HOLY AFIKOMAN - HOLY SACRIFICE

Parashat Tzav
Nisan 14, 5781 / March 27, 2021
Torah: Leviticus 6:1 – 8:36
Haftarah (Shabbat Hagadol): Malachi 3:4-24
 
Candle-lighting:
Shabbat - 6:51 PM PST - Sherman Oaks, CA
Pesach 1 (first Seder) – 6:51 PM PST – Sherman Oaks, CA
Pesach 2 (second Seder) – 7:47 PM PST – Sherman Oaks, CA
 
Pesach SERVICES and programs
(via zoom and facebook)
 
Sunday, March 28 (Day 1) – 10:00 am
Monday, March 29 (Day 2) – 10:00 am
Friday, April 2 - Shabbat Chol Hamoed Evening 6:30 pm
Saturday, April 3 (Shabbat Day 7) – 10:00 am
Sunday, April 4 (Day 8 - Yizkor) – 10:00 am
 
My annual Pesach Resources page is available at: 
https://rav-rich.blogspot.com/2021/03/pesachresources-5781-pandemic-edition.html   

Our Refuah Shleimah/Prayer for Healing List can be found at: 
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iT0tdp45ITSU6o1tykah41m3IXBxBwLxe8FORSIXzDo/edit?usp=sharing 
 
If you would like to have a name added or removed from this Refuah Shleimah/Prayer for Healing list, please write to me at: ravflom@sbcglobal.net 
 
This week's Yahrzeit List can be found at: 
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IvKK6of7m1YFiwWATXCfQXrBrjmLMfS_CAM3WhZ_fu4/edit?usp=sharing 
 
All our services and programs are available at: 
https://www.facebook.com/BnaiHayim 
 
Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
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I wrote this last year. Although we are, B’H, able to see an end in sight to the pandemic, we are still limited in our ability to gather together. This year, Pesach Sheni, Iyar 14, falls on April 26.
 
HOLY AFIKOMAN - HOLY SACRIFICE
 
"That which is left of (the meal offering) shall be eaten by Aaron and his sons; it shall be eaten as unleavened bread (matzot) in the holy place…. It shall not be baked with leaven (chametz); I have given it as their portion from My offering by fire; it is most holy, like the sin offering and the guilt offering.... Anything that touches these shall become holy." Leviticus 6:9 – 11
 
Only some of the minchah (meal) offering is burned on the altar.  The remainder is eaten by the priests in the form of an enriched matzah (not quite the same as Pesach matzah). Like some of the other sacrifices, it is "most holy". Anything that touches it becomes holy as well.
 
Our Seder Shel Pesach is a re-enactment of an ancient ritual of sacrifice. We are a kingdom of priests and a holy people (Exodus 19:6). Our table is the altar. The candles represent the flames of the sacrifices. The wine represents the libation the priests poured over the sacrifices. The shank bone and roasted egg represent the Pesach sacrifice and the Festival sacrifice respectively. As commanded in the Torah, we consume matzah and maror (bitter herb), though we no longer eat or offer the animal sacrifice. The three matzot? The top two are used for the commandment to eat matzah and the commandment to eat maror (along with charoset). The third matzah? Half of it is used to make the “Hillel sandwich” in the style Hillel consumed the Pesach sacrifice. And the other half of the third matzah? That is the afikoman. In short, the third matzah is a substitute for the Pesach sacrifice.
 
The Seder Shel Pesach is a deep connection to our roots and to those who have gone before us, as well as a significant link to our future. It is an act of kedushah - of holiness. The afikoman is not dessert, though it is the final thing we eat at the seder. As it is representative of the last morsel of the Pesach sacrifice, it is, like any sacrifice, holy. And its consumption makes us holy as well.
 
This year, we are all engaging in a very different kind of sacrifice, one mandated both by our government health authorities (dina d’malkhuta dina – the law of the land is the law) and by our religious tradition (pikuach nefesh – saving life). We will be celebrating our sedarim apart from each other, in order to maintain the health and safety of ourselves, our loved ones, our neighbors, and our society. In that very first seder that took place in Egypt, our people were commanded to stay in their homes as the final plague passed through the land. That they did so is the reason we are here.
 
