and asked him, “Why did you give such advice to my daughter so that all my wine has turned to vinegar?” Rabbi Yoshua replied, “As she spoke to me so I spoke to her. She said to me, what a pity such great learning is in such a contemptible vessel. So I said to her, ‘Why do you keep wine in a cheap vessel?’ I also said that as the Torah does not stay with a man of handsome appearance, so wine does not keep in a silver vessel.” The Emperor said, “But there are many good looking men who possess learning.” Then Rabbi Yoshua replied, “If they were not so handsome they would be more learned still, for a man of handsome appearance is not a man of modesty, and therefore he forgets the Torah which he has learned.”

Based on B. Ta 7a-b; B. Ned 50b and Ma’asah Book #35

May all your tales end with Shalom (peace)

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One of the dangers of the modern worship of science is the belief that everything is reducible to something else. Nothing is great, grand, or mysterious. Everything comprises collections of invisible particles that together equal everything else, from the smallest microbe to complexity of the orbiting space station.

Rabbi Avraham ibn Daud in 12^th century Spain observed that, “There are many who have dabbled a little in science, and….since in such men the light of investigation has extinguished the light of belief, the multitude think it dangerous, and shrink from it.”

Emunah Rama (1168)

The reductionist view of the universe not only flattens our wonder of what is, but ultimately makes little sense. The world is far too complex, various, and enigmatic to admit of any simple property or explanation. Moreover, how can we be so sure that the mind, composed of the same simple mat­ter, could understand both itself and the greater universe?

King David understood this and wrote in the Psalms, “I will give thanks to You, for I am awesomely and wondrously made; wondrous are Your works; and that my soul knows very well.”

Psalms 139:14

Man does not know the intricacies of the world around him, and that the end-purpose of knowing is to become aware that one does not know. In this way one says, “I will give thanks to You, for I am awesomely and wondrously made.” I am astonished at Your handiwork and am aware how “wondrous are Your works.” When I know enough to be astonished, then “my soul knows very well.” By being aware of its astonishment, the intellectual faculty comes to know a great deal.

A view of life touched by faith encourages us to avoid complacency and certainty. Those are the two enemies of truth. Wonder, awe, and eagerness are its allies. As science advances and we see its great strides and accomplishments,  let us have the humility to offer a prayer and humbly admit that we don’t understand the magnificence that shaped it.

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Once upon a time a ship carrying merchants and all their goods sailed over the sea, and among the passengers was a teacher. The mer­chants began to talk about the wares which they carried with them, and what they intended to buy. Finally they asked the teacher what merchandise he had, and he answered: “I carry all my goods with me.” The merchants searched the whole ship for his wares, for they thought that he had precious stones, but they could find nothing. So they laughed at him and said that he had no merchandise at all. The teacher replied:

“Why are you laughing at me? The goods which I carry are of greater value than any which you have in the ship’s hold.” 

As they continued traveling on the high seas, they were attacked by pirates, who robbed them of all the merchandise which they had in the ship. When they landed, they found themselves quite poor and had nothing to eat or drink or any clothes to put on. The teacher, however, went into the town and entered the bet hamidrash (House of Study). When the people heard him speak wonders of Scriptures, they at once brought him clothes and gave him a large amount of money. The good people of the town also followed him out of the city. 

When the merchants saw the great honor which was shown to the Jewish teacher, they begged his pardon for having laughed at him, and asked him to request the townspeople to give them something to eat so that they might not die of hunger, for he had seen that they had been robbed of their property.  And the teacher replied: 

“Did I not tell you that my merchandise was more valuable than yours? For you have lost your property, but mine is still with me. Furthermore, one who buys and sells does not always gain, sometimes he gains and sometimes he loses, and even when he gains he is not sure that the profit will remain with him, but the Torah remains forever, in this world and in the next. I was right, therefore, about the goods which I had with me.”

Tanhuma, Terumah, #2

May all your tales end with Shalom (peace)

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My father is filled with surprises and I found in his files, and boy does he have a lot, this article that appeared in Panorama Magazine in March 1979

Purim: A Time of Joy

The importance of Purim as a holiday of deliverance from death has served as an inspiration to the Jewish people many times throughout history. Even in the death camps of nazi Europe there were those who had that spark of hope. No matter where the Jewish people were, there were always those who carried that hope – in the ghettoes, in the camps, and in the forests.

In the Warsaw ghetto, there was a journal of everyday events kept by Emmanuel Ringlblum. On the 18th of March 1940, he told of the feelings at the Purim celebrations in the Warsaw Ghetto:

“There were assemblies in cele­bration of Purim this year. People hope for a new Purim to celebrate the downfall of the modern Haman, Hitler, one that will be commemorated as long as the Jewish People exist. The new Purim will surpass all previous Purims in Jewish History.”

