Congregation Brothers of Israel
530 Washington Crossing Road • Newtown, PA 18940 • (215) 579-2200
|
Congregation Brothers of Israel
530 Washington Crossing Road • Newtown, PA 18940 • (215) 579-2200
|
|
Information
Departments
People
Please patronize our sponsors.
|
Passover Briefing
1st
Seder Monday March 29th 2nd Seder Tuesday March 30th
With the coming of spring, we celebrate, not just the rebirth of the natural world, but our own rebirth. We tell the wondrous tale of downtrodden slaves who became a nation of free people and the inheritors of a unique historical, moral and cultural tradition. Preparation before the Holiday Mekhirat Chametz: Sale of Chametz - Any chametz not consumed, burned or otherwise disposed of prior to Passover must be sold to a non-Jew, who will own it during Pesach. In order to insure compliance with the law, we appoint our rabbi as our agent for the sale so that it may be carried out properly. It is customary to do so sometime during the week prior to Pesach. A form has been mailed to your home for your convenience. Please complete it and send it back as soon as possible. Bedikat Chametz: Search for Chametz – The search is performed this year on Sunday evening, March 28th . It is customarily done with a candle, feather and wooden spoon and the recitation of the blessing Baruch attah… al bi’ur chametz. The chametz which is found is put aside until the morning for burning. After the search, the formula for nullification is recited, in a language which one understands. Ta’anit Bekhorim: Fast of the Firstborn – Monday morning, March 29th at 7:00 am. The fast applies to the firstborn of either a mother or father and generally takes place on Erev Pesach. It is customary, after shaharit, to have a siyyum, completion of study of a tractate of rabbinic literature, following which there is a se’udat mitzvah, a meal accompanying the performance of a mitzvah. Here, the mitzvah is the completion of study. All firstborn in attendance are then permitted to eat. After the completion of study and before the meal, the prayers for a siyyum are recited, concluding with the expanded Kaddish de’Rabbanan. Biur Chametz: Burning of Chametz – The remaining chametz is burned no later than the hour after the first third of the day on Monday March 29th, approximately 10:00 am. No blessing is recited. A second, slightly modified form of the formula for nullification of chametz is recited in a language which one understands. This formula is recited immediately after the chametz is burned. The Holiday Itself: The whole week of Passover commemorates the exodus. Our household and eating habits change dramatically. The seder service at the beginning of Passover starts with the recitation of kiddush and the drinking of the first cup of wine. The karpas, greens which symbolize spring and the renewal of life, are dipped into salt water, a remembrance of the bitter tears of our