WHAT IS THE DEFINING CHARACTERISTIC OF THE ASHKENAZI JEW?
IT COULD BE COMPASSION AND SOCIAL JUSTICE OR MAYBE NOT?
Burning the Chametz
Most years, we burn the chametz on the morning of Erev Pesach. Since Erev Pesach falls on Shabbat this year, we will burn the chametz on the morning of Friday, April 11. Kol chamirah is not recited and rather will be said on Shabbat Morning.
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What exactly is chametz?
Chametz, often referred to as “leaven,” is any food created by allowing grain (specifically wheat, oat, spelt, rye or barley) and water to ferment and rise. Common examples of chametz include bread, crackers, cookies, pretzels and pasta. Even foods with minute amounts of chametz ingredients, or foods processed with utensils or machinery that are used for chametz, are not permissible for Pesach use. Practically speaking, any processed food not certified as kosher for Passover may include chametz ingredients and should not be eaten on Pesach.
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Normally, we stop eating (or evening owning) chametz from just before the burning until after Passover. But in this case, the chametz was burned a day in advance and we still need to have some chametz upon which to recite Hamotzi at our Shabbat meals. So even though our homes are entirely chametz-free, some of us we keep just a few small rolls (pitas are an easy, less crumbly option), which we will very carefully use for our Shabbat meals.
We Eat the Shabbat Meal Early in the Day
To keep things practical, our Shabbat meals are entirely kosher for Passover, aside from the bread which we eat very carefully so as not to leave any crumbs behind. In fact, only after we finish munching our bread, either outside or somewhere else we can be sure not to leave crumbs behind, we sit at our kosher-for-Passover table and finish the meal.
The Shabbat daytime meal must be consumed earlier than usual to ensure that we have eaten any bits of bread before the deadline (any remaining bread must be flushed down the toilet by the prescribed time
We Get to Rest Up for the Seder
It’s no secret that it’s hard work getting ready for Passover. Many of us are exhausted by the time we finally reach Seder night. But this year, with all the work finishing on Friday, we have a blessedly quiet Shabbat to rest, rejuvenate and be ready for the Seder.
We Light Candles Three Times in a Row!
This year, we light candles three nights in a row, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings. In other years, the candles of the first night of Passover should ideally be lit before the onset of the holiday, just like Shabbat candles. This year, however, we may not handle fire until Shabbat has ended. We, therefore, light the candles (from a pre-existing flame) only after night has fallen, the same time we begin other Seder preparations, and include the special Shehecheyanu blessing.שַׁלַּח אֶת-עַמִּי “Let my people go”.
In the first of the Ten Pronouncements that we heard at Sinai, Hashem states: “I am the Lord your God, Who took you out of Egypt out of the land of slavery.”
On Shabbat and on Yom Tovim we specifically commemorate the Exodus; and twice-daily we have an obligation to recall the Exodus in the Shema, likewise in the Birkat HaMazon, the Grace After Eating blessing.
In the Talmud, Baba Metzia 61b, there is a discussion as to why the Torah links usury prohibitions, the commandment to wear tzitzit, and the obligation of accurate weights and measures to the Exodus from Egypt.
Honesty in our monetary dealings is the reason Hashem took us out of Egypt. From Rashi: honesty in our monetary dealings is the reason G-d took us out of Egypt. Quoting the Sage Rava: “Rava said: ‘Why did the Merciful One mention the Exodus from Egypt in connection with the prohibition of interest, tzizit and honest weights?’
The Holy One, blessed be He, declared, 'It is I who distinguished in Egypt between the first-born and one who was not a first-born; I am the one who will exact vengeance from him who ascribes his money to a gentile and lends it to an Israelite on interest or who steeps his weights in salt, or who [attaches to his garment threads dyed with] vegetable blue and maintains that it is, techelet, real blue'”
Paul Robeson says it best:
https://youtu.be/w3OjHIhLCDs
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At Exodus 13:3, Moshe exclaims:
וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה אֶל-הָעָם, זָכוֹר אֶת-הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר יְצָאתֶם מִמִּצְרַיִם מִבֵּית
עֲבָדִים, כִּי בְּחֹזֶק יָד, הוֹצִיא יְהוָה אֶתְכֶם מִזֶּה; וְלֹא יֵאָכֵל, חָמֵץ.
“Moses said to the people, Remember this day, when you went out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, for with a mighty hand, the Lord took you out of here, and no leaven shall be eaten”.
Here the Hebrew word for “remember” is זָכוֹר. It is in the infinitive form and makes a statement. If “remember” was a command, it would be in the imperative form and written זכר
According to Rav Kook, the infinitive form indicates that the Torah is not merely commanding us to remember and commemorate the anniversary of the Exodus from Egypt. זָכוֹר implies a state of being. It describes us as a people who always remember this historic date.
For Rav Kook the people were not commanded to remember the 15th of Nisan. That was unnecessary. Moses was informing us that this date would be forever etched in our collective consciousness. On this day, the Jewish people were forever changed. On this day our souls gained eternal freedom.
Do you agree with Rav Kook that our Jewish “DNA”, our collective souls were forever changed by the Passover event?
I do.
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Check out the Mishna in Talmudic Tractate Pesachim at page 64a.
It is a touch of historic reality.
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