B"H
Thursday, Nissan 8, 5783 (Hakhel Year) / March 30, 2023
Q.The traditional festival greeting is, “Chag Sameach” – which translates to, Happy holiday. Why is the traditional Pesach greeting, “Chag Kasher VeSameach” – which means, “Have a kosherand happy holiday.” A Jewish home should be kosher always. Why this special wish for Pesach?
A.A Jewish home has to be kosher all year round. However, the laws of Pesach are very strictand the prohibitions for Pesach are many. Even foods which are kosher all year long may not be kosher for Pesach (Passover). Thus, we need to make an extra effort to be sure that our home is kosher for Pesach. Not only are we not allowed to eat foods which are prohibited on Pesach, but we are also not allowed to have them in our possession during the holiday.
With all the effort we make to clean our home for Pesach and buy only kosher for Pesach products, we still can use a special blessing that no accidents or oversight will happen and that everything will indeed be kosher for Pesach. This is the reason we wish each other a Chag Kasher VeSameach– A kosher and happy holiday.
Q. Why is there an extra special effort made to collect and distribute more charity to supply the Pesach needs of the poor and needy, more than for other holidays?
A.In the beginning of the Seder, we recite the following passage, “This (the matzah) is the bread of affliction that our fathers ate in the land of Egypt. Whoever is hungry, let them come and eat.” We cannot enjoy our Seder, when we know that someone out there doesn’t have the means to make a Seder. Pesach provisions are more expensive than usual. Everybody is required to drink four cups of wine, eat matzah and enjoy a Seder with a festive meal. Thus, we make an extra effort to supply the needy with their Pesach needs.
Before Pesach, a poor man asked the town Rabbi if he could fulfill his obligation of the Four Cups by drinking milk instead of wine because he didn't have the money to buy wine for the Seders.
"The question you asked will need a lot of research", replied the Rabbi, "and since I don't have the time now before Pesach, here is twenty five rubles to buy your needs for the holiday".
After he left, the Rabbi's students asked. "Why did you give him so much? Five rubles would have been enough to buy wine."
"From his question, whether he can use milk for the Four Cups, I realized that he also had no meat for the Seder! For if he had meat how can he drink milk after meat! Now, if he has no meat for the Seder, he surely has no meat for the rest of the holiday meals. What's more, his family must be missing many other necessities as well. I gave him twenty five rubles and hope it's enough...!"
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY
B"H
Friday, Nissan 9 5783 (Hakhel Year) / March 31, 2023
Please remember to sell your Chametz by Wednesday morning at the latest. The earlier the better, so as not to forget. If you need my help, please fill out the form which was sent to you and please return it by Monday.
It is also very important to contribute to charities which help people with their Pesach needs. For us to enjoy the holiday, we have to see to it that the less fortunate should enjoy theirs too. In Egypt we all suffered together, and no one should be left out when we celebrate our collective freedom.
This Shabbat, the Shabbat before Pesach, is called, “Shabbat Hagadol” – “The Great Shabbat.”
There are a few reasons why the Shabbat before Pesach is called, “The Great Shabbat.” One reason is that on the Shabbat before the Exodus from Egypt, which took place on Thursday, Jews experienced a great miracle, when the first-born Egyptians, realizing that they will be afflicted, fought with Pharaoh's men to let the Jewish people out of Egypt.
The Torah portion for this Shabbat is Parshat Tzav. This Parsha describes many of the sacrifices which were offered in the Holy Temple. One of them was the "Korban Toda" - "Thanksgiving offering". Korban Toda is brought by an individual as thanks to G-d for saving them of one of the following four categories: 1) When one is freed from prison; 2) Recovered from a serious illness; 3) After a sea voyage; 4) Traveled safely through the desert.
Since the destruction of the Temple, there are no sacrifices, we recite the special blessing of "HaGomel" at the Torah, to thank G-d for delivering us from one of the above situations.
Offering thanks to G-d for the good He does for us is basic to Judaism. We recite Psalm 100: "A Psalm of Thanksgiving," each day (except for Shabbat and holidays) during the daily morning service. This reminds us to appreciate the miracles which G-d performs for us daily, which He veiled in what we call nature.
Sunday is the 11th of Nissan, it marks the 121th birthday of the Lubavitcher Rebbe - Rabbi M. M. Schneerson, of blessed memory. Although the Rebbe is not with us physically, his love for every Jew is still felt just as strongly and vibrantly as before through his dedicated emissaries in every corner of the globe. Through the many activities he instituted and through his educational networks which bring the light of Torah to every corner of the world. May his memory bring blessings to us all.
Our sages tell us that just as the first redemption, which was from the Egyptian exile, took place in the month of Nissan, so too, the final redemption through Moshiach will also be in Nissan. We pray that it be speedily in our days. May it be in this month of Nissan. Amen.
SHABBAT SHALOM
Montreal candle lighting time: 7:03 / Shabbat ends: 8:08
B"H
Monday, Nissan 12, 5783 (Hakhel Year) / April 3, 2023
This will be the last Torah Fax before Pesach. Next Torah Fax, G-d willing, after the Pesach holiday.
