Wellsprings ב’ה
Spring 2015 / Pesach 5775
What You Need to Know for
Pesach Your
Lehigh Valley
Counting Our Blessings Breaking the Chains What Eight Days of Freedom Taught Me
and more inside..
A little nosh for the soul compliments of Chabad of the Lehigh Valley.
Dedicated to the Love and Inspiration of the Lubavitcher Rebbe OB”M
Wellsprings
Dear Friends, YOU ARE THE NEXT LINK IN THE CHAIN. Passover is the most ancient of all rituals in the Western world. It has been passed down in an unbroken chain of tradition for over 3300 years, that’s over 100 generations! That means that every one of your ancestors, without exception, sat at a Seder and shared the meaning, the mystery, and magic of Passover. Engage all your senses in this dynamic and moving experience. The tastes, the aromas, the textures, the sounds, and the sights of Jewish continuity in action all combine to achieve the meaningful events of the Seder. Take the time this year to fully engage yourself and your family in Jewish life. Feel the passion of the exodus, taste the beauty of freedom, hear the message of personal growth all brought to life at the Seder. Join us or try it at home, either way, make this the most meaningful Passover ever, and as you do this, please take the time to fill out the enclosed envelope, and help us ensure that this tradition will be carried on for another 100 generations. May G-d bless you and your family with a Passover overflowed with good health & happiness. Sincerely, Rabbi Yaacov Halperin
PRODUCED BY: Chabad of Lehigh Valley
Torah Studies: A Weekly Journey into the Soul of Torah
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF:
Rabbi Yaacov Halperin DESIGNER:
Sara Bressler-Rutz CONTRIBUTING WRITERS:
Bella Shapiro Chana Weisberg Chani Benjaminson Angela Goldstein Devorah Halperin Chana Sara Elias Judy Gruen Rabbi Ben A. Sara Bressler-Rutz
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This Wellsprings Magazine is published by Chabad of the Lehigh Valley. 4457 Crackersport RoadAllentown, PA 18104 and is sent free to our Members and Friends infrequently throughout the year. Issue #43
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An Easy Life
By Bella Schapiro
It wasn’t the first time that I was struck by the brilliance of my
creator. I just didn’t expect that epiphany to come while in the throes of pre-Passover pressure. There are forty minutes to the deadline to get rid of all remaining chametz. I commandeer the kids, assigning rooms, brooms and vacuums. I run about frantically. The chametz from breakfast to be stashed away. The table and chairs to be scrubbed down. The bread pieces found last night at the official “search for the chametz” to be readied for burning. Weeks of intense labor have brought us to this moment. There is so much to do, so little time, and failure to finish not an option.
program, always an internal process, an inner journey that will bring you to your optimum self. And then there’s Judaism, unchanged and unchanging for over three millennia, that teaches theory and philosophy and inner journeys, but demands action. Passover represents the freeing of the soul from the things which clog it up and obstruct its brightness. How do we do that? By meditating about it? Sure, that too. But mostly with back-breaking, hand-chaffing labor. The physical kind.
“And then there’s Judaism, unchanged and unchanging for over three millennia”
And this is when the thought first occurs to me. What an incredibly easy religion. I don’t say it aloud; to do so would elicit hostile stares from all the exhausted people in the room. They’re all thinking, “I can’t do this anymore, this is insane, remind me next year to move to Antarctica.” My body feels close to collapse as well, but my mind is thinking, Man, He is one smart G-d.
The forty minutes are drawing to a close and we gather around the fire to see the final stage in the banishment of chametz from our homes, and to recite the prayer banishing the chametz from our hearts. The brief lull brings the realization of this as the apex of our labors, and there is a light in the eyes of my family that isn’t just a reflection of the dying flames. Through the ages of human existence, the common theme has been the endeavor for self-improvement. The true path to this was debated first by the ancient philosophers, and now by the authors of the self-help books that populate the best-seller list. Do we better ourselves through abnegation, sublimation, or surrender? Should we work to reject, accept, or transform? Every theory, philosophy and theosophy comes with the path to align yourself with its truth, an x-step
How does this replace the spiritual journey? It doesn’t. It takes the spiritual journey out of heaven, and makes it real by bringing it down to this world. I can sit and contemplate for hours, but when all is said and done (or rather, thought) I know I remain, essentially, unchanged. But then I take a physical broom and chase the chametz from my room, use my physical hands to clean, my physical body to do. And day by day, I feel the chametz being chased from my heart. On the morning before Passover, the fire I see in the eyes of those around me is the light of the liberated soul. When we our chametz, chametz in our chamira, cha-
watch the flames devouring we see the devouring of the souls. When we recite the kol the prayer in which we disavow all metz, it isn’t an empty prayer. It has been earned by weeks of sweat, has been made part of us. And it’s real. And that’s why this religion is so easy. Because it’s possible. Bella Schapiro’s articles reflect her deep understanding of Chassidic thought as well as an informed and sensitive grasp of modern-day life. Reprinted courtesy of ChabadLehighValley.com
What you need to know for
Passover
Have you heard?