This year, as difficult as it might be to forgo the companionship of family and friends that we all associate with the holiday, we must do the same thing as our ancestors. We will each of us observe the seder and the holiday as best we can under the circumstances. The holiday of Pesach celebrates the survival and eventual thriving of our people. It is incumbent upon us to not risk individual survival in order to observe the holiday.
 
God willing, perhaps we will have the opportunity to come together on the evening of May 7, Iyar 14, for Pesach Sheni, the Biblical date set aside especially for those who were unable to celebrate the Seder Shel Pesach at its appointed time. If not, there will be Pesach again next year. Take heart in that fact as you eat the last bit of afikoman at your seder. And know that your sacrifice this year is an additional act of kedushah – an act of holiness.
 
May God bless us, every one.
 
Shabbat Shalom V’Chag Pesach Mashma’uti – A Peaceful Shabbat and a Meaningful Passover!
 
Rabbi Richard A. Flom
TBH/CBM
הַלּוֹמֵד מִכָּל אָדָם ?אֵיזֶהוּ חָכָם
Who is wise? The one who learns from every person.
Ben Zoma - Pirkei Avot 4:1
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Pesach SERVICES and programs
(via zoom and facebook)
 
Sunday, March 28 (Day 1) – 10:00 am
Monday, March 29 (Day 2) – 10:00 am
Friday, April 2 - Shabbat Chol Hamoed Evening 6:30 pm
Saturday, April 3 (Shabbat Day 7) – 10:00 am
Sunday, April 4 (Day 8 - Yizkor) – 10:00 am
 
Pesach Resources and Info about our Pesach Programs are available at: 
https://rav-rich.blogspot.com/2021/03/pesachresources-5781-pandemic-edition.html  
 
All our services and programs are available at: 
https://www.facebook.com/BnaiHayim 
 
Kabbalat Shabbat / Evening Service with Reb Jason and Rabbi Flom this Friday at 6:30 PM.
 
Shabbat Morning Service with Reb Jason and Rabbi Flom this Saturday at 10:00 AM.
 
Downloadable and printable Siddur for Kabbalat Shabbat, Shabbat/Festival Ma'ariv, Shabbat/Festival Morning, and more, including the weekly Parashah and Haftarah, all available at: 
https://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/form-download-e-siddur-0 
Fill out the form - the download is free.

David Silon’s on-going class “Jewish History” meets again on Sunday, April 11, at 11:00 am.
 
Join us every Tuesday at 12:30 pm for Lunch and Learn, a 60-90 minute study session. We're learning Hasidic and classic teachings on the weekly parashah. We’ll meet again on April 6.
 
Some excellent on-line Jewish resources are available at: 
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/ 
 
You can subscribe to the Conservative Yeshiva’s weekly Torah Sparks via email here: 
https://www.conservativeyeshiva.org/torahsparks/ 
 
Cyber Torah list management (no salesman will call!): 
To subscribe to Cyber Torah, and receive Cyber Torah every week in your mailbox, 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 

ON THE NATURE OF SACRIFICE

Parashat Vayikra
Nisan 7, 5781 / March 19-20, 2021
Torah reading: Leviticus 1:1 – 5:26
Haftarah: Isaiah 43:21 – 44:23
 
Candle-lighting: 6:46 PM PST - Sherman Oaks, CA

PESACH is coming! My annual Pesach Resources page is available at: 
https://rav-rich.blogspot.com/2021/03/pesachresources-5781-pandemic-edition.html   

Our Refuah Shleimah/Prayer for Healing List can be found at: 
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iT0tdp45ITSU6o1tykah41m3IXBxBwLxe8FORSIXzDo/edit?usp=sharing 
 
If you would like to have a name added or removed from this Refuah Shleimah/Prayer for Healing list, please write to me at: ravflom@sbcglobal.net 
 