Q.At the time of the Exodus, the Jewish people came out of Egypt with great wealth, as G-d had promised Abraham many years earlier. At the Seder we make all kinds of symbolic gestures to remember the Exodus. Why don’t we make any symbol for the great wealth we took from Egypt?
A.Someone suggested the reason is simple.. because by now there is nothing left of that great wealth. It is long gone… However, it seems.. that the bitter herbs (marror) we still have…
On a serious note: The Lubavitcher Rebbe, (born on the 11th day of Nissan in the year 5662) writes, “Jewish wealth are not houses and gold. Everlasting Jewish wealth is, being Jews who keep Torah and mitzvot and bringing into the world children and grandchildren who keep Torah and mitzvot."
This is a powerful understanding of what our true wealth is.In this context the answer is simple. The fact that we sit at the Seder together with family members, surrounded by our children and grandchildren, who ask the four questions and participate in the customs and traditions of the Seder. It is the great Nachas we derive this night, which is our great wealth at the Pesach Seder!
In the Talmud we find the following story: When Alexander the Great conquered the Middle East, the Egyptians came before him and demanded that the Jews should return the gold and silver which they "borrowed" from the Egyptians a thousand years earlier, at the time of the Exodus.
A simple Jew named Geviha ben Pesisa volunteered to argue the case and the rabbis agreed.
At the trial, the Egyptians presented their claim before Alexander, requesting that the Jews return the valuables which they borrowed. Geviha then asked the Egyptians, "Do you have proof to your claim?"
"Yes, we do, from your Torah," they replied. They quoted the passage from the Torah: "The Children of Israel did as Moshe told them and they borrowed from the Egyptians jewels of silver and jewels of gold. And G-d gave the people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians and they lent them".
"In that case," Geviha replied, "I will also repudiate your claim from our Torah. The Torah states that over 600,000 Jews (except for women and children), left Egypt at the time of Exodus. If you will pay us the wages owed to 600,000 Jews for over one hundred years of hard labor, we will return the gold and silver we borrowed!"
Alexander told the Egyptians to reply to Geviha's suggestion. The Egyptians requested three days to respond. In the end, after much calculation, they realized that having to pay for the labor of 600,000 people for all those years would be a much greater amount. They dropped the case.
HAVE A VERY HAPPY AND HEALTHY PESACH - CHAG KOSHER VE-SAMEACH
** NEXT TORAH FAX IN TWO WEEKS - AFTER PESACH **
B"H
Tuesday, Nissan 27, 5783 (Hakhel Year) 12th Sefirah / April 17, 2023
Today has been designated as, Yom HaShoa, Holocaust Remembrance Day. Jews all over the world, especially in Israel, remember our 6,000,000 brothers and sisters who were brutally murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators, eighty years ago.
Just like the Exodus from Egypt, which is celebrated on Passover, yet, it is a mitzvah (commandment) to remember it every day, so too, the Holocaust in which six million of our brothers and sisters were murdered, should be remembered each day of the year.
For over three thousand years, at the Pesach Seder, we recited the "Vehi She’amda," in which we are reminded that, "In every generation there are those who want to annihilate us, but G-d saves us from their hands." That message is still as powerful today as it ever was.
The anti-Israel and anti-Semitism on social media, on university campuses; in the U.N. and by governments all over the world, remind us of how true this message is even today.
“Yom HaShoah” carries even greater significance today as our brethren in Israel have to be on guard constantly from neighbors who want to annihilate them, G-d forbid. Yet, it is Israel who is always blamed as the aggressor when in truth they are practicing self-defense.
The most effective answer to the Anti Semites who want to annihilate us, isto assure Jewish survival and continuity - physically and spiritually.
We pray that G-d watch over and protect the soldiers of the I.D.F. (The Israeli Defense Forces) who risk their lives on the front lines daily. May G-d protect all who live in Israel and Jews everywhere.
Q. We remember our departure with the Kaddish prayer. What is the significance of Kaddish?
A. "Kaddish" is a prayer in which we praise, glorify, and sanctify G-d's name. Kaddish serves two functions: It benefits the soul of the deceased to rest in peace in Gan Eden. It also shows that we accept G-d's judgment and proclaim His justice. This, too, benefits the soul of the deceased.
Q. Why is the Kaddish recited in Aramaic, not in Hebrew?
A. At the time the Kaddish was introduced the majority of the people spoke Aramaic and didn't understand Hebrew. In order that everyone in the congregation would understand the meaning of these words, it was established in Aramaic.
Q. What is the significance of observing "Yartzeit," the day of passing, each year?
A. Each year on the day which the soul departed from this world it ascends to a higher spiritual level. The Kaddish which we recite and all the mitzvot we perform, in the merit of the soul, on that day helps it attain a higher spiritual level. May we merit the revelation of Moshiach NOW. Amen.
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY
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