The Story of Passover The eight-day festival of Passover is celebrated in the early spring, from the 15th through the 22nd of the Hebrew month of Nissan. It commemorates the emancipation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt. And, by following the rituals of Passover, we have the ability to relive and experience the true freedom that our ancestors gained.
“Six hundred thousand adult males, plus many more women and children, left Egypt on that day” After many decades of slavery to the Egyptian pharaohs, during which time the Israelites were subjected to backbreaking labor and unbearable horrors, G‑d saw the people’s distress and sent Moses to Pharaoh with a message: “Send forth My people, so that they may serve Me.” But despite numerous warnings, Pharaoh refused to heed G‑d’s command. G‑d then sent upon Egypt ten devastating plagues, afflicting them and destroying everything from their livestock to their crops. At the stroke of midnight of 15 Nissan in the year 2448 from creation (1313 BCE), G‑d visited the last of the ten plagues on the Egyptians, killing all their firstborn. While doing so, G‑d spared the Children of Israel, “passing over” their homes—hence the name of the holiday. Pharaoh’s resistance was broken, and he virtually chased his former slaves out of the land. The Israelites left in such a hurry, in fact, that the bread they baked as provisions for the way did not have time to rise. Six hundred thousand adult males, plus many more women and children, left Egypt on that day, and began the trek to Mount Sinai and their birth as G‑d’s chosen people.
About the Chametz To commemorate the unleavened bread that the Israelites ate when they left Egypt, we don’t eat—or even retain in our possession—any chametz from midday of the day before Passover until the conclusion of the holiday. Chametz means leavened grain—any food or drink that contains even a trace of wheat, barley, rye, oats, spelt or their derivatives, and which wasn’t guarded from leavening or fermentation. This includes bread, cake, cookies, cereal, pasta and most alcoholic beverages. Moreover, almost any processed food or drink can be assumed to be chametz unless certified otherwise.
Order Shmurah Matzah Traditional handmade shmurah matzah is recommended for seder use. Order your matzah today! (610) 351-6511
Operation Zero Chametz Passover is a holiday that mandates our complete involvement, not just during its eight days but for weeks before. Aside from the regular holiday obligations, we are also commanded (Exodus 13:3–7): “No leaven shall be eaten . . . For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread . . . and no leaven shall be seen of yours [in your possession].” We accomplish this by cleaning and inspecting our homes well before Passover, and gradually eliminating chametz from every room and crevice. This intensive cleaning takes place in Jewish homes throughout the world.
The Seder The highlight of Passover is the Seder, observed on each of the first two nights of the holiday. The Seder is a fifteen-step family-oriented tradition and ritual-packed feast. The focal points of the Seder are: Eating matzah. Eating bitter herbs—to commemorate the bitter slavery endured by the Israelites. Drinking four cups of wine or grape juice—a royal drink to celebrate our newfound freedom. The recitation of the Haggadah, a liturgy that describes in detail the story of the Exodus from Egypt. The Haggadah is the fulfillment of the biblical obligation to recount to our children the story of the Exodus on the night of Passover.
Fast of the Firstborn In the tenth and final plague inflicted upon Egypt, G-d killed the firstborn in all of Egypt. But, as in all the plagues brought upon Egypt, the Children of Israel were spared. In the Plague of the Firstborn, not one Jewish firstborn died. To express their gratitude, all firstborn males fast on the day before Passover (Erev Pesach). The fathers of firstborn boys under the age of 13 fast in their stead. The prevailing custom, however, is for the firstborn to exempt themselves from the obligation to fast by participating in a seudat mitzvah (a meal marking the fulfillment of a mitzvah), such as a siyyum--a festive meal celebrating the conclusion of the study of a section of Torah).
The
Seder Service in a
Nutshell
A quick overview of the Seder’s steps; save this page and it becomes a quick reference during the Seder.
The Four Cups of Wine
In Our Forefathers’ Footsteps
Why four cups? The Torah uses four expressions of freedom or deliverance in connection with our liberation from Egypt (see Exodus 6:6–7). Also, the Children of Israel had four great merits even while in exile: (1) They did not change their Hebrew names; (2) they continued to speak their own language, Hebrew; (3) they remained highly moral; (4) they remained loyal to one another.
At the Seder, every person should see himself as if he were going out of Egypt. Beginning with our Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, we recount the Jewish people’s descent into Egypt and recall their suffering and persecution. We are with them as G‑d sends the Ten Plagues to punish Pharaoh and his nation, and follow along as they leave Egypt and cross the Sea of Reeds. We witness the miraculous hand of G‑d as the waters part to allow the Israelites to pass, then return to inundate the Egyptian legions.
Kadesh—the Benediction The Seder service begins with the recitation of kiddush, proclaiming the holiness of the holiday. This is done over a cup of wine, the first of the four cups we will drink (while reclining) at the Seder.
Wine is used because it is a symbol of joy and happiness.
Why We Recline When drinking the four cups and eating the matzah, we lean on our left side to accentuate the fact that we are free people. In ancient times only free people had the luxury of reclining while eating.
