Dear Readers,

Did you ever look through albums of your younger years with your kids? They love looking at the pictures and seeing how people looked years ago. They love hearing the anecdotes and the stories of what was taking place. And even more than that, kids can hear – again and again and again – the same stories of your youth. “Tell me the one about how you fell off the stage!” or “Tell us about how Savta went to the hospital and then you were born in a snowstorm.” They even remember the details and remind you if you forget one during your most recent retelling.

For children, these stories are a connection to your past. They’re a way to go back into your younger years and “relive” those days with you. They’re a means to get to know their parents and grandparents even better and a way to learn more about where they come from.

When I try to explain why we celebrate Pesach to those who are unaffiliated, it sort of sounds a bit funny. We “relive” the Exodus from Egypt that occurred more than 3,000 years ago and remind ourselves about the bondage and our passage to freedom. It sounds strange to them because they don’t understand Judaism. But if they understood how fundamental the past and our mesorah is to our way of life, they would be able to comprehend why we reexperience Yetzias Mitzrayim and why it’s the highlight of our year.

Our nation was formed and forged in the Kur HaBarzel, the smelting pot of Egypt. We endured unimaginable torture and pain. We were beaten, we were whipped, we submitted to backbreaking labor. Our children were slaugh- tered and drowned and buried within walls. We worked to only see the fruits of our labor sucked into the ground. And it is from this suffocating environment that we were told of our future freedom and cried out to Hashem and were saved.

And from that birthed a nation.

There is no way to comprehend the enormity and the secret of the Jewish nation that has survived millennia if we do not actively remember and relive the kiln in which we were formed.

When we left Mitzrayim, we walked out with our families – men, women, and children, grandparents and grandchildren, daughters and sons. The Torah makes sure to tell us that all of us left Egypt, helping us to be able to see ourselves leaving with the matzos on our backs.

And from that time on, from the moment we became a nation, we made sure to include our children in everything that we do. We work to share our mesorah with the next generation so that they can be part of the chain of what Yiddishkeit is about. And on Pesach, we are charged with passing down the story of the forming of our nation to our children. It’s our responsibility to teach them about our history, what happened in Mitzrayim, the miracle of our yetzia, and our special relationship with our Creator.

We include details and share stories, and we relive the night together. This way, our children can better understand from where they came so that they, too, can pass along this treasured mesorah to the next generation.

Wishing you a chag kosher v’sameach, Shoshana

Yitzy Halpern,

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Wednesday, April 5

Candle Lighting: 7:07 pm

Thursday, April 6

Candle Lighting After: 8:07 pm

Friday, April 7

Candle Lighting: 7:09 pm

Shabbos Ends: 8:09 pm

Rabbeinu Tam: 8:39 pm

Dear Editor, When I was young, we had lady fingers and macaroons, and Pesach was just fine. Now there are fancy shmancy cakes and even fagels (fake bagels). I mean if that’s what you guys need in order to enjoy Yom To, have at it. But what do you need it for? Would it be such a big deal not to eat a bagel for a week? I mean, I enjoy a bagel as much as anyone, but I don’t need one every week! For at least one week a year, I’m good to go with coconut macaroons. The lady fingers, I admit, are a bit of a stretch but that’s what makes Pesach memorable.

Anyways, I hope all your readers have a great Yom Tov, fagels, fizza and all!

Yona Rubin

Dear Editor, Pesach is a time of freedom, and we certainly need Moshiach. Although it’s not our job to interpret current events, what’s going on out there is pretty strange.

In American, a former President is being prosecuted in an absolute political witch-hunt. Before you accuse me of being MAGA blah blah blah, I’m not really a fan of Trump but it’s hard to imagine that after six years of Congressional and independent counsel investigations, Alvin Braggs is the one that finally nailed it. Alvin Braggs is the idiot prosecutor who pretty much announced when he took office that he hates police and that his job would be to defend criminals. And he has done just that – New York City has become a dangerous sewer under his watch. Anyone with a half of a brain would know that it’s not a good idea for a prosecutor to tell criminals that they have free reign. And this is the idiot that finally is nailing Trump? Not a chance in France! As they say, you can indict a ham sandwich. There will never be a conviction, but as Union boss Ray Donovan once said after being acquitted by a jury, “Now tell me where to go to get my reputation back?!” The point isn’t to convict Trump but to humiliate him and make him look like a criminal. Don’t think for a second that Biden did not give his approval for this. Bragg is an opportunist, and he is not going to anger the party higher-ups by doing something that they wouldn’t want him to do. So Biden approves of this. When the law is used to harass your political adversaries, we are entering a dangerous place.

In Israel, things are no better. For the past 20 years, the left has not been really able to get a foothold, but now they figured out that if they are willing to destroy the country, they can get whatever they want. It’s an incredible thing – Meretz, which is the hard-left self-hating Jew party in Israel – did not even get one seat in the Knesset, but most of the Supreme Court are Meretzniks! Of course, they don’t want judicial reform, which would take away their ultimate control over everything in Israel. So what do they do? They have their goons terrorize the country, leaving no choice but for those with sounder minds to say that we can’t risk the country being torn apart. Ironically, these are the same people who thumb their noses every time the Chareidim have a demonstration.

And Europe is no better, but that we

Continued on page 16 knew for a long time. So as we sit by the Seder, we should think about the state of the world and how we really need Moshiach.