This week's Yahrzeit List can be found at: 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IvKK6of7m1YFiwWATXCfQXrBrjmLMfS_CAM3WhZ_fu4/edit?usp=sharing 
 
All our services and programs are available at: 
https://www.facebook.com/BnaiHayim 
 
Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
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ON THE NATURE OF SACRIFICE
 
"Speak to the Children of Israel, and say to them, 'If one from among you (mikem) shall sacrifice a sacrifice to the Lord ...'" Leviticus 1:2

This parashah, like nearly all the book of Leviticus, is about the sacrifices that were offered, first in the Tabernacle, later on various high places, and finally in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Jews have struggled for centuries over the significance of the sacrifices. Rambam (Maimonides) taught that the sacrifices were a compromise - the ancient Israelites, being exposed to sacrificial cults in Egypt and Canaan, could not comprehend a God or a religion that did not involve the offering of sacrifices. In his view, the people needed to be weaned from the idolatrous practices they saw all about them. The Temple was ultimately destroyed by God because there was no longer a need on the part of humans for animal sacrifice. God had never needed them.
 
Ramban (Nachmanides) rejected this view. He saw the sacrifices as having moral and spiritual symbolism which was essential to Jewish religious practice. In a way, this dispute is still played out within the various movements of modern Judaism. Orthodox prayer books retain the prayers for the re-establishment of the Temple and the sacrificial cult. Over 140 years ago, Reform Judaism deleted these prayers. About 90 years ago, Conservative Judaism reformulated the prayers to be in the past tense, as a remembrance of what once was.

Regardless of one's viewpoint, what does one do today with these passages about the sacrifices? Obviously, they cannot be offered. The beauty of the Hebrew language and the absence of punctuation in the Torah allow the instruction of our verse to be read literally as follows: "If a person shall sacrifice from your selves (mikem) a sacrifice to the Lord." The Torah itself gives a clue. It is not animals which we must sacrifice. Rather, we must give of ourselves.

The idea of lovingkindness as being preferable to sacrifice is quite ancient. This was clearly articulated shortly after the destruction of the Temple by Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai. Asked how one might make atonement in the absence of sacrifice, he replied: "We have another way of gaining atonement which is equal to it. What is it? Deeds of lovingkindness, as it is written: 'For it is lovingkindness I desire, and not sacrifice.'" Avot D’Rabbi Natan 11a, quoting the prophet Hosea. This was reiterated by Rabbi Elazar: "Doing deeds of charity is greater than all of the sacrificial offerings." BT Sukkah 49b

Deeds of lovingkindness, the giving of charity, the donation of time and energy to the betterment of the community and the world - these are what God wants from us. Is that too much of a sacrifice?

Shabbat Shalom! 

Rabbi Richard A. Flom
TBH/CBM
הַלּוֹמֵד מִכָּל אָדָם ?אֵיזֶהוּ חָכָם
Who is wise? The one who learns from every person.
Ben Zoma - Pirkei Avot 4:1
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UPCOMING EVENTS AND OTHER USEFUL INFO!

All first-borns (except Levi’im and Kohanim) are obliged to engage in a fast in recognition of the 10th plague, called Ta’anit B’chorot, from pre-dawn until sundown on the 14th of Nisan. The fast is occurring one day earlier this year on Thursday, March 25. To avoid the fast, the custom has become for the firstborn to engage in Torah study and then have a festive "meal" (a siyyum) at the completion of their study. I will be on-line hosting Torah study and siyyum on March 25, at 8:30 am, streaming at:  

https://www.facebook.com/BnaiHayim/ and via Zoom - Zoom details will be given to those who contact me via e-mail to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net by Wednesday evening, March 24.

 
Pesach Resources and Info about our Pesach Programs are available at: 
https://rav-rich.blogspot.com/2021/03/pesachresources-5781-pandemic-edition.html  
 
All our services and programs are available at: 
https://www.facebook.com/BnaiHayim 
 
Kabbalat Shabbat / Evening Service with Reb Jason and Rabbi Flom this Friday at 6:30 PM.
 