Urchatz—Purification We wash our hands in the usual, ritually prescribed manner
as is done before a meal, but without the customary blessing. The next step in the Seder, Karpas, requires dipping food into water, which in turn mandates, according to Jewish law, that either the food be eaten with a utensil or that one’s hands be purified by washing. On the Seder eve we choose the less common observance to arouse the child’s curiosity.
Karpas—the “Appetizer” A small piece of onion or boiled potato is dipped into saltwater and eaten (after reciting the blessing over vegetables). Dipping the karpas in saltwater is an act of pleasure and freedom, which further arouses the child’s curiosity. The Hebrew word karpas, when read backwards, alludes to the backbreaking labor performed by the 600,000 Jews in Egypt. [Samech has the numerical equivalent of 60 (representing 60 times 10,000), while the last three Hebrew letters spell perech, hard work.] The saltwater represents the tears of our ancestors in Egypt.
Yachatz—Breaking the Matzah The middle matzah on the Seder plate is broken in two. The larger part is put aside for later use as the afikoman. This unusual action not only attracts the child’s attention once again, but also recalls G‑d’s splitting of the Sea of Reeds to allow the Children of Israel to cross on dry land. The smaller part of the middle matzah is returned to the Seder plate. This broken middle matzah symbolizes humility, and will be eaten later as the “bread of poverty.”
Maggid—the Haggadah At this point, the poor are invited to join the Seder. The Seder tray is moved aside, a second cup of wine is poured, and the child, who by now is bursting with curiosity, asks the time-honored question: “Mah nishtanah ha-lailah hazeh mikol ha-leilot? Why is this night different
from all other nights?” Why only matzah? Why the dipping? Why the bitter herbs? Why are we relaxing and leaning on cushions as if we were kings? The child’s questioning triggers one of the most significant mitzvot of Passover, which is the highlight of the Seder ceremony: the haggadah, telling the story of the Exodus from Egypt. The answer includes a brief review of history, a description of the suffering imposed upon the Israelites, a listing of the plagues visited on the Egyptians, and an enumeration of the miracles performed by the Almighty for the redemption of His people.
Rochtzah—Washing Before the Meal After concluding the first part of the haggadah by drinking the second cup of wine (while reclining), the hands are washed again, this time with the customary blessings, as is usually done before eating bread.
Motzi Matzah—We Eat the Matzah Taking hold of the three matzot (with the broken one between the two whole ones), recite the customary blessing before bread. Then, letting the bottom matzah drop back onto the plate, and holding the top whole matzah with the broken middle one, recite the special blessing “al achilat matzah.” Then break at least one ounce from each matzah and eat the two pieces together, while reclining.
Maror—the Bitter Herbs Take at least one ounce of the bitter herbs. Dip it in the charoset, then shake the latter off and make the blessing “al achilat maror.” Eat without reclining.
Korech—the Sandwich In keeping with the custom instituted by Hillel, the great Talmudic sage, a sandwich of matzah and maror is eaten. Break off two pieces of the bottom matzah, which together should be at least one ounce.
Again, take at least one ounce of bitter herbs and dip them in the charoset. Place this between the two pieces of matzah, say “kein asah Hillel . . .” and eat the sandwich while reclining.
Shulchan Orech—the Feast The holiday meal is now served. We begin the meal with a hard-boiled egg dipped into saltwater. A rabbi was once asked why Jews eat eggs on Passover. “Because eggs symbolize the Jew,” the rabbi answered. “The more an egg is burned or boiled, the harder it gets.”
Note: The chicken neck is not eaten at the Seder.
Tzafun—Out of Hiding After the meal, the half-matzah which had been “hidden,” set aside for the afikoman (“dessert”), is taken out and eaten. It symbolizes the Paschal lamb, which was eaten at the end of the meal. Everyone should eat at least 1½ ounces of matzah, reclining, before midnight. After eating the afikoman, we do not eat or drink anything except for the two remaining cups of wine.
Berach—Blessings After the Meal A third cup of wine is filled and Grace is recited. After the Grace we recite the blessing over wine and drink the third cup while reclining. Now we fill the cup of Elijah and our own cups with wine. We open the door and recite the passage which is an invitation to the Prophet Elijah, the harbinger of the coming of Moshiach, our righteous Messiah.
Hallel—Songs of Praise At this point, having recognized the Almighty and His unique guidance of the Jewish people, we go still further and sing His praises as L‑rd of the entire universe. After reciting the Hallel, we again recite the blessing over wine and drink the fourth cup, reclining.
Nirtzah—Acceptance Having carried out the Seder service properly, we are sure that it has been well received by the Almighty. We then say “Leshanah haba’ah bee-rushalayim—Next year in Jerusalem.”
O Passover Q&A
Q A
At a traditional seder, what is the role of women beyond eating the foods? Do they read from the Haggadah? May they lead the seder?
The role of women at the seder is the same as the role of men--to recount, discuss and delve into the miracle of the Exodus and how it relates to us today. They should definitely read from the Haggadah and they can take the leading role in the seder, in explaining the Haggadah and discussing commentary on it.