Aryeh Freilech

Dear Editor,

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has changed felonies to misdemeanors and increased crime in NYC. By indicting former President Trump, he has turned a misdemeanor into a felony. Our nation is broken, and the vultures will start to circle around us. China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea are licking their lips in anticipation of further chaos.

Sincerely,

Wendy Penner Great Neck, NY

Dear Editor,

This week, I read a letter written by one of your readers and had to write in after reading it.

She wrote about seeing a high school girl in a clothing store and how the girl was saying that she was off from school for two weeks and was so bored and was just shopping all day because there was nothing to do at home.

I can’t say I was shocked to read the letter. In fact, when you walk down Cen- tral Avenue these days, you are bombarded by packs of girls who are either shopping or eating in coffee shops or restaurants. These girls really don’t have anything to do. Their cleaning girls are doing all the cleaning in their homes; their mothers may or may not be cooking, but many of them are heading out of town for Pesach and their only focus is getting the right clothes.

Yes, this is a generalization. There are many families that stay home and many wonderful young girls who help their mothers. But I cannot agree more with the person who wrote in that something has to be changed in the school calendar. No one needs their kids home for two weeks before yom tov. Even if these kids work “so hard” during the school year, they don’t need two weeks off before a 10day yom tov. These kids are out of school for almost a month!

The way I see it, we are giving our kids a very strong message: school is not a priority; shopping is. We are telling them very clearly that they should be spending their time spending money and buying clothes. After all, we live in the Five Towns. Do we expect them, on their very long off time, to just be going to the library all day?

My concern is for the future genera- tions. As schools are (partly) responsible for our children’s chinuch, are we raising young women whose values are in line with wholesome Yiddishkeit? Or are these young women going to be mothers who shop all day, concerned with making sure that every headband and sock is matching their three-year-old’s t-shirt?

As parents, we can try our hardest to impart the right values, but if schools aren’t helping us with this issue by giving these girls too much time to do “nothing,” then we are fighting a losing battle. And the ones who really end up losing out will, chas v’shalom, be the future generations. Sincerely,

A Reader

Dear Editor,

The only way to help diminish the flames of vitriol and hate is to throw the waters of love and understanding on them.

I applaud the workings of Be A Mensch. By going into communities and showing them that charedim are not pariahs; we are not horrible people; we have emotions, struggles, challenges, joys, hobbies just like them, we can help to bring Jews of all affiliations to come closer.

We are frightened by those we don’t know. But we can love those who we know.

We can all do this work on our own in our own way. If you see someone who may not be affiliated with Yiddishkeit at the grocery or library, say hello. Wish them a good day. Give them a smile. Show them that frum people are nice and warm and loving.

May the work on this wonderful organization help to bring Jews closer together, and may our nation see the good within each other.

Avi Rosenberg

Dear Editor,

This is in response to the reader who laments the amount of time off our high school girls have before Pesach.

I am the mother of a high school girl, and I can tell you with 100% certainty that this time off is a much needed break. Since you don’t yet have a daughter this age you are not privy to the abundant amount of work that these girls are assigned. Every night, there is another major exam to study for and this does not include all other obligations such as chessed, extra-curriculars, and the occasional babysitting job.

The problem is not the school calendar but rather the idea that girls this age need to be constantly occupied. Growing up, I did not always have to be entertained. If I was bored, I kept it to myself and found something to do. I am fortunate to have daughters who understand this concept and have learned to cherish their downtime. I work locally and have seen the streets of Cedarhurst fill up with teenage girls doing their pre-Yom Tov “shopping,” so I do acknowledge that there is a problem here. But again, this time off is, in fact, necessary and healthy, and it is certainly something the girls can and should look forward to.

A Five Towns Mom of a High School Girl

Dear Editor,

Rabbi Yaakov Harari and Harvard-educated David Sacks each point out an idea that frames what to extrapolate from the Seder.

Sacks, in the name of Rav Shlomo Carlebach, relays that the greatest son at the Seder is the She’eino Yodea Lishol How can that be? It’s because the one who is in such awe of G-d for enabling him to breathe, walk and even succeed and on top of that for miraculously being freed from slavery is unable to talk. The pure miracle of what is, of nature, is breathtaking and strips the ability to try to say anything, as the wonderment is above words.

Rabbi Harari focuses on the stanza, “Mitchila ovdei avodah zara,” emphasizing that in the beginning we were slaves to certain practices, and ultimately in the end, G-d brought us close to Him. This area of the haggadah focuses on the unbelievable hardship that we had to go through in order to rid ourselves of our lackings.

As Chazal say, Mitzrayim was a kur habarzel, a fiery furnace that purified us. Life is about work. Work brings growth and purification. When we work on ourselves to the limit, G-d pulls us close to Him. Understandably, the Rasha asks why we are so infatuated with work. The clear answer is that the one who fails in life is the one who doesn’t put in his full effort.

These two tracks are really the ways to come close to G-d. As Avraham, one must look at nature and see the Creator, whereby the Creator will pull the person even closer. Nature delivers awe, astonishment, and speechlessness.

The second is through working in Torah and on oneself. Burning out one’s impurities with the furnace of Torah and fierce introspection will pave the path to closeness to G-d. And as with the lover of nature, in this case, too, G-d will pull the person closer.

Steven Genack