Shabbat Morning Service with Reb Jason and Rabbi Flom this Saturday at 10:00 AM.
 
Religious School with a Model Seder this Sunday at 9:00 am.
 
Downloadable and printable Siddur for Kabbalat Shabbat, Shabbat/Festival Ma'ariv, Shabbat/Festival Morning, and more, including the weekly Parashah and Haftarah, all available at: 
https://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/form-download-e-siddur-0 
Fill out the form - the download is free.
 
David Silon’s on-going class “Jewish History” meets Sunday at 11:00 am.
 
Join us every Tuesday at 12:30 pm for Lunch and Learn, a 60-90 minute study session. We're learning Hasidic and classic teachings on the weekly parashah.
 
Some excellent on-line Jewish resources are available at: 
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/ 
 
You can subscribe to the Conservative Yeshiva’s weekly Torah Sparks via email here: 
https://www.conservativeyeshiva.org/torahsparks/ 
 
Cyber Torah list management (no salesman will call!): 
To subscribe to Cyber Torah, and receive Cyber Torah every week in your mailbox, 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 

MONEY AND MORALITY

Adar 29, 5781 / March 12-13, 2021
Parashat Vayak’hel/Pekudei - Shabbat HaChodesh
Torah: Exodus 35:1 – 40:38
Maftir (HaChodesh): Exodus 12:1-20
Haftarah (HaChodesh): Ezekiel 45:16 – 46:18 (Ashkenazim); Ezekiel 45:18 – 46:15 (Sephardim)
 
This d'var torah is offered in memory of my father-in-law, Abraham Kronzek, z’l, whose yahrzeit falls on Sunday, Nisan 1. Y’hi Zikhro liv’rakhah – his memory is a blessing.
 
Candle-lighting: 5:40 PM PST - Sherman Oaks, CA
 
SPRING AHEAD – FALL BACK! TURN YOUR CLOCKS FORWARD 1 HOUR BEFORE RETIRING SATURDAY NIGHT – DST IS HERE.
 
PESACH is coming! My annual Pesach Resources page is available at:
https://rav-rich.blogspot.com/2021/03/pesachresources-5781-pandemic-edition.html

Our Refuah Shleimah/Prayer for Healing List can be found at: 
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iT0tdp45ITSU6o1tykah41m3IXBxBwLxe8FORSIXzDo/edit?usp=sharing 
 
If you would like to have a name added or removed from this Refuah Shleimah/Prayer for Healing list, please write to me at: ravflom@sbcglobal.net 
 
This week's Yahrzeit List can be found at: 
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iT0tdp45ITSU6o1tykah41m3IXBxBwLxe8FORSIXzDo/edit?usp=sharing 
 
All our services and programs are available at: 
https://www.facebook.com/BnaiHayim 
 
Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
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MONEY AND MORALITY
 
‘(Moses said,) ... “(God) has endowed (Bezalel) with the spirit of God, with wisdom, ability and knowledge, … and inspired him to make artistic works in gold, silver and copper.”’ Exodus 35:31-32
 
Rabbi Yehuda Avida (Yehuda-Leyb Zlotnik, aka Yehuda Elzet) teaches: “People commonly say that the biggest problem is how to attain money. Once a person has it, he will know what to do with it. But that is an error. Money can elevate people or bring them down to the lowest depths. With it, one can build a Tabernacle for God or construct an idol. The reason God endowed and inspired Bezalel is because one needs great wisdom to know how to use gold and silver properly.
 
“All the gold that was used for the work in all the work of the sanctuary, even the gold of the offering, was twenty-nine talents, and seven hundred thirty shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary.” Exodus 38:24
 
In Shirei Zimra, Rabbi Yosef Selama comments: “Gold brings about the ruination of the world. It has left many people dead. But it is also a tool for many good things. If one uses it for tzedakah and good deeds, the gold is elevated. Its moral value increases. That is “the gold of the offering” – the gold which was elevated into an offering because it had been donated to the Sanctuary.”
 