Halachically, too, there is no distinction between men and women with regards to the night’s obligations.1 In addition, they also light the Passover holiday candles. By Chana Weisberg
“They should definitely read from the Haggadah”
הגדה
Passover Q&A continued...
Q A
My children are finicky eaters and don’t like the Passover meals I prepare for them. Any suggestions?
Passover can be challenging, but there are ways and means to make it lots of fun as well! Here are a few suggestions I’ll share with you, from mother to mother :)
Focus on the positive, if your children complain that they miss their regular food, empathize but don’t let them dwell on it. Instead, shift the focus of the conversation, telling them that this is an adventure that will last only eight days, an adventure of reliving what our great-great-grandparents did so many years ago... Make it exciting for them! Involve them in the preparations and processes. My children had a blast helping me clean the refrigerator...and can’t wait to set the table for the Seder. If you have a kosher for Passover oven you can make lots of potato fries which I’m sure they’ll enjoy! You can make shnitzel, fried chicken cutlets (dipped in egg and/or potato starch), roast chicken, meat patties, potato latkes or kugel, these are foods children usually like. For desserts, get lots of bananas and fresh nuts, cut the bananas in half then have the kids roll them in the nuts and stick a popsicle stick in them, then freeze. You can also process different fruits as you would a fruit shake and then put in ice molds or popsicle sticks or plastic cups.
By Chani Benjaminson
Engaging and Unique Aleph Champ Program!
Chabad Hebrew School uses the highly motivational Aleph Champ program to teach Hebrew reading. The Aleph Champion Program© is on the cutting edge of Hebrew reading today. Modeled after the Karate/Martial Arts motivational system, it works by dividing different reading skills into levels defined by color.
www.chabadlehighvalley.com 610.351.6511 hs@chabadlehighvalley.com
Make Your Own Seder Plate What I like about this craft so much, is that it’s not just fun for the kids, it’s also inexpensive with very easy cleanup which makes it fun for the grownups too!
Supplies • Blank Ceramic Plate (Preferrably White) • Nontoxic Enamel Paint (available at most craft stores) • Pencil
1 2
First plan out your main design by drawing lightly on the ceramic plate with a pencil. Preheat oven to 350 °.
Once you have your design, begin by coloring in the layout BEFORE you outline. This will give you better coverage and less smudges.
3
Outline your objects. Then go nuts decorating the plate!
4
After all of your decorating is complete and paint is dry- place plate directly on rack in the middle of the oven for 30 minutes.
Tips • You can easily enjoy these plates for years if you handle with care. Dishwasher use is not recommended. • No big deal if you make a mistake, just grab a Q-tip and some rubbing alcohol. • While paint pens aren’t very messy, they will stain clothing. For smaller children, a smock or an old t-shirt may be a good precaution.
One of Devorah’s favorite recipes for a delicious Passover meal, so easy the kids can help too!
Meat Roast Ingredients
4 lb California roast or beef brisket 1 large onion, sliced into rings 5 cloves fresh garlic, minced 1/2 cup ketchup 1/2 cup barbeque sauce 3 tbsp brown sugar
Directions
Preheat oven to 350. Place the meat into a heavy baking pan that is just big enough to hold it. Spread onion rings over the meat. Scatter minced garlic over the meat. Pour the ketchup, barbeque sauce, and brown sugar into a small bowl. Stir to pour the meat. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and place in oven for 2 1/2 hours When the meat is done, carefully remove it from the oven. When it is cool enough to handle, carefully slice it thinly. You can reheat it in the sauce if desired.
Breaking the Chains
By Angela Goldstein
B
reaking the chains. Exodus. Freedom. These are all recurring themes as we sit around the Pesach Seder table. Each year, we gather and rejoice at the fact that the Jews were released from the shackles of slavery. We tell the stories to our children and sing the songs that, even after all these years, still render it impossible not to pound the table to a familiar beat and smile. We eat the food and drink the wine as we relax into celebration with family and friends. Next year we say, next year, in Jerusalem.
bet that 99% of the people who will take the time to read this article have asked themselves that question many times. Human beings are seekers, it is in our nature. We look for answers at every turn, especially when it comes to our personal well-being. We even go as far as medicating ourselves in order to create certain feelings, emotional and physical.
