Today, I will look at the last seder plate symbol: maror. These are the bitter herbs that represent slavery. Of course, during Passover the issue of slavery comes up big time. We discuss how the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt and how Moses asked the Pharaoh to let free them. When Pharaoh said, “No,” God […]
Does Your Life Enslave You? Learn How to Free Yourself! Read More »
Here in Northern California it does not feel like spring. It’s 40 degrees and rainy. However, it’s April and the lilies and daffodils are blooming, so I know spring has sprung. So, it’s appropriate that the next seder symbol I’m going to look at is karpas, the green vegetables that remind the seder participants that
What are You Growing in the Garden of Your Life? Read More »
The first and second night seders are over, but we are still eating matzah and other Pesach foods. I’m still considering the seder plate symbols and answering questions related to them. I invite you to do the same whether you are Jewish or not. The next Passover symbol on the seder plate I’m going to
Charoset:A Reason to Think About the Bricks and Mortar of Building an Ideal Life Read More »
Today I’m considering the Passover symbol of the egg, roasted or otherwise. Called beitzah, it symbolizes rebirth and represents the second sacrificial offerings given at the ancient Temple in Jerusalem on Passover. Here are some questions that come to mind around beitzah. How do I want to be reborn? That’s a hard question to answer.
Beitzah: Will You Be Reborn or Give Birth on Passover? Read More »
Second day of Passover…on to the second symbol on the seder plate: zeroa, the lamb shank, which represents sacrifice. The zeroa symbolizes the Paschal lamb offered as the Passover sacrifice in the ancient Temple. Getting away from the idea of communal sacrifice, I am thinking about personal sacrifice now. Thus, I ask myself: What will
Making Sacrifices and Seeing God's Hand Read More »
Tonight many Jews around the world will participate in the observance Passover. They will take part in a first night seder, or service, that commemorates the Israelites freedom from slavery in Egypt. (The word “seder” actually means “order”; the service has a specific order.) I see the seder—actually the whole week of Passover—as a time
Passover Questions–and Answers–Inspired by Matzah Read More »
Each year as Passover approaches I’m given reason to consider my fears and how I deal with them. I do this because I remember learning about how fearful the Children of Israel felt at the shore of the Red Sea as the Egyptians approached. I was at an event near my home in Silicon Valley
Passover Gives Us Reason to Consider Our Fears Read More »
Passover is over and bread is back in the house! More specifically, on Shabbat, we ate challah! I’m a bread lover, so a Shabbat during Passover week spent eating hard, cold, tasteless matzoh rather than soft, warm-out-of-the-oven, sweet bread just doesn’t seem right. I know, I know… Passover involves eating matzoh, the Bread of Freedom…the Bread
Thank God for Chametz! Read More »
As my daughter left this morning to attend Easter Sunday services with her non-Jewish boyfriend, I thought about what she might take away from that service. I know she won’t be thinking about Easter from a personal growth standpoint as I do. And, despite my own Jewish leanings and upbringing, as always, I look at
How a Jew – or Anyone – Can Use Easter as a Tool for Personal Growth Read More »
Just as most Jews are finishing up their spring cleaning and getting ready to burn the last of their chametz, which we do on the morning before the first night of Passover, we get a chance to stop and do something totally different. It’s something we haven’t done for 28 years. Actually, it’s something we haven’t
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On the spring Jewish holiday of Passover, Jews all over the world ask questions. Traditionally, we ask just four questions, and we are supplied with answers either in the Haggadah, the prayer book used during the seder, or home service conducted on Passover, or by participants at the seder. The questions – and the answers
Passover Questions…Ask More Than Four Read More »
Today was April Fool’s Day. No one played a joke on me. I didn’t play a joke on anyone else. Well, maybe God played one on me…All I know for sure is that despite the name of the day, yesterday I was a fool, but today I am wiser. You see, I did something foolish.
Yesterday I was a Fool; Today I am Wiser Read More »
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