Pesakh Prep

Painlessly feed the hungry. As you clean out your pantry or cupboard of nearly expired crackers or cereal because Passover is approaching, feed the hungry. Take your non-perishables to any GOODWILL and tell them it is for the FEEDING THE GULFCOAST (new name for Bay Area Food Bank).

It’s funny and weird that we eat Matzah on Pesach. At the center of a feast of freedom is the requirement to eat nearly inedible bread. The irony is extreme. It drives home the point that we escaped slavery and are still on the path to making a life of freedom. Nobody ever assured us that living freely would be simple. Maintaining a free society requires great effort.  We must vigilantly guard against external threats of dictators and internal threats of corruption, simplistic ideologies, xenophobia and racism-all of which would contribute to the erosion of our freedoms. Profoundly and nearly prophetically, Pesach challenges us to remain loyal to God in order that we to carve out freedom in a world 3,300 years after Moses.

     Our world today is beset by a great many threats. Our holiday of Passover celebrates the transformation of a ragtag group of ex-slaves into a people committed to Godly values, ethical treatment of friend and stranger and determination to live freely in a sacred homeland. Remember the values and the sense of commanded-ness which the Children of Israel eternally bear; transforming the modern world’s psyche and spirit. Thomas Cahill  (The Gifts of the Jews)  views  our tradition, Torah ,outlook and philosophy as contributing to the ethos of the civilized world.

      As you seek that last box of Matzah meal double-check your Passover checklist:

*Have I invited someone new in town for Seder? (CALL RABBI TO OFFER)

**Did I send some Tzedakah to a Jewish organization?

 --- to feed the hungry of the world-Mazon (www.Mazon.org).

---to support our American servicemen and servicewomen in the military.

(Jewish Welfare Board- http://jcca.org/jwb ).

----to feed hungry Jews in impoverished countries &  provide disaster relief to all peoples throughout the world (“ The Joint”- http://www.jdc.org).

***Do I have Haggadot?

*Am I prepared to offer a new question to supplement the Four questions?

**Is Miriam’s cup on the table? (Research this)

***Would Elijah find my home welcoming because of how we have our Seder or would he not enter?

Shabbat Thoughts- Ducks in a row

  

Complete Pesakh Guide!

Today I learned something that you already know. Our days never go as planned. We may have schedules arranged and errands in mind but something comes along and throws a monkey wrench into the works. "The best laid plans of mice and men” comes to mind.

        This morning I lost my temper. I told myself it was because a homeless person dropped by shul seeking assistance.  I was frustrated because my fulfillment of the mitzvah of caring for someone in distress put me in conflict with my daily schedule.  He needed food, transportation and support; all the things that we take for granted as we typically travel from point A to point B. In his daily sojourn, he performs manual labor so that he might find food and occasional shelter. Today, a stranger with no family members able to help him, entered Ahavas  Chesed and became part of our shared responsibility.  (My thanks go out to those who support the discretionary fund.)

       If only I and all of us could fix every situation of homelessness and of despair, but we cannot. That's why I lost my temper. Deep down it was not that I was unable to return phone calls or to start preparing for Shabbat. Deep down it was the frustration that I am nearly powerless to remedy a situation which should not exist. Each of us has a role in this world –to bring justice into our society. Consider the role that we have in touching someone else; the role you play in touching someone's life and how powerful you may be and, yet, how limited we all are.
       This week’s Torah reading is Metzora. In the narrow sense Metzora struggles with the desire of welcoming home its own citizens even as the entire nation fears individuals who have been living on the periphery. Bluntly speaking, we all wrestle with the moral need of welcoming everyone versus the practical, but unfair, daily reality of setting boundaries.

       God guided our ancestors in this confused and frightening experience by directing the worship leaders to be out among the people. Religious leaders bore the responsibility, the opportunity and the privilege of encouraging people both afflicted and healthy to come together. Kohanim stepped forward to strip away the uncertainty we experience when we see someone who does not ‘fit in’. In Torah parlance we are taught to embrace the purity within the impure.

       3,000 years ago a particular protocol was performed so that those who were formerly unwelcome and who lived on the outskirts were made whole. It was the act of taking time, pausing, stepping away from the ordinary routine and reaching out in actual human contact that made all the difference.

       While the purification ceremony of slaughtering birds is of a bygone era, the Hebrew principles of support of others and of attending to the wholeness and holiness of each individual still withstand the test of time. It is the act of coming in contact with someone forlorn and responding to someone in desperation in our community which purifies us in this modern world.

        To hear the voice of the dejected as we busily run through the hours of our schedule transforms us all into Kohanim (religious leaders) with the capacity to purify others. Torah, the word of God has much to teach me.  I still have much to learn.

Shabbat  Shalom. Rabbi Steve Silberman

·       * Painlessly feed the hungry. As you clean out your pantry or cupboard of nearly expired crackers or cereal because Passover is approaching, feed the hungry. Take your non-perishables to any GOODWILL and tell them it is for the FEEDING THE GULFCOAST (old name is Bay Area Food Bank).

·     **   Guitar Shabbat, featuring Yehudah on the Bima, Friday April 15, 6:00-7:00p.m. Oneg to follow! Join us in song!

A Jewish Idea- Charity

  

There is no Hebrew word for charity. That should be obvious. Charity, of course, comes from the Latin root ‘caritas’ which gives rise to two familiar words; care and cardiac. Charity puts forth the message that an act of caring comes from the heart.

     Of course there are Hebrew words that also convey the idea of love and caring. The most common Hebrew word for kindness is ‘chesed’ but chesed can also mean loyalty. How does loyalty connect to kindness? If we are loyal to God we are bound to extend support to other people. Furthermore if we are loyal to our fellow human beings we will conduct our lives in a caring manner.

     The Hebrew word that Jews INCORRECTLY render as charity is Tzedakah which means justice. The Hebrew perspective of improving our world is rooted in the principle that justice must permeate the world. A Tzedek-based view of the world calls for each of us to be responsible for all people in the world, regardless of who they are or what they look like, how they act or where they are from. A Tzedek-based view of the world repudiates discrimination against any and all people!

     Last Thursday I emailed you a message rejecting the discriminatory policy of a new state law recently enacted by Mississippi’s legislature and signed into law by its governor. For us Jews, Pesach is more than reading paragraphs in the Haggadah or chanting Kiddush and hearing the 4 Questions. Passover means taking action. The heart (cardio) of Pesach is working for freedom for all people.  Next week most of us will be sitting down to a Seder table and celebrating with loved ones. However, we must remember that there are people, near and far, who have no food for Pesach, no family with whom to celebrate and no freedom to enjoy.

     For that reason donating money to Jewish organizations in order that people have Passover food is at the heart of the holiday observance. Just as we must all work to inform every neighbor of the inalienable rights of all humans so must we share our funds with those in need.  Please make a donation to a Jewish agency in order that we can fulfill the heart of Pesach. This year we can all bring Tzedekah into our world.  As we mark our own Exodus we are obligated to support others who are fleeing oppression.

You may consider supporting any of the following agencies or you may send a donation to the Shul (wherein local needs will be supported).

May God bless you and all of your loved ones with health, peace and the ability to bring Tzedek into our world.

Rabbi Steve Silberman

Jewish Welfare Board JWB-This agency supports the needs of American Jews  serving in the armed forces by arranging Sedarim and providing holiday foods and packages throughout the entire year for servicewomen and service men all over the world.

The Joint-(American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee) –Active in 70 countries around the world to alleviate suffering of impoverished Jews and others.

Mazon- A Jewish funder of food banks, feeding programs and much more supplying money, training and education throughout America and beyond.