After the holiday is over we fall right back into our everyday lives. The alarm clocks go off and we start the day running to jobs, Zumba classes, ballet recitals, and more. We have our iPhones glued to our ears and televisions and laptops blare for hours even though we don’t watch them, much. And every so often, whether we are in prayer at Shuel or in a deep sweat on the elliptical, a question pops into our minds – what is going to make me happy?
escaping us, that we call happiness. Recently, I read a quote and I finally stopped searching. In fact, this quote completely changed my view of the search itself and gave me an answer to how one can acquire this coveted feeling of being happy. Writer and teacher Viktor Frankl, a concentration camp survivor, said: “We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything
I know that this can be uncomfortable to read on paper. It was actually uncomfortable for me to write. However, I can
For a long time I considered myself a searcher, constantly looking for that one thing that was going to tip the scales in my favor and allow me to achieve that one feeling, ever
can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms: to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” This quote was especially moving for me because I realized that happiness is within us. It is a choice that we make. All too often we unconsciously disconnect from life. We get caught up in reality TV, magazines at the supermarket checkout aisle, billboards on the highway, and Facebook on our phones. The list goes on. These are the shackles of today, the chains that weigh us down and stand in the way of us discovering our life’s work and living a fulfilling life. It’s this numbness that stands between us and spirituality. We do not have a soul, instead we are a soul that has a body and mind. It’s quite a journey to turn off those blinders and get to know yourself. But, it’s necessary if you want to live a life worth living. Back in the desert, when G-d created a miracle that freed the Jews from years of persecution, He was also giving a lesson to all Jews - past, present, and future - with the message that once you unchain yourself you can accomplish anything. A good friend once said to me that nothing is impossible, only improbable. I do believe that we can all have
“consider reading it with a renewed sense of the word freedom”
a life without blasting our car stereos and daily cocktails of anti-depressants; it all starts with one action. Just as the Jews in Egypt kept their faith in G-d even in the darkest of times, I too have faith that we all can overcome these difficult times that we are experiencing in the present. This Pesach, when you open your Haggadah, please consider reading it with a renewed sense of the word freedom. How can you achieve that freedom in your own lives and the lives of your children? It might seem like a story of old, but it’s a lesson of now. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not easy, especially when everything around us is urging us in the opposite direction. It wasn’t easy in the desert either. Just like our ancestors, breaking the chains is part of our heritage and it doesn’t end in Egypt. Bring it to work with you, to the dinner table, to your exercise routine. You’ll not only affect your life, but you’ll affect the lives and attitudes of those around you. I wish you and yours a most joyous and humbling of holidays this Pesach.
embassybank.com
What 8 Days of Freedom Taught Me by Chana Sara Elias
I remembering thinking post-Pesach once that I had so many things to do – study for finals, turn over my kitchen, general housework – but I couldn’t do any of those things until I hashed out what just happened over the extremely stressful but liberating holiday. It all began as I attempted to make my way around the kosher market 45 minutes away from my home, the only kosher market for the tri-county area, if not entire south-eastern region of the state. I was there doing all of my Pesach shopping the week before the holiday with my daughter. As one would imagine, the entire store was quite abuzz. I could hardly push my cart without almost, or actually, running into someone else.
to don our home. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a woman standing and staring at us. Since the store was packed, I assumed that she wanted to get by. “Excuse me, can I move for you?” I asked the woman. She told me that she actually wasn’t trying to get by, but rather was admiring the interaction between me and my daughter. At that moment, I didn’t realize how powerful that moment would be, but after eight days of no chametz, or leavened bread, a deflated ego and a tired child and mother, it helped me to realize that I’m not the world’s worst mother, G-d forbid, and that absolutely no one is perfect.
“I didn’t realize how powerful that moment would be”
As I approached the frozen meat case, I noticed that there was a large display of macaroons on top. Oh, how do I love macaroons! I decided to buy one can for before Pesach, and one for the after-kitchen-turnover delight. I pointed to each can and told my daughter what flavor they were. I let her decide which flavors would have the opportunity
Throughout the holiday, I became increasingly stressed and frustrated with my child, and, mostly, with myself. For me to expect my child to be perfect is a tall order for a small child, but when I took look at the larger picture, I realized that most of the time she is a complete angel.
Other times, when she isn’t on her best behavior, it’s not because she’s a bad kid, G-d forbid, but rather because she’s a kid and a human, and that’s what they do. Temper tantrums are parental initiations and the child’s rite of passage. Throughout Pesach I came closer to my wit’s end. From my daughter not wanting to stand nicely and listen during Birkat Kohanim, the blessing that the Kohanim give to the congregation, to repeatedly doing things she was asked nicely not to do, by the end of the holiday I just couldn’t handle it anymore. I sat back and tried to evaluate the situation. Many of us seek perfection all of the time. We want the perfect child, to be the perfect parent, to have the cleanest home and the most gorgeous Shabbos table. But what is the function of perfection in this imperfect world? If we are always perfect, would we have a reason to draw close to our Creator? He’s perfect and obviously built this world as He saw most fit. The imperfection of the world was left that way so we can be G-d’s co-builders, to finish making this world a dwelling place for Him. Pesach is the holiday of freedom. We were redeemed from being slaves in Egypt and were able to begin our journey to the Holy Land and to, G-d willing, receive the Torah during the Divine Revelation at Mt. Sinai. The Hebrew word for Egypt, Mitzraysynonymous to bondage. This concept of Egypt applies to all of us in our personal lives. There are certain things that keep u s
im,
is
down and hold us back from being the best us that we can be. When we are able to overcome our own personal bondage, we then have our own yitzias Mitzrayim, redemption from Egypt.
“With the sea in front full of water and there was no way to escape the Egyptians, we had to have a bit of faith.”
