PESAH, Passed-over or protected?

 ופסח ה' על הפתח ולא יתן המשחית לבא אל בתיכם לנגוף

Exodus 12:23

In order to persuade the Egyptians to let the Jewish people go out of Egypt, the Almighty inflicted upon them ten plagues.  The last one, the plague that finally convinced the Egyptian monarch to let the Israelites go, was the death of the first-born.   The Tora describes the plague or sickness that affected the first-born as mash-hit, literally , "a destroyer" (Ex. 12:23). Obviously, we, the Jewish people, do not believe in powers independent from God. However, in order to fit our limited understanding, the Biblical text often attributes certain actions to God's shelihim or proxies. The "destroyer" (The rabbis nicknamed it elsewhere the angel of death), describes one of God's action, death, thru a linguistic proxy. We say angel of death, or mash-hit  but we are referring ultimately to God's actions. Illustration: In the South African courtroom, when Oscar Pistorius talks to the prosecutor (a man) he says: "My Lady". Why? Because although the accuser is talking to the prosecutor, he has to address always the Judge, which in this case, is a woman. Similarly, althought the Tora describes the actions as done by a mash-hit/ destroyer, or a wind that God used to split the sea, etc. these actions referred and should always be ascribed to God. 

Back to Pesah. In America, Pesah is known as "Passover". It is thought that at the time of the death of the first born, while God was inflicting the blow of death to the Egyptians, He "passed over" (skipped) the house of the Jews sparing their lives.  Allow me to present a slightly different reading of the same verse, based on the Targum Onqelos, the official Jewish translation of the Bible. Onqelos does not translate "Pesah" or "Pasah" as passed-over but us protected (in Aramaic, hais, like, adam has al mamono, "a person cares and protects his assets"). Thus, the verse Ex. 12:23 should be translated in this way "When the Lord goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, He will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and He will PROTECT that doorway, and He will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down" (see also Ex. 11:27). Accordingly, God  (linguistically) acted thru His destroyer to inflict death, but He Himself (so to speak) cared for and protected His chosen People. That is why Pesah, particularly the first night of Pesah, is also called in the Tora "lel shimurim", the night of Protection.

I prefer this translation because when Pesah is understood as "Divine Protection" it gives a clearer meaning to this beautiful Holiday:    Pesah celebrates God's Protection to the Jewish people, from the eve of the exodus of Egypt until our own days.
 

SHABBAT SHALOM

Candle Lighting in NYC      7:11pm
Shabbat Ends in NYC          8:12 pm  

PESAH, how to have a succesuful SEDER?

Monday April 14th and Tuesday 15th at night, are probably the most important nights of the Jewish Calendar. During those nights we will fulfill a very special Mitsva:  והגדת לבנך teaching our children the story of Pesah. Instilling in their minds and hearts the collective memories that will shape their personalities and identity for the rest of their lives. But, how to do that? We have the Haggada, the narrative of the Exodus. And we also have the clear instructions of our rabbis: teach and talk to your children at the level of their understanding.

But, how should we do that? How should we teach our children Jewish History (or Jewish memory) in the era of youtube, Instagram and iPads?  In a time where their attention span is so short and erratic...

The secret for a successful and meaningful Pesah Seder could be summarized with three words: Preparation. Preparation. Preparation.

Some ideas

1. DIVIDE AND CONQUER:  Write an email, text or whatsapp today to each member of your family and guests. Assign to each one of them one part of the Haggada. Ask them to be ready to read and/or explain at least one short text of the Hagada in Hebrew, English,  etc.   Encourage them to search at least in the following websites: www.torah.org, aish.com, ou.org, for material related to the texts they will  read.     The little ones should prepare themselves to sing (and perhaps explain)  ma nishtana' or 'abadim hayinu  or had gadya.     Those who have difficulties reading Hebrew should search online and be ready to explain one particular idea of the hagada (=Pesah, matsa, maror, 4 cups, eating reclined, haroset, etc.).
 
2. MAKE IT RELEVANT:  Encourage some of the participants of the Seder, even your prospective guests,  to briefly (5 minutes, max!) debate among themselves one subject related to the Exodus from Egypt, which is still relevant today. 
Two examples.
a. rab ve'atsum mimenu (Ex. 1:10). "Although they were only a small minority, the Egyptians feared that the Jews were too powerful and decided to eliminate them". Although Jews make  less than 3% of the American population the list of "50 Most Influential Commentators in America" (as per Atlantic Magazine, 2010) included 26 Jews. Are we Jews too powerful? Not powerful enough? Is the "Jewish disproportional influence" in larger society an excuse to justify antisemitism? Should we keep it all to ourselves?
b. Vayare'u otanu hamitsrim vaya'anunu (Deut. 26:6). "The Egyptians demonized us and oppressed us".  Since the beginning of our history, our enemies first demonizing us to justify their animosity against us. Is "demonization of the Jews" a strategy that is still used by anti-Semites to justify their hatred?  Is Israel, "the Jew among the nations", demonized today in media, UN, etc. to justify anti-semitic behavior?

