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Vayikra
03/23/2023 10:17:03 AM
by Rabbi Peltz
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Today is Rosh Hodesh Nisan, the first day of the Hebrew month of Nisan, which means Passover is just two weeks away! It’s exciting, but it can also be overwhelming. There is a lot to do to prepare for Passover, on top of all of our other day-to-day responsibilities. Still, without that preparation, Passover wouldn’t be Passover. This preparation of course involves cleaning and cooking, but it also includes preparing for our seders. Like with any class or presentation, preparation is the key to success. There is no one size fits all seder. That’s why it is important to think about who will be around your table, and how to best fulfill the central commandment of Passover: v’higadita l’vinkha – to share the story of Passover with our children. The Passover seder is our opportunity to think about how our own stories fit into our people’s story, with food, song, conversation and shtick. We are here to help you with your preparation. You can go to the Passover secition of our website for resources that include stories, questions, and recipes. There is also still time to order from our ever-growing family of Haggadat Sholom, the TBS Haggadah, loving dedicated by the Baskies Family. Our original Haggadat Sholom is now in its 4th printing! It is a wonderful guide for all the participants at your seder tables. We also have our Haggadat Sholom Kids Edition, and newly published this year a Haggadat Sholom Kids Edition Leader’s Guide, which brings more ideas to enhance your seders. If you would like to order any of these haggadot you can do so by clicking here. I am so proud of our Haggadat Sholom series, and I hope that you will use them to engage your seder participants this year for many years to come.
There is a midrash on the very beginning of our Torah portion, Vayikra, that speaks to our task on Passover. Last week we concluded the book of Shemot, Exodus, with God’s presence filling the mishkan, the tabernacle. Everything seems perfect, and Moshe, the midrash says, thinks he is done. He heeded God’s call from the burning bush, confronted Pharoah, led the people out of Egypt, received Torah at Sinai, and built the mishkan. Not a bad life’s work, and now Moshe is ready to retire and take up golf in the ancient version of Florida. When he tells his plans to God, the midrash says that God replied, “As you live, now you have an even greater task! To teach my children!” Moshe’s tee time will have to wait. What God is saying is that as much as Moshe has accomplished, and as challenging as it all was, now the real work begins. He has to help the people put their freedom, their Torah, and their mishkan to use. Our rituals and our values are not meant to sit in a display case, to be taken out when convenient. Rather they are meant to be used, practiced, and reinterpreted to help each generation find guidance and meaning for their lives. All that work to prepare for Passover is important, but only because it prepares us for our real task, which is to use that matzah, maror, haroset and all the other foods and rituals of Passover to engage our children, grandchildren, and all those at our tables in the meaning of the holiday. This can be the most challenging task of all, but it also the most important and worthwhile task we can do.
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