The third posuk, verse, of the 12 pesukim that the Rebbe suggested for all children t o know speaks about our redempt i o n from Egypt. B’chol dor vador chayav adam leeros, es atzmo k’eelu hu, yatza meeMitzrayim. In each generation, we all must believe that we personally were redeemed from Egypt. But before G-d comes and intervenes on our behalf, we need to merit His intervention. In the story in the Torah, we did two mitzvot that G-d commanded us. We took in the Egyptian’s idol into our homes, the sheep, and kept it for four days. This was already a life-threatening act. We then slaughtered the animal as a sacrifice to G-d and smeared the blood over our door posts and on the door jams. When we do an extra mitzvah, whether it’s lighting Shabbos candles on time, visiting the sick or saying an extra chapter of tehillim, psalms, we are also meriting G-d to intervene on our behalf, just like in the Torah. We can’t ask G-d to do nice things for us but refuse to do something that He asks of us in our merit. That doesn’t work in person-to-person relationships and certainly shouldn’t with the A-lmighty. We also need to have the belief that G-d will take us out of our personal Egypt, just like we had to have believe when we came to the Yam Suf, Sea of Reeds, as we ran out of Egypt with the Egyptian’s following us on their way to kill us. The first thought that the people had was, “Why, Moshe, did you bring us here?! Were there not enough graves in Egypt?” With the sea in front full of water and there was no way to escape the Egyptians, we had to have a bit of faith. Hashem was not going to redeem us from Egypt only to get killed by the Egyptians, but was going to continue to guard and protect us as he had
throughout our time in exile. G-d is still guarding us in the current time of exile. While everything around us seems messy and disorderly, and that G-d certainly couldn’t let this all happen under His watch, we need to have faith that everything is for the good. He hasn’t abandoned us this far and He certainly won’t now. We just need that faith to be able to take the first step out of our personal Egypt, and then, G-d willing, out of the current exile and into the Messianic era.
At the moment that my daughter is kicking and screaming during Birkat Kohanim because she doesn’t want to stand up, go under her friend’s Tatty’s talis, or do whatever is being asked of her, I have to have belief that Hashem is allowing this for a reason. I have to have the belief that it’s not just to be cruel to me, but rather as a learning experience for the both of us, even if I don’t know what that the lesson is quite yet. When I can have that belief, freedom is sure to follow. I won’t fret in regard to this situation and will be able to rest easily knowing that this, too, shall pass. The fact that this woman in the kosher market told me she was admiring the interaction between me and my daughter at a time when I was completely stressed out, tells me that I’m not a terrible mother. It tells me that this is a long holiday and that my daughter is now stressed, tired and over stimulated. And that’s okay. We are allowed to have our better days than others. It should be kept in mind, though, that maybe someone else who is having a good day may have a not so good day on a day we are having a better day. We are all entitled to our feelings, others just need to recognize that, and we need to recognize that in others, especially our children. After this realization, we also can see that these feelings are not because of us, but because of their own self-contained system. Over Pesach, I not only gained freedom from Mitzrayim, but I also gained freedom from parental guilt.
Lehigh Valley Your
We had an amazing time on Chanukah 2014. We lit up the night at the new PPL center alongside the Mayor Ed Pawlowski, Chief of Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald, Lehigh County Commissioner Lisa Scheller, and the Lehigh Valley clergy. Mayor Pawlowski lit the menorah, followed by a Chanukah song led by Cantor Wartell and Mendy Halperin.
The ice menorah was carved out of over 6’ of ice!
Menorah building and painting? Chanukah shaped cookies? Giant Menorah Lightings? Bowling pin menorah? Must be Chanukah Chabad style!
Smile on Seniors
We are very excited about the growth of our Program Simle on Seniors. All we need is you! To find out more give us a call at (610) 351-6511
We were so happy to make new friends at our first SOS Chanukah events that were held at various senior living facilities thoughout the valley.
Lehigh Valley Your
On Purim 2015 we set a whole new standard for Purim Parties! We were joined by Caricatoonz artist, John Sprague, as well as world renowned Harlem Globetrotter Kenny “The Blenda” Rodriguez. But what made the day even better, was seeing so many faces of our friends from the community. A great time was had by all at our Purim Bash, Je Suis Purim. After the animated Megillah reading (with our all new animated video) there was a presentation by Chabad Hebrew School. They did a Purim rap, and then sang some songs. Oy the talent! Then Kenny Rodriguez took the stage to show us some mind blowing basketball tricks. The caricatures by Mr. Sprague were so hilarious, every child who had one done was waving them around proudly. We can’t wait to see you all next Purim!
More Smile on Seniors fun with Rabbi Spalter
Counting
Our
Blessings By Judy Gruen
L
“Physically and psychologically, Celtic instrumentals, Spanish guitar, and folk/rock from “our our evening meals provide time.” nourishment for both body and What made last night’s dinner particularly meaningful was that soul.” it was the first night in nearly two
ast night as my husband, Jeff, and I had dinner together, I felt a deep sense of gratitude. After nearly twenty-five years of marriage, eating dinner together is hardly a novel phenomenon. I have calculated, in fact, that we have eaten nearly 9,000 dinners together, and I have likely cooked more than 8,000 of them!
