Tuesday, Nissan 6 5783 (Hakhel Year) / March 28, 2023
B"H
Tuesday, Nissan 6 5783 (Hakhel Year) / March 28, 2023
The Seder traditions and customs date back thousands of years. The Pesach Seder is our link with our glorious history. Should one of our ancestors from 1000 years ago drop in on us at the Seder, they would feel very much at home and would be very proud. In fact, they would participate in our Seder just as they did in theirs in ancient times.
Tradition is what kept our people and nation together for thousands of years. It is very important to expose our children to our beautiful Jewish traditions and hopefully they will do the same and pass it on to their children as well.
For the Seder we need three matzot. At the beginning of the Seder, before reciting the Hagadah, we break the middle matzah in two. The larger piece is wrapped in a cloth or napkin and hiddenso it can be eaten later at the end of the meal. This piece of matzah is called "Afikoman." The smaller matzah is placed back between the two whole matzot and is left there during the recitation of the Hagadah.
Q. What is the significance of the threematzot on the Seder Plate?
A.1) They represent the three categories of the Jewish people: Kohen, Levi and Yisrael.
2) They also represent the three patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Q. Why do we breakthe middle matzah?
A. The Torah refers to matzah as "Lechem oni" - "bread of poverty." A poor man when he has a loaf of bread will always think about the next meal. He fears that he may not have anything to eat later, so before he eats his meal, he usually breaks off a piece and saves it for later. Thus, we leave the smaller piece on the table and recite the story of the Exodus over it – representing the bread of poverty, the bread of the poor person, which the Jewish people ate in Egypt.
Q. What is the reason for "wrapping" the Afikoman and "hiding" it?
A. The Torah tells us that at the time of the Exodus Jews were so rushed to leave Egypt that they didn't have time to bake their dough into bread. Instead, they "took their dough before it became leavened, and they bound it up in their clothesupon their shoulders." By wrappingthe Afikoman, we recall the fact that the dough was "bound in their clothes."
Q. Why do matzot have holes in them?
A.After the dough is rolled into a matzah, holes are punctured in them, to prevent the dough from rising. It is an additional precaution to make sure that it doesn’t rise and thus having the potential of becoming leavened (chametz), which is forbidden on Pesach.
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY
Monday, Nissan 5 5783 (Hakhel Year) / March 27, 2023
Monday, Nissan 5 5783 (Hakhel Year) / March 27, 2023
Next week, Wednesday night, April 5, will start the Pesach (Passover) holiday, celebrating our liberation from Egyptian slavery and bondage. Jews were in Egypt for 210 years before being liberated.
When Yaakov and his family moved to Egypt, they were only seventy people. When they came out of Egypt, 210 years later, they numbered a few million.
In Israel the holiday is celebrated seven days and only one Seder. In the Diaspora, we celebrate Pesach for eight days and perform two Sedarim. The additional Seder and additional day of holiday celebrated in the Diaspora is a tradition which goes back over 2000 years.
Q. Why is it preferable to use round Shmurah Matzah for the "Seder plate?"
A. The Torah refers to the matzah which the Jewish people baked when leaving Egypt as "ugot Matzot." The word "ugot" commonly represents something round.
Q. What is the difference between Shmurah matzah and regular matzah?
A. In order for matzot to be kosher for Pesach the flour has to be carefully guarded not to come into contact with water. Once it does come into contact, it has to be baked within 18 minutes. The shmurah matzah is baked from flour which was guarded from coming in contact with water from the time of harvest, much before it was made into flour. It’s a higher degree of carefulness to observe the mitzvah of matzah.
Q. Were all Jews liberated from Egypt at the time of the Exodus?
A. According to our sages only one fifth of the Jews were liberated at the time of the Exodus. The other four fifths died during the plague of Darkness. The reason they were not liberated was because they didn’t want to leave Egypt. They preferred to stay in Egypt, for which G-d punished them.
Q. What is the significance of the hard-boiled egg on the Seder plate?
A. A mourner, who, G-d forbid, lost a parent etc., eats a hard-boiled egg at their first meal after the funeral. The egg at the Seder reminds us that, although we are celebrating our freedom, yet, at the same time we mourn the loss of our Beth Hamikdash (Holy Temple).
Just as at a wedding ceremony, the groom breaks a glass to remember the destruction of the Holy Temple, so too, at the Seder, we are reminded of our great loss – the destruction of the Temple. May it be rebuilt speedily in our days, with the coming of Moshiach. Amen.
Q. Why is it important to eat the Afikoman matzah before midnight?
A. The matzah eaten for the Afikoman represents the Passover sacrifice at the time of the Temple. The meat of the sacrifice had to be eaten before midnight, thus, we eat the Afikoman before midnight.
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY
Friday, Nissan 2 5783 (Hakhel Year) / March 24, 2023
B"H
Friday, Nissan 2 5783 (Hakhel Year) / March 24, 2023
This Shabbat we read from the Torah, Parshat Vayikra. With this Parsha we begin the third book of the Torah, which is also called, Vayikra – Leviticus. Each of the five books of the Torah (Breishis, Shmot, Vayikra, Bamidbar, Devarim) carries the name of the first Parsha in that book.
Parshat Vayikra speaks about the various sacrifices and offerings which were to be brought upon the altar in the Tabernacle and later in the Holy Temple.
There were basically two kinds of offerings. One which the congregation or an individual were duty-bound to offer, like the daily morning and evening offerings. Also, the sin offering, when someone committed certain transgressions, they had to bring a sacrifice as an atonement.
The second category are the offerings which a person brings as a contribution - as a goodwill gesture to G-d. It is about this category, which the Torah speaks about in the beginning of this week’s Parsha.
Within this category of offerings, there are various kinds of offerings which one can choose from. They vary from cattle offerings, a fowl offering or even an offering made out of flour. It all depended on how much the person can afford. A wealthy person brought an offering from cattle, while a poor person would bring a fowl or a flour offering.
The Torah tells us that each of these offerings, no matter whether expensive or cheap, will bring great satisfaction to G-d.The Torah uses the same expression of satisfaction to G-d for the fowl or flour offering, as for the much more expensive, cattle offering.
The fowl offering was burnt on the altar with its feathers. Our sages explain that G-d says, “Even the smell of burnt feathers, which people cannot tolerate, being that its an offering of a poor person, it gives a great aroma and brings great satisfaction to Me.”
“From here we learn,” say our sages, “that G-d’s measurement is not in quantity, but in quality. Whether one gives more or one gives less, as long as a person does the best they can afford, and they do it for G-d’s sake, not for ulterior motives, they are both equal in G-d’s eyes.”
The Talmud tells that once there was a wealthy person who was leading a big ox to the Holy Temple to be offered on the altar. At some point the ox stubbornly wouldn’t continue. Nothing they did would make him go forward. A poor man carrying a bundle of grass happened to pass by. He fed the ox the grass and thus was able to lead him to the Temple. The sages said that the poor man’s bundle of grass was as good an offering as the rich man’s ox. G-d wants from us the best WE can do according to our means.
Correction to yesterday’s Torah Fax: Searching for Chametz is Tuesday night, April 4.
SHABBAT SHALOM
Montreal candle lighting time: 6:54 / Shabbat ends: 7:58
Tuesday, Adar 28 5783 (Hakhel Year) / March 21, 2023
B"H
Tuesday, Adar 28 5783 (Hakhel Year) / March 21, 2023
The highlight of the Pesach holiday is the Seder when the family gets together to celebrate the holiday of our freedom. In Israel one Seder is performed. In the Diaspora we make two Sedarim.
Q. Why is the celebration of our freedom called "Seder?"
A. "Seder" means "order." On all other holidays, as well as Shabbat, we recite the Kiddush and continue with the Shabbat or holiday meal. On Pesach, however, there is an order. After Kiddush we wash our hands, dip the “karpas” in salt water, we break the middle matzah, we recite the chapters of the Hagadah, etc. After the second cup of wine we wash again for the matzah, we eat the matzah and maror and then a sandwich of matzah and maror together. After the meal we eat the Afokoman, etc. The entire evening is celebrated in a specific order – a Seder.
Q. Why is this night of Pesach different than all other holidays that we celebrate with a Seder?
A. The Pesach Seder teaches us that a Jew can truly appreciate freedom only with order in one’s life. True freedom is not when one does whatever one wants, whenever one wants, without any restrictions. That is anarchy and chaos. Freedom comes with responsibility. The ability to choose right from wrong and to do what’s right. Thus, on Pesach when we celebrate our freedom, we remember the importance of putting order (Seder) into our lives.
Q. When did Jews celebrate their first Seder?
A. On the night before the Exodus. It was the night of the plague of the first-born. G-d commanded them to eat the meat of the Pascal offering together with matzah and maror that night. The Jewish people were confident that they will be liberated the next day.
Q. What is the reason and significance of the four cups of wine which we drink at the Seder?
A. As mentioned previously, various reasons are given for the four cups of wine. According to one opinion in the Talmud, they represent the four expressions of redemption (Exodus 6:6-7) which G-d used regarding the liberation from Egypt.
The four expressions are: "I will bring you out... I will deliver you... I will redeem you... I will take you." They represent different stages in redemption. According to the MaHaRal, the four cups of wine represent our four matriarchs: Sarah, Rivkah, Rachel and Leah. It was in their merit and in the merit of the Jewish women of that generation that G-d liberated the people from Egypt.
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY
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In loving memory of Irving Zaritsky- Yitzchak ben Avraham (z”l) -as we honor his Yartzeit.
May his soul rest in peace in Gan Eden. Remembered with love and blessing.
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