For Rabbi Avida, how one uses their gold and silver is a reflection of the person’s morality. The purpose for which it is spent either elevates the person (and his/her soul), or debases them. The wisdom to which he refers is not philosophical or intellectual, but spiritual. Bezalel had this because he was filled with “the spirit of God”.
 
At first glance, it seems that for Rabbi Selama, the use of gold for a holy purpose elevates the gold, increasing its moral value. One might wonder how gold or any other currency can in and of itself have any moral value. He is actually making a pun. One of the Hebrew names for a sacrificial offering is “olah” – elevation. So he regards a monetary donation as an “olah”. Another word for sacrifice is “korban” – which means to draw closer to God
 
For both our teachers, then, the manner in which we use our money can elevate our souls – or ultimately deflate our spirits. It’s up to us to make the moral decision.
 
Shabbat Shalom! Chodesh Nisan Tov!
 
Rabbi Richard A. Flom
TBH/CBM
הַלּוֹמֵד מִכָּל אָדָם ?אֵיזֶהוּ חָכָם
Who is wise? The one who learns from every person.
Ben Zoma - Pirkei Avot 4:1
_________________________________
UPCOMING EVENTS AND OTHER USEFUL INFO!
 
Pesach Resources and Info about our Pesach Programs are available at: 
https://rav-rich.blogspot.com/2021/03/pesachresources-5781-pandemic-edition.html
 
All our services and programs are available at: 
https://www.facebook.com/BnaiHayim 
 
Shabbat Evening Service with Reb Jason and Rabbi Flom this Friday at 6:30 PM.
 
Shabbat Morning Service with Reb Jason and Rabbi Flom this Saturday at 10:00 AM.
 
Religious School this Sunday at 9:00 am.
 
Downloadable and printable Siddur for Kabbalat Shabbat, Shabbat/Festival Ma'ariv, Shabbat/Festival Morning, and more, including the weekly Parashah and Haftarah, all available at: 
https://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/form-download-e-siddur-0 
Fill out the form - the download is free.
 
David Silon’s on-going class “Jewish History” meets Sunday at 11:00 am.
 
Join us every Tuesday at 12:30 pm for Lunch and Learn, a 60-90 minute study session. We're learning Hasidic and classic teachings on the weekly parashah.
 
Some excellent on-line Jewish resources are available at: 
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/ 
 
You can subscribe to the Conservative Yeshiva’s weekly Torah Sparks via email here: 
https://www.conservativeyeshiva.org/torahsparks/ 
 
Cyber Torah list management (no salesman will call!): 
To subscribe to Cyber Torah, and receive Cyber Torah every week in your mailbox, 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 

PESACH RESOURCES – 5781 PANDEMIC EDITION

 PESACH RESOURCES – 5781 PANDEMIC EDITION
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Chaverim yekarim - Dear friends:
 
Well, it’s almost time for Pesach! You know, the “Festival of Freedom”, the holiday on which we celebrate our release from slavery to Pharaoh in Egypt by abiding by the very strict dietary and ritual rules created by the Rabbis and Jewish Tradition, including eating the hardtack called matzah for eight days. Freedom, you say? God said, “Send forth My people, so they may serve me.” That’s how it is typically translated. But the Hebrew word for “so they may serve me”, “v’ya’avduni”, might easily be translated as “so they will slave for Me”. The root for “serve”, “avad”, is also the root for “eved” – “slave”. So, how do you manage Pesach in such a way as to avoid complete slavery?
 
Here are some simple rules:
1. Accept that you are not perfect – and neither is anyone else! You don’t have to do it all! You can’t do it all!
2. Prepare the house by cleaning and removing the chametz. A short but very useful guide to kashering your kitchen and home and identifying foods that are or are not kosher for Passover can be found at: 

https://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/sites/default/files/2021-02/Pesah%20Guide%205781.pdf   

3. Prepare the food for the Seder.
4. Prepare the food for the remainder of the holiday by shopping for it before Pesach.
5. Prepare yourself and your family spiritually.
6. Prepare yourself and your family intellectually.
7. Do not drive yourself or anyone else crazy – see number rule #1.
8. Remember that Pesach really is about freedom; freedom is fun; have fun! See rule #7.
9. Any questions? Ask a rabbi!