Fortunately, our enduring partnership has not dulled our affection for, or interest in, one another. In contrast to the old adage that familiarity breeds contempt, familiarity for us has bred content, and much more. Today we cherish a deeper emotional connection than we could have dreamed possible when we first married. We are now quasi–empty nesters
who still work long hours at our respective jobs. Physically and psychologically, our evening meals provide nourishment for both body and soul. We talk about our kids, our work, the news. We talk about books we are reading, and share new insights from classes we have attended. And of course there is the mundane stuff of life, such as who will take the car for the oil change, and when we will ever get around to dumping the ancient, faded family room couch and give that neglected space a facelift. If the day has been particularly maddening or frazzling, we’ll play surefire calming classics for ambiance; other evenings we’ll play
weeks when Jeff could sit up for dinner at all without excruciating pain. Twelve days earlier, he had begun feeling unwell. Two days after that, he experienced brutal head and neck pain whenever he tried to sit up or stand. Although it was Shabbat morning, I called the paramedics, and within minutes we w e r e riding in an ambulance to the emergency room. Over the next eleven hours, a caring and capable doctor and a cadre of hardworking nurses tried to ease Jeff’s pain, while test after test was employed to determine the cause. Jeff has been blessed with excellent health and stamina—blessings that we tried not to take for granted. His robust energy seemed like more
than a blessing; it seemed a vital necessity given the demands of running a small business, where twelve-hour work days for him are much too common. In twenty-two years of running his business, he’s rarely missed a day of work due to illness. And when he has, it was usually because I adamantly insisted that he stay home to rest. The suddenness and severity of his pain was terrifying, but we tried not to “catastrophize,” and fought the tendency to imagine dreadful diagnoses. Fortunately, every test at the hospital revealed a man in good health. Finally, the doctor surmised that the pain was caused by a nasty virus. After lots of high-tech tests, he recommended a low-tech solution of complete bed rest and lots of liquids. We were relieved to finally come home, but were exhausted and still worried. Was this really a virus? If so, how long would the symptoms last? What if the doctor was wrong?
new poignancy and meaning for both of us: “Blessed are You, L‑rd our G‑d, King of the Universe, who releases the bound . . . Who straightens the bent . . . Who gives strength to the weary.” For the first time in his life, Jeff recited these blessings unable to stand. As he slowly regained strength and equilibrium, and was able to sit up for a few minutes longer each day, we were in awe of how the Almighty designed the human body with such exquisite balance, miraculous complexity and a remarkable capacity to heal. This episode reminded us of what we knew intellectually but had not experienced personally: no matter how many hundreds or even thousands of times we have thanked G‑d for the miracles we take for granted, such as waking up and being able to see, to stand and to relieve ourselves without blinding pain, it’s only when these gifts are taken away that we can fully appreciate the masterpiece of a healthy human body.
“But while you can take the man out of the office, you can’t always take the office out of the man”
A few days later a neurologist diagnosed the problem as a small tear at the base of Jeff’s brain, a rare and unlikely event given that he had not had any recent head trauma. This tear caused spinal fluid to leak when Jeff was in any upright position. The doctor was optimistic that several days of complete rest and drinking copious amounts of liquid would heal the tear. And if it didn’t, there were non-surgical corrections available. Jeff had no choice but to submit to a regimen of complete bed rest. But while you can take the man out of the office, you can’t always take the office out of the man, and my husband continued to work via BlackBerry and iPad while lying down. “Just because I’ve sprung a leak doesn’t mean I can’t work,” he joked, revealing that his sense of humor was still intact while mine was missing in action. I typed the longer e‑mails, because— trust me—it’s really hard to type while holding an iPad aloft. During his convalescence, the morning blessings assumed a
Despite the fright and pain of this episode, we realize how blessed we are that it was of short duration, and according the doctor, unlikely to recur. “It’s another reminder that the small things are the big things,” my husband said to me that evening, enjoying the novel sensation of sitting up pain-free. Enduring the health scare of his life has made him determined to finally implement the kind of changes he has long wanted to make at work, so that he can run his business more than his business runs him. As he told a friend who came to visit, “This experience has reminded me in no uncertain terms of what’s really important in my life: the unconditional love from my wife and children, a supportive community and a loyal team of employees. I like to think that the goodness I’ve tried to put out there over the years has come home when I needed it most.” This is why our quiet little dinners, which we had already looked forward to each night with happy anticipation, are times to cherish even more, both of us grateful to know we’ve got each other.
Judy Gruen’s latest award-winning book is Till We Eat Again: A Second Helping. Reprinted courtesy of ChabadLehighValley.com
The Feather the Spoon and the Candle I
have a friend who sponsors a lot of guys. He has this thing he does with them that his sponsor did with him. After his sponsees read him their Fifth Step, they go out and burn it. It struck me as kind of dramatic. Yes, for most of us the list has all sorts of embarrassing things written on it, but you can just put it away in a private place. “Why do you burn it?” I asked him, “You might need it later.” “When you need it again, you can do another Fifth Step then. This one we burn.”
