Pesach 5775
Calendar and dedications follow below. For a full calendar of
events and other info about Congregation Beth Meier, check out: www.bethmeier.org
Please
feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
-------------------------------------------------------------
ON CHAMETZ AND
THE FIFTH CHILD
Chaverim
Nichbadim/Dear Friends:
I want to
share some thoughts with you as we prepare for the Festival of Pesach.
We should
consider the nature of the chametz we are commanded to eliminate from our homes
and elsewhere for the duration of the holiday. We generally think of it as
bread, leavening, beer and the like, which is correct - at one level. But
at a deeper level, our rabbis have taught that chametz is symbolic of pride and
an inflated ego. Just as leavening causes dough to inflate with the creation of
bubbles of hot air, so do our egos often cause us to fill up with pride and the
belief in our own self-importance. Chametz also means vinegar, which is made
sour by fermentation - so only certain types of vinegar are permitted on
Pesach.
The lesson to be
learned is that we need to remove not only the physical chametz, but also the
spiritual chametz - the chametz in our souls. We can shrink our
souls to their most basic components, reducing bitterness and egos so that
we can truly appreciate what it means to be the stranger and to address the
needs of others. "For you know the soul of the stranger" - the
suffering soul of the alienated. That is why the Seder Shel Pesach opens with
the words, "Let all who are hungry, come and eat! Let all who are in
need come and celebrate Pesach!" Pesach is not just about us - it's
about us attending to the physical and spiritual needs of the Other.
We know from the
Hagaddah Shel Pesach that there are four types of children, each of whom is to
be taught a lesson at the Seder - the wise child, the wicked, the simple and
the one who does not know what questions to ask. We often see ourselves
and others in these various models. But there is another child, the one we
don't ever consider, because that child, that fifth child, is invisible or not
even present! (Note: There was a fifth Marx brother who was not part of the act - Gummo) At least the wicked one is with us, even as s/he causes
trouble - that child can be addressed, challenged, perhaps changed. But
the one who is so far removed, whether by personal choice or by rejection, that
s/he is not present - that child is one that we need to reach out to and bring
back to the community - I believe we are commanded to do so. That effort of keruv,
of outreach and bringing close, requires the elimination of chametz from our
very selves, because the Other is often feared (and fearful), unapproachable,
undesirable, perhaps unclean.
The Seder Shel
Pesach should be more than a formulaic ritual and a good dinner. It should
teach us and our children that we are obligated to remove the chametz of
hubris. Pesach presents a wonderful opportunity to reconsider and reorganize
our lives into a new Seder - a new order, that will improve the world and make
us worthy of having Eliyahu Hanavi, Elijah the Prophet, knock on our doors.
Shabbat Shalom
and Chag Pesach Sameach!
Rabbi Richard A. Flom
Congregation Beth Meier - Studio City , CA
Blogging at: http://rav-rich.blogspot.com/
Visit me on Facebook
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Candle lighting:
Friday (First Seder) - 6:57 pm
Saturday (Second Seder) – 7:53 pm
Thursday: Bedikat Chametz (Search for
Chametz) – evening.
Friday: Erev Pesach – Ta’anit Bechorim Torah
Study and Siyyum with Rabbi Flom – 8:00 am. Sale/Destruction of
Chametz – 12:00 noon. First Seder – light candles, Pesach begins before
sundown. NO evening service.
Saturday: Shabbat/Yom Tov Morning Service –
10:00 am. Community Second Seder at CBM – 8:00 pm. RSVP
has closed!
Sunday: Yom Tov Morning Service – 10:00 am.
Tuesday: NO Lunch and
Learn – Resume April
14.
Friday, April 10: Yom Tov Morning Service – 10:00
am. NO evening service.
Saturday, April 11: Shabbat/Yom Tov Morning Service
with Yizkor – 10:00 am. Pesach ends – 8:00 pm.
Sunday, April 12: Religious School
Sunday, April 26: Casino Night with Beth Meier,
Valley Beth Israel, B’nai Hayim and Hugat Haverim at VBI – 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm.
Contact the CBM office or website for details.
This d’var torah is offered in honor of Judith Munoz and Chelsea
Omoss, who joined the Jewish people yesterday, 11 Nisan, just in time to leave Egypt
This d’var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Avi Shmuel
Yosef Hakohen ben Bella, Naomi bat Yorma, Miriam Minya bat Alisa Batya, Sarah
Mindel bat Toby, Stewart Benkle, Ken Bitticks, Elsbet Brosky, John Todd Brosky,
Jacob William Cohen, Howard Ehrlich, Maya Fersht (Maya bat Esther), Dr. Samuel
Fersht (Shmuel Natan ben Gittel), Gig Flom (Gittel Tobi bat Blanca), Jerry
Forman, Pamela Huddleston, and Annie Rivera.
My weekly
divrei torah are also available through subscription to the Cyber Torah
list.
Cyber Torah list management (no
salesman will call!):
To subscribe to Cyber Torah, send an
e-mail with the subject heading “Subscribe Cyber Torah” to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net
Send requests for dedications of Cyber Torah
in honor of a simchah, in memory of a loved one or for a refuah shleimah
to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net
To unsubscribe from Cyber Torah, send
an e-mail with the subject heading “Unsubscribe Cyber Torah” to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net