3. MAKE IT FUN: Ask the funniest guys of the family to play some parts of the Haggada, for example, the Ten Plagues. Have someone (a more serious guy) to explain briefly each plague while the actors play the play. One person has to play Moshe (with his head covered with a Talit) and someone else Pharaoh (use your imagination...).  Make it visual. Get small plastic frogs, animal masks for deber and ping pong balls for hail. Make it short. No more than 5 -7 minutes play.
Have games for the children, a Pesah treasure hunt or Pesah trivia, etc. To find great games you must see THIS and THIS.  Have 20 questions ready, and most importantly 20 (or more) small prizes to reward the correct answers. Anytime the Seder is about to get out of control, or boring or you need everyone's attention you can ask one of your questions (show the prize first!). Guaranteed to work..


4. MAKE IT DEEP: Recommended modern Haggadot:   Rabbi Shimon Appisdorf see here.
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks     See here
For the advanced students I recommended  THIS old but fantastic Sephardic commentary of the Haggada written by Rabbi Don Ytshaq Abarbanel (1437-1508). I'm going to use it this year. Do not skip the introduction (the tragic personal story of the author). Easy Hebrew. Courtesy of www.hebrewbooks.org .

 

PRICELESS for SPANISH SPEAKING JEWS

 

Click  here  to download an ancient Spanish (not "Ladino") Hagadda, published by rabbi Ytshaq Yehuda Leon Templo, in Amsterdam, 1728

 

Click HERE to read:  "TO SELL or NOT TO SELL my HAMETS?"

PESAH, The night of the Seder (Part 2)

Yesterday, we began to explain the steps of the Seder.  We discussed only the first part: 1. Qaddesh. 

2. Urhats

We wash our hands (netilat yadayim) without saying any Berakha. It is customary that children help with this netilat yadayim bringing a bowl of water and a towel to the parents and grandparents. This netilat yadayim is done in order to eat the Karpas dipped in vinegar. Our sages instituted that the night of the Seder we should dip the Karpas not once, as it was normally done, but twice to awake the curiosity of the children and provoke their questions. These questions are already integrated into the famous text: Ma Nishtana. One of the questions refers to the double dipping of the Karpas.

 

3. Karpas

We eat a small piece of Karpas (celery).  In ancient times it was common for affluent people to have an aperitif (celery, or other green vegetable) before the main course to stimulate the appetite (poor people did not need appetizers to stimulate their appetite). The night of the Seder we should feel that we are free and affluent, in the sense that all our needs are covered by HaShem. This is also the reason why we sit leaning in our chairs: the slaves use to eat sitting on the floor, while the freemen and nobles would rest in comfortable chairs or couches.  We also dip the Karpas in vinegar (or salted water) to remind us of the misery of our slavery and the tears we shed in captivity. As you can see once again: the Seder is a balanced act of memory, between remembering our past as slaves and celebrating our God-given freedom.   Before eating the Karpas we recite the blessing Bore Peri haAdama. As we have explained, all these deviations from the ordinary dinning habits are meant toward one single goal: to motivate the children to ask questions in order to ensure their active participation during the Seder.

4.Yahats

From the three Matsot set on the table, we take the middle one, and we split it into two unequal parts. The smallest portion is returned to its place, between the two whole Matsot, and the biggest portion is kept for the Afiqoman.

For the rest of the Seder click HERE

LISTS OF FOODS FOR PESAH

Recommended list of foods for Ashkenazi Jews from cRc, Chicago, rabbi Gedaliah Shwartz. Click here

Recommended list of foods for Sephardic Jews. By Rabbi Yehudah Boroosan.   Click here

From Rabbi Yehudah Boroosan:  "....my objective in preparing this list is to make known the products that are L'chetachila qualified for Sefaradim on Pesach. There are so many people who are unable to obtain Kasher L"Pesach approved products and/or could not afford or are unwilling to purchase specifically marked items due to its higher price. I am fully aware of the kashruth issues and have therefore carefully included in this guide also those products that their kashruth status is more subject to policy that actuality and take full responsibility to make sure that every one is able to have a chag Kasher V'Sameyach." 

PRICELESS GIFT FOR SPANISH SPEAKING JEWS

Click here to download an ancient Spanish (not "Ladino") Hagadda, published by rabbi Ytshaq Yehuda Leon Templo, in Amsterdam, 1728

 

PESAH, the night of the Seder (part 1)

Throughout its symbolisms and traditions, the Seder of Pesah makes us feel the bitter experience of slavery and the sweetness of freedom. It invites us to visualize ourselves as if we were slaves, who are actually leaving right now and for good our miserable life in Egypt.  

We have two types of symbols in the Seder.  

1. The maror (bitter leaves); the haroset and the vinegar (or salted water) all reminders of the cruel slavery.

2. The four cups of wine; the reenacting of our departure from Egypt; the fact that we sit reclined, as was done exclusively by the Kings and Lords in antiquity, all symbols of freedom and liberty.

On this night, we rebuild in our tables the scenery of the events that took place at the time of our Exodus. Refreshing our collective memory and transmitting to our children who we were and who we are, where we coming from and how did all begin.  Keeping a strategic idea during the whole Seder: we are celebrating our freedom, without forgetting our ancestors suffering.

During the coming days, BH, we will review the steps of the Pesah Seder and we will hopefully learn its performance and meaning. 

Qaddesh

Monday, April 14th at night, we will have the first Seder of Pesah. The Seder begins with the Holiday consecration and its official inauguration: the qiddush.  Upon concluding the qiddush and the blessing sheheheyanu everyone drinks the first cup of wine, while leaning on the left side. Each cup should contain at least 3 ounces.  Throughout the Seder we drink four cups of wine. Symbolizing a joyous celebration of the four expressions of freedom found in the Tora. If one cannot drink pure wine, the wine could be diluted or substituted by grape juice. 

To be continued....

LISTS OF FOODS FOR PESAH

Recommended 

list of foods for Ashkenazi Jews from cRc, Chicago, rabbi Gedaliah Shwartz. 

Click here

Recommended list of foods for Sephardic Jews. By Rabbi Yehudah Boroosan.  Click here

Rabbi Yehudah Boroosan:  "....my objective in preparing this list is to make known the products that are L'chetachila qualified for Sefaradim on Pesach. There are so many people who are unable to obtain Kasher L"Pesach approved products and/or could not afford or are unwilling to purchase specifically marked items due to its higher price. I am fully aware of the kashruth issues and have therefore carefully included in this guide also those products that their kashruth status is more subject to policy that actuality and take full responsibility to make sure that every one is able to have a chag Kasher V'Sameyach."

PESAH, to sell or not to sell your Hamets?

...ובלבד שלא יערים

Historically, Sephardic Jews did not practice the mekhirat hamets (selling of Hamets) procedure. They got rid of it before Pesah began. The only exceptional case in which Sephardic rabbis authorized selling the Hamets was the case of a food-store owner. In this case, a non-Jew would make a down payment for the total of the merchandise and from the moment he made that payment the Hamets merchandise would belong completely to the buyer, and he would be entirely responsible for the goods. So, for example, if the goods were stolen during Pesah, the buyer will have to pay for them to the seller after Pesah. The buyer would also rent the store for the duration of Pesah and he would have the keys of the store, which granted him total access to the premises of the store. The buyer could have used, consume or even trade the merchandise during Pesah, and if he wished so, he could pay the balance and keep the merchandise for himself. As you can see, although the intent was that the seller would buy back the Hamets after Pesah, the selling transaction was real, legal and binding.  The rabbis would not have accepted any selling transaction which would not have complied with Jewish and local Law because obviously, they took very seriously the prohibitions of owning Hamets during Pesah.  

Except for food business owners no one in Sephardic communities would sell his Hamets.   What would they do with their left overs of Hamets food? 

1. Buying before Pesah whatever would be necessary until Pesah, avoiding to have extra Hamets food close to Pesah. 

2. Whatever left overs of Hamets, should be given to a non-Jew as charity or as a gift, or if that is not possible, it would be disposed of.  Disposing of Hamets the day before Pesah, even of valuable Hamets, is a Biblical Mitsva. So this is not considered "waste" ( בל תשחית).

3. If some Hamets accidentally had not being detected, then the bitul Hamets, the formula  of renunciation to our ownership of any undisposed Hamets in our properties, would prevent the transgression of owning Hamets during Pesah. 

If one follows these simple steps, then there is no need to sell any Hamets.

In our days most Sephardic communities arrange a Hamets-selling system in which community members empower a rabbi to sell their Hamets.  This procedure is an exceptional Halakhic leniency. In other words, a procedure that relays in a minority opinion in opposition to the opinion of most Rabbis.  Why? Because many of the conditions that would be normally required for a normal selling transaction, as per the vast majority of halakhic authorities, are not met in this sell. Explaining all the problems involved in this procedure would exceed the scope of this text, so I wrote a separate text Appendix 1 where I briefly discuss the main Halakhic objections to this selling.  

Still, many Rabbis offer and even encourage their community members to sell their Hamets. The reason for this is that they fear that otherwise most people would keep their valuable Hamets at home.  Obviously, I would not question the validity of this argument, since every Rabbi leads his community according to what he considers the best for his congregants.   

Personally, I don't sell my Hamets (and I'm sure many other people do the same) and I encourage my community members to do the same. However, at the end of the day, as with every other halakhic leniencies or stringencies which we adopt or reject, selling or not selling the Hamets is a personal choice each individual has to make. 

Recommendations: 

1. I would obviously encourage Sephardic Jews to preserve the ancient Minhag and not selling your Hamets. See Appendix 2 where I briefly discuss what products you need to dispose of before Pesah, and what you do not need to dispose of before Pesah, if you decide not to sell your Hamets.  

2. If you choose to sell your Hamets, sell it through your community Rabbi, and avoid using online forms.