“We invariably unearth some unpleasant stuff -- our internal chametz.” There’s an ancient Jewish custom that when we rid our homes of leaven on the night before Passover, we search for it by the light of a candle. Somehow it also became standard to bring along a feather as a tiny broom and a wooden spoon as a sort of miniature dustpan. When we’re all done, we take the feather, the spoon and the candle -- along with our leaven -- and put them in a bag. The next morning we throw the bag in the fire and watch its contents go up in flames as we ask G-d to remove the chametz from our lives just as we have removed it from our homes.
But the answer is simple. Isn’t it? Because we don’t hold on to something whose purpose is to find chametz. When we go about searching for our character defects through the process of personal inventory, we invariably unearth some unpleasant stuff -- our internal chametz. Why are our shortcomings compared to leaven? Because each one of them is a puffed up exaggeration of our true selves -various expressions of an ego that was allowed to rise. Having found all of our leaven on the eve of our Redemption, we do not attempt to get rid of it immediately. We are tired from our search. We’re not ready just yet to take the next step. We neatly tie up our chametz in a bag -- along with the feather, the spoon and the candle -- and put them all aside. Then, the following morning, with a full and rested mind, we place them all in the fire.
The chametz. The feather. The spoon. And the candle.
Rabbi Ben A. is the most famous anonymous rabbi. Using his pen name, Ben A. draws from his personal experience in recovery to incorporate unique chassidic One might ask -- It makes sense to burn the feather, for it philosophy into the practice of the 12 Steps. Reprinted touched the chametz. It makes sense to burn the spoon, for it courtesy of ChabadLehighValley.com held the chametz. But why burn the candle which only helped us find the chametz? It seems like a waste. At the very least, we should save it for next year.
Candle Lighting Times If you are reading this, so are your potential customers!
Friday April 3 Finish Eating Chametz before 10:57 am Sell and burn Chametz before 12:01 pm Candle Lighting 7:10 pm
Call (610) 351-6511
office@chabadlehighvalley.com
Saturday April 4 Light Candles After 8:10 pm Sunday April 5 Holiday Ends 8:12 pm Thursday April 9 Candle Lighting 7:17 pm Friday April 10 Candle Lighting 7:18 pm Saturday April 11 Shabbat/Holiday Ends 8:19
Happy Passover From
Specialty Clubs! Each session you will have an option to choose from 2 specialty clubs that you can join for the whole session. That means real Professional training every day in what You enjoy most! Clubs: Basketball, Culinary, Gymnastics, Martial Arts, Theater, Tennis Price: $100 per session *If you sign up for all 3 sessions, you receive a specialty club for free!! *Miniumum
of eight par ticipan
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Dates: June 22-July 31 Sessions: #1: June 22-July 3 #2: July 6- 17 #3: July 20-31 Price: $450 per session (225 per week)
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We start off our mornings with Jewish themes of the day! We teach your child love for Israel, Jewish customs, and traditions through songs, stories and exciting activities. We instill in our campers a sense of Jewish pride, and what it means to be a Jew!
We recruit experienced Jewish counselors who are committed and devoted to ensuring your child will have the best summer experience!! Our Staff members are trained in CPR and First Aid. The counselor’s energy, excitement, and care is what makes the camp so special and gives the campers a feeling of belonging and a friendship that lasts a lifetime!
It’s Waiting at Gan Izzy!
The Most Amazing Summer isn’t waiting for you behind your computer...
Arts & Crafts! Each session there will be one half day trip and one grand, exciting Full Day Trip!! Trips include: Desales Theatre, Camel Beach Water Park, Adventure Aquarium, Dutch Springs Park, PP&L Center Show, Iron Pigs game, Bounce U, Davinci Science center, Bowling, Rock Climbing and More!
Each week we will have an exciting and educational arts n’ crafts, based on the theme of the week. Your child will be able to take home and be proud of what she built/created herself in camp! Some of our arts n’ crafts include: wood working, jewelry making, mosaics, sewing, ceramics and more!
Here at Camp Gan Izzy we include many specialties that make us unique from any other camp: Daily hot lunches, overnights, after camp BBQs, Shabbat Friday night dinner, mad science, kids in the kitchen, treasure hunts, competitions and more!
This summer is going to be super!
Call 610.351.6511 visit us online @ www.ganisraelpa.com Like us on Facebook
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Chabad of the Lehigh Valley 4457 Crackersport Road Allentown, PA 18104
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From Basic to Kabbalistic,we will explore some practical information as well as the timeless relevance of this engaging Holiday. Join us for a Passover Seder you will remember for a lifetime! Experience the Exodus of Egypt and insights into our Passover traditions. DON’T PASS OVER THIS EXPERIENCE!
Friday April 3 at 7:30 PM RSVP (610) 351-6511 www.chabadlehighvalley.com $30 per person