14 Nissan (April) Pesach
15 Nissan (April) Unleavened Bread (leaven represents sin)
April 15, 2014
Then Moses said to the people, “Commemorate
this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, because
the LORD brought you out of it with a mighty hand. Eat nothing containing
yeast.” — Exodus 13:3
Today is Day 1 of
the eight-day Passover celebration. The Torah reading for today is from Exodus 12:21–51 and Numbers
28:16–25, and the Haftorah is from Joshua 3:5–7; 5:2–6:1; 6:27.
Because the first two days during Passover
are non-working days, these devotions were prepared in advance for you.
Passover is a joyous holiday. We celebrate
the fact that God hears our prayers and intervenes in history in order to bring
salvation. However, as we take a good look at the Passover story, the details
reveal that salvation comes in many different guises.
In Exodus 13:3 we are commanded: “Commemorate
this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery … Eat
nothing containing yeast.” We are given two distinct directives. One
is to commemorate the day that God took Israel out of Egypt and the other is to
refrain from eating anything with yeast. What is the connection between the
observance of Passover and the dietary restrictions?
Let’s go back to Exodus 12. Late at night
during the final plague, Pharaoh approached Moses and said: “Up! Leave
my people, you and the Israelites!” (v.31). Pharaoh sent the
Israelites packing so fast that the people didn’t have time to finish baking
their bread: “So the people took their dough before the yeast was added
…” (v.34). By refraining from foods with yeast on Passover, we
remember not just that God redeemed Israel, but also how Israel
was saved.
The Sages teach that on the eve of the
Exodus, many of the Israelites were hesitant to leave Egypt. Pharaoh had to
literally kick them out without giving them any time to think, plan, or
retreat, in order to get them marching toward their freedom.
This reminds me of the following story:
There was once a wealthy man who was known for throwing elaborate parties. At
one such party, the man announced that he had placed alligators and sharks into
one of his pools. Anyone who would swim from one end of the pool to the other
would be granted any request. Suddenly, there was a splash and the guests
watched in shock and admiration as a man swam deftly and quickly, narrowly escaping
the deadly waters. When he emerged from the pool, the wealthy man commended him
and asked what his wish was: “What I’d like most is to know the name of the man
who pushed me in the water!”
Sometimes we are pushed into dangerous
waters that we would never dare enter. Sometimes that’s what it takes to get us
to do the things we never knew we were capable of achieving. On Passover, we
remember not only that Israel was saved, but also that salvation can come from
the most unlikely places. Often the things we thought were working against us
are what will lead to victory. So this Passover, trust God and His plan. That
push we thought might bring us down can be the push we need to soar!
With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
That same night they are to eat the meat roasted
over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast.
— Exodus 12:8
— Exodus 12:8
A note to our readers: Beginning at sunset on 14 Nissan/April,
the Jewish celebration of Passover takes place for the next eight days. For
each day of Passover, or Pesach in Hebrew, we will offer a devotional reflection tied to this very
special observance. Since some of the days during the Passover celebration are
non-working days, the devotions were prepared for you in advance.
The way we celebrate Passover today is not how it
was originally commemorated. When the Temple stood, the main focus of Passover
was the offering which was brought in remembrance of the first offering
originally made on the eve of the Exodus. As you may recall, God commanded the
children of Israel to sacrifice a lamb, place its blood on their doorframes,
and then “eat
the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without
yeast.”In Temple times, the nation of Israel would eat the Passover
offering in the same way. Today, we observe a modified version of this ritual.
On Passover night, we eat bitter herbs together with matzah,
bread without yeast.
Matzah |
The
Sages point out that the bitter herbs and the matzah represents two opposite ideas. The
bitter herbs represent slavery; matzah symbolizes redemption – it was the
bread that didn’t have time to rise when salvation came in the blink of an eye.
Today, there is an added element in the bitter herb-matzah combination. We add haroset, a sweet mixture made of fruit,
nuts, and wine that is meant to remind us of the mortar used for building by
the Israelites as slaves in Egypt. Haroset reminds us of bitter times, and yet,
at the same time, it tastes sweet with its fruit and wine.
Haroset |
On
Passover night, we mix the bitter and the sweet, slavery and freedom,
oppression and redemption. Why? Because it is all part of one story.
In
life, we tend to separate our good times and bad times. We have dry seasons and
seasons of abundance. We don’t like the trying times in our lives, and we long
for the more comfortable, blessed times. But the truth is, as we learn on
Passover, it’s all a blessing. The adversity in our lives
is what leads us to our greatest victories.
God
sends us bitter times so that we may become better people. He sends us
challenges so that we might rise above them. When God told Abraham about the
slavery and redemption that would befall his descendants, God said: “Know for certain that for four hundred years your
descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved
and mistreated there. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and
afterward they will come out with great possessions”(Genesis
15:13–14). God promised that there would be bitterness, but then there would
also be blessings. (The Jews were in bondage 400 years in Egypt.)
Friends,
know today that anything that tastes bitter in your life right now is preparing
you for sweet blessings in the future. Have faith … the best is yet to come!
With
prayers for shalom,
peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
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