In the concentration camps the nazis tried to destroy the Jewish people, not as a religious group, but as a physical threat to the Third Reich. The nazis saw the Jewish people as harmful to society, just as a doctor sees bacteria harmful to the health of people. So the nazis started out on a program to completely destroy the Jewish world, but that couldn’t be done.

Buchenwald, a concentration camp in Germany became the place where a young chasid, Yaakov Frankel, was sent. Many of the Jewish prisoners had lost faith and hope in Hashem. Yaakov Frankel and a. few friends decided to have small Purim celebration to lift up fallen spirits and restore faith and hope in Hashem.

From throughout the camp Frankel and his friends gathered all sorts of paper – a torn order from a nazi officer, a piece of a nazi newspaper with blank margins, or a coarse wrapping from a. bag of cement. After this collection of odds and ends was enough a great change took place. The scraps of paper slowly turned into the Megillah of Esther, Frankel and his friends using only one pencil wrote the megillah from their memories.

When the Fast of Esther was over on the night of Purim, all of the group gathered on the upper level of the block. A great number of less fortunate prisoners sensed that something was going to happen and they did not want to be left out. They declared:

“We too want to avenge the innocent blood of our families on the wicked Haman. Whatever you are up to don’t leave us out!”

The megillah was read at 11:00 pm to avoid the suspicions of the many nazi guards. Finally the reading of Megillas Esther began, the brachah al mikrah MegIllah could not be said because of the many different kinds of paper on which the megillah was written. The reading of the megillah changed many of the hearts of the oppressed prisoners and restored their faith in Hashem and their hopes for survival were renewed. After the reading of Megillas Esther all the men sang Shoshanas Yaakov.

The Jewish people have something that is so beautiful and yet many take it for granted. What right have we to forget these precious gifts, the very thing that made our people survive the fires and destruction of Hitler’s hell? Instead of forgetting about our very recent past let us forget the Amalekite hitler as we drown out the name of his ancestor Haman

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Is there a blessing greater than good friends? “Either friends or death,” declares the Talmud (Ta’anis, 23a). The sages teach that isolation is unfaithful to G-d’s plan. People need one another to thrive.

The TNaCh (Scriptures) teaches us about deep friendships: Jonathan and David’s, Ruth and Naomi’s. Each demonstrates the depth of true friendship, which involves not only love but also the willing­ness of one to make sacrifices for the interests of the other. Friendship is described as “Lovely and pleasant in their lives, even in death they were not divided (II Samuel 1:23). True friendship is not selfish and does not disappear when a friend is in trouble. Who does not understand the ways of false friends as expressed by ben Sira when he taught, “there is a friend who is only one in name” (Apocrypha ben Sira 37:1).

Real friends will prove themselves in time of trouble (Moshe ibn Ezra in. 12^th C) Deep friendship is mysterious. It is not always based on a same interests or a similarity of goals. King Solomon explained, “There are friends that one has to his own heart, but there is a friend that sticks closer that a brother.” (Proverbs 18:24)

Moshe ibn Ezra said in his 12^th century book Shiras Yisra-l that “[f]riendship is man’s greatest gift.” Sometimes it’s hard to recognize the value of true friendship, but the Mishle Benyomin summed it up as, “Friendship is like a treasury, you cannot take from it more than you put into it. One the most magnificent gifts offered by our tradition is this distinctive and lasting love, the friend.

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We are taught that even if a man is greeted by the king while praying, he may not return the greeting. And even if a snake is wound around his heel, he may not interrupt his prayer.

Once upon a time a religious man was walking across a field when the time for prayer arrived. So he stood still and began to pray. As he was praying, a general came along riding on horse­back and greeted him. But the religious man did not return the greeting and remained silent. The general waited until he had finished his prayers, then he said to him: “You scoundrel, why did you not return my greeting?

Is it not written in your Torah, “Take utmost care, and watch yourself scrupulously” (Deut. 4:9), and also, “Be most careful about yourselves” (Deut. 4:15)? Why, then, when I greeted you, did you not return my greeting?

If I should cut your head off, who would say anything to me?” The religious man replied: “Pray, listen to my answer.” And he began as follows: “Dear Sir, if you were standing before a human king of flesh and blood and speaking to him, and another man came along and addressed you, would you answer him?” The general replied: “No, I would not answer him.” Then the pious man continued: “And suppose you did answer him, what do you think would happen to you?” And the general replied: “I would be afraid that the king might have my head cut off.” The pious man replied: “Behold now, if standing before a king of flesh and blood who lives today and tomorrow he is dead, you would be afraid of having your head cut off, how much more should I have been afraid, standing as I was before a king who is called the King of Kings, who is not a being of flesh and blood, who lives forever and does not pass away! How, then, could I have answered your greeting? I had to fear that in His anger, He might have killed me.” When the general heard how well the pious man had answered, he was well pleased with him and said to him : “You have answered me very well.” So the religious man returned home in peace. Therefore, every person should say his prayers with proper devotion, and no evil will happen to him.

Based on B. Ber 32b-33a  Ma’asah Book #130

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