We are marking the second Pesach of the COVID-19 pandemic. The most important thing to remember: your health, and the health of your loved ones, friends, neighbors, and community, is more valuable than the laws concerning Pesach. We are permitted to be lenient regarding virtually any mitzvah when it comes to preserving life and health. This includes Pesach! There will be another Pesach! But there will never be another you! You do the best you can under the circumstances you face - period!

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Are you looking for ways to make your Seder more meaningful, more accessible, more involving for children, more interesting, shorter, etc.? Then check out these resources on-line:
 
a. The Rabbinical Assembly’s Pesach Guide 5781 can be read and downloaded at the following site: 

https://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/sites/default/files/2021-02/Pesah%20Guide%205781.pdf      

 
b. Additional Pesach kashrut resources from the Rabbinical Assembly may be found at: 

https://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/story/kashrut-subcommittee-recommendations-pesah-5781 

c. Pesach kitchen kashering from a strictly Orthodox perspective can be found at:
 
https://artscroll.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/kosher-kitchen_ch-15.pdf
 
d. MyJewishLearning.com is, IMVHO, the best Jewish educational resource on the web, and has material on virtually everything you might ever want to know about Judaism, but don't know how or whom to ask. The homepage is easily navigable. For Pesach, explore this page:
 
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/category/celebrate/passover/
 
e. The Conservative Yeshiva, in Jerusalem, has a number of text resources for study before the holiday and for discussion at the Seder. See the many Passover links at:
 
https://www.conservativeyeshiva.org/learn/holidays/pilgrimage/ 
 
f. Passover according to Chabad in a straightforward manner. Follow the links on this page:
 
https://www.chabad.org/holidays/passover/default_cdo/aid/109747/jewish/Passover.htm
 
g. Especially good for beginners, National Jewish Outreach Program’s extensive and accessible collection of how-to’s, background materials and videos, from the folks who bring you Shabbat Across America (also has Shabbat and other holiday resources):
 
http://njop.org/resources/holidays/complete-guide-to-holidays/passover/passover-seder-101-web-series/

h. How about a downloadable Haggadah? Including  do-it-yourself cut and paste versions? Check out:

https://jewishfreeware.org/downloads/folder.2006-01-07.0640323187/ 
 
One of my seminary teachers suggested that, in addition to whichever Haggadah of choice you use for your Seder, you should every year acquire a new Haggadah with commentary and illustrations to help you prepare and make your Seder more enjoyable. Ask your local Jewish bookseller, consult with a rabbi, explore the web – there are beautiful and accessible Haggadot available. Here are some of my favorites for getting ready:
 
For our virtual Community Second Seder this year, Sunday, March 28 at 6:30 pm, we’ll be using a new, abbreviated Haggadah, available at:
https://expresshaggadah.com
 
One complimentary copy per TBH/CBM Chaver household attending the Community Seder will be available for pickup at the synagogue in the week before Pesach.
 
1. Passover Haggadah – The Feast of Freedom. The Rabbinical Assembly, 1982. Clear spiritual commentary. 
 
2. A Passover Haggadah – Go Forth and Learn. Rabbi David Silver. Jewish Publication Society, 2011. A new classic.
 
3. The Haggadah Treasury. Rabbi Nosson Scherman. Artscroll, 1978. Midrash and traditional teachings.
 
4. From Bondage to Freedom – The Passover Haggadah. Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski, M.D. Shaar Press, 1995. Tradition blended with insights relating to addiction and dependency.
 
5. A Different Night – The Family Participation Haggadah. Noam Zion and David Dishon. Shalom Hartman Institute, 1997. Difficult to use at the seder, but lots of great ideas - especially in the leader's guide.
 
