HAG SAMEAH!!!

Ta'anit Bekhorot (Fast of the first born) 

       

In order to persuade Pharaoh to let the Jewish people go out of Egypt, the Almighty inflicted upon them ten plagues.  The last one, the plague that finally persuaded Pharaoh to let the people go, was the death of the first-born.  While every Egyptian first born was killed the Jewish first-born were saved because the Almighty  (Ex. 11:27)  "...protected (=pasah) the houses of the people of Israel, at the time the angel of death (=mashchit) was inflicting the Egyptians first-born with death".  In remembrance of this special protection, this festival is named "Pesah", and the first-born fast on Pesah eve.

 If on the fast day there is a Berit Mila, a Pidion or a Siyum Masekhet (=the conclusion of a Talmudic treatise) and the first-born is present at the event, he will be exempted from the fast.  It is customary that the Rabbi of the community arranges for a Siyum Masekhet for that day so the first-born would circumvent the fast and thus won't feel weak at the time of the Seder.

In most communities this fast is only customary for first-born males, not females.  In case the first-born is a young boy, many communities follow the tradition that the father fasts on his son's behalf. Many families  have the tradition that when the first born breaks the fast they do not eat Hametz anymore and the females first-born also refrain from eating Hametz.

Each community should follow their own traditions and customs. 

Akhilat Matza  (Eating Matza  on Pesah Eve)

On Pesah eve we should not eat Matza .  We keep the taste of the Matza for its ideal moment: the night of the Seder. We are allowed to eat Matza 'ashira or egg Matza  (see HERE) .  In general, today we should eat light at noon and afternoon so we reserve our appetite for the Seder. 

LAST TIME TO EAT HAMETZ TODAY: 10.14 am (in some communities they set this time at 10.00 am)

  

LAST TIME FOR BI'UR HAMETZ  (getting rid of Hametz by burning, throwing away, to the sea, etc. see this) , and LAST TIME for stating the second and last BITUL HAMETZ  (see this) is 11.23 am (in some communities they set this time every year at 11.00 am).

The text for the last bitul is: 

"KAL CHAMIRA DEIKA BIRSHUTI DECHAZITEH VEDELA CHAZITEH DEBI'ARTEH VEDELA BI'ARTEH LIBTIL VELEHEVE HEFKER KE'AFRA DEAR'A" All kind of Hametz or fermenting agent that belongs to me, that I have seen or that I haven't seen,  that I have eliminated or that I haven't eliminated, should be considered ownerless as the dust of the earth."

  

Candle lighting tonight:   6:53pm

            

PESAH: The Secret.

 What is the secret for a successful and meaningful Pesah Seder? What do you have to do to have a very enjoyable moment with your children and family members, while learning about our history and identity? 

The 'secret' for the Pesah Seder could be summarize with these three words: "Preparation. Preparation. Preparation."

Let me explain.

1. Write an email/text/whatsapp TODAY asap to each member of your family. Assign to each one of them one part of the Hagada. Ask them to be ready to read and/or explain at least one short text of the Hagada in Hebrew, English,  etc...  The little ones should be prepared to read, sing, explain 'ma nishtana' or 'abadim hayinu' or 'had gadya'. Ask the teenagers to search online about one particular text or idea of the hagada (=Pesah, matza, maror, 4 cups, eating reclined, haroset, etc.). Encourage them to search in:www.torah.org, aish.com, ou.org, etc, for material related to the idea they read.

2. Make it fun: Ask the funniest guys of the family to play some parts of the Hagada. You must have a play for the Ten Plagues: Somebody (a more serious guy) explains briefly each plague and the actors play the play. You must have at least one person playing Moshe (his head covered with a Talit) and somebody starring as Par'o... (use your imagination...)  Make it visual. Buy plastic frogs, animal masks for deber and ping pong balls for hail.  Another group should play the four sons. Encourage the 4 sons to briefly debate among themselves about one past/present subject: for example, Although they were only a small minority, the Egyptians feared that the Jews were "too powerful for us." (Ex. 1:10). Although Jews make us less than 3% of the American population Atlantic Magazine's "50 Most Influential Commentators in America" included 26 Jews. Are Jews too powerful? Not powerful enough? Is "Jew's influence" just an excuse to justify anti-Semitism? Should we keep it all to ourselves?

3. Educate with fun: Have games for the children, a Pesah treasure hunt or Pesah trivia. You MUST see THIS and THIS.  Have 20 questions ready, and most importantly 20 (or more) small prizes. So anytime the Seder is about to get  out of control, or boring or you want everybody's attention you can shoot one of your questions (show the prize first!). Guaranteed to work... or your money back!

  

Shabbat Shalom!

  

Candle-lighting in NYC:    6:50 pm

  

Shabbat ends in NYC :       7:51 pm

To download the list of Products for Pesah 2013 click here

For Minhaguim of Sefirat ha'Omer see  THIS

For Sefirat ha'Omer app for your Iphone, Ipad click here

For Sefirat ha'Omer reminder app for your android see this

For MYC email reminder for Sefirat ha'Omer click here

PESAH: The Night of the Seder

We previously explained the first step of the Seder, qaddesh (see here).

2. Urhatz

We wash our hands ( netilat yadayim ) without saying any Berakha. It is customary that children help with the 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 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 another vegetable) before the main course to stimulate the appetite (poor people did not need appetizers!). 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, as if we were royalty. 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.  Now, 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 and again: the Seder is a balanced act of memory, between remembering our past as slaves and celebrating our God-given freedom, for which we should be thankful to HaShem.   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 entire Seder.

To see the rest of the Seder click HERE

To download the list of Products for Pesah 2013 click here

I would like to thank Mrs. Esther Livi, wife of Mr. Bernard Livi, for her help and assistance to 

elaborate this list.