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Beit Midrash
- Shabbat and Holidays
- Passover - Pesach
- The Month of Nissan
But folks, everyone likes a nice intro! In fact, even our Chagim have an "intro" to set the mood for them before they begin. Consider: The High Holidays have the month of Elul, which prepares us for Teshuva & introspection. Purim has Ta’anit Esther; Tisha B’Av has the 3 Weeks. Pesach, I suggest, has Parshat HaChodesh. Always read before the month of Nisan, this last of the 4 special Parshiyot commands us to honor Nisan as month #1. In essence, our calendar - & our history - begins again.
This is the primary message of Pesach, is it not? No matter how gloomy things appear, no matter how hopeless the situation seems, we need never despair – there is always hope, always a second chance for us if we are ready to seize the moment & act upon it.
The Jews of Egypt had reached a dead end: They had sunk to a depth of behavior barely above the Egyptians; they were bitter, depressed & resigned to their fate. They did not even want to bring children into the world, knowing what awaited them. No slave, Chazal say, had ever escaped from Pharoah’s clutches. How would they, so downtrodden & despairing, find salvation?
But their pessimism proved unfounded. There’s always hope, because – like the moon – we are a resurgent people. We may wane, but we never disappear. From the most unlikely of places – Paro’s palace itself! – our hero would emerge. He would forsake the life of luxury to cast his lot with his enslaved brothers & evoke G-d’s saving hand. In short order, the tables would turn: We would become star players on history’s stage, while the mighty Egyptians would be reduced to a footnote in history.
Among all the holidays, only Pesach has a phenomenon called "Pesach Sheni." If you miss the 1st Pesach (for a valid reason) you can "make it up" a month later & bring the Korban Pesach in Iyar. Again, 2nd chances. All is not lost. There’s always an open door, if you really want in.
Pesach, then, is the Chag of "open-doors." Not just for Eliyahu, but for everyone - even the rebellious Rasha has a place at our Seder table! And so we open the Hagada by welcoming strangers to our Pesach celebration; indeed, close to 90% of the Jews in Israel attend a Seder each year! And now - Baruch Hashem, our societies are "opening" after more than a year of Corona closures.
So don’t be "plagued" by pessimism; have faith in G-d & "take a chance" – a second chance - to make it right.
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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Moreshet Shaul Hashem Is your Shadow – part I
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 420 – an address from 1941
P'ninat Mishpat A Non-Contractor in Changing Times – part I
(based on ruling 85128 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
Moreshet Shaul Our King on Rosh Hashana, Our Father on Yom Kippur.
Based on Aroch Siach, p. 221 (Rav Shaul Yisraeli)
P'ninat Mishpat A Non-Contractor in Changing Times – part II
(based on ruling 85128 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
Moreshet Shaul Hashem Is your Shadow – part II
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 420 – an address from 1941
Parashat Hashavua Happiness for the Right Reasons
[With painful longing, we share these divrei Torah from our co-Rosh Kollel for close to 40 years, Harav Moshe Ehrenreich zt”l.]