6. Studies on the Haggadah from the Teachings of Nechama Leibowitz. Urim Publications, 2002. Deep Torah from a great scholar.
 
7. The Hirsch Haggadah. Samson Raphael Hirsch. Feldheim Publishers, 1993. The 19th century voice of Orthodoxy.
 
8. A Feast of History. Chaim Raphael. Steimatzky’s, 1972. (Out of print but available used) The lengthy historical essay is interesting and useful.
 
9. The Origins of the Seder. Baruch Bokser. JTS Press, 2002 (Paperback edition). Not a Haggadah, but for those interested in an academic treatise that opens the eyes to history.
 
10. Passover – The Family Guide to Spiritual Celebration. Dr. Ron Wolfson. Jewish Lights Publishing, 2010 (2d edition) A straight-forward how-to guide with explanations and insights for the table.
 
Some other important reminders about Pesach and the lead-up to the holy days:
 
1. All first-borns (except Levi’im and Kohanim) are obliged to engage in a fast, called Ta’anit B’chorot, from pre-dawn until the seder on the 14th of Nisan, occurring one day earlier this year on Thursday, March 25, in recognition of the 10th plague. To avoid the fast, the custom has become for the firstborn to engage in Torah study and then have a festive "meal" (a siyyum) at the completion of their study. I will be on-line hosting Torah study and siyyum on March 25, at 8:30 am, streaming at: https://www.facebook.com/BnaiHayim/ and via Zoom - Zoom details will be given to those who contact me via e-mail to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net by Wednesday evening, March 24.
 
2. As noted above, we will be streaming a second seder on Sunday, March 28, at 6:30 pm.

3.  DON’T FORGET TO REMOVE AND SELL CHAMETZ – AUTHORIZE RABBI FLOM TO DO SO ON YOUR BEHALF NO LATER THAN 5:00 pm, Thursday, March 25, 2021.

 
A downloadable, fillable authorization form which you can email to me (and retain a copy of) is available here:
 
https://rav-rich.blogspot.com/2021/03/shtar-mechirat-chametz-authorization-to.html  

A fillable on-line form (no copy) is available here: 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1lYKeEojG2h7pNRzCbgh7xV8HJ_tGsRQopQVpbssNoHM/ 
 
4. Kitniyot (beans, rice, corn) on Pesach? Yes! ESPECIALLY THIS YEAR WHEN SUPPLIES AND SHOPPING OPPORTUNITIES MAY BE LIMITED! Read the latest from the Rabbinical Assembly at:
 
http://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/sites/default/files/public/halakhah/teshuvot/2011-2020/Levin-Reisner-Kitniyot.pdf
 
I guess it's time to start thinking about Pesach!
 
Wishing you a Chag Pesach Sameach, Kasher U’Mashma’uti – A Passover that is Happy, Kosher and Meaningful!
 
Rabbi Richard A. Flom

Sh’tar Mechirat Chametz – Authorization to Sell Chametz

Sh’tar Mechirat Chametz – Authorization to Sell Chametz

 
Note: If possible, all chametz – food not acceptable during Pesach (Passover), or materials containing such unacceptable food – should be destroyed or given away before the holiday begins. Should this be impossible, the chametz may be stored in such a way that we are sure not to use it during the holiday and its actual ownership is transferred to a non-Jew until the holiday ends.
 
Please complete the form below and return to Temple B’nai Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier, 4302 Van Nuys Bl, Sherman Oaks, CA 91403 or to  ravflom@sbcglobal.net no later than Thursday, March 25, 2021.
 
I, the undersigned, fully empower and permit Rabbi Richard Flom to act on my behalf to sell all chametz possessed by me – knowingly or unknowingly – as defined by Torah and rabbinic law, and to lease all places wherein chametz owned may be found. This transaction will be in effect for the duration of Pesach, which this year begins with sundown of March 27, 2021 and ends at sundown April, 4, 2021.
 
And to this I hereby affix my signature on this ___ day of _________, in the year ________.

 

Name

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Address 

 

______________________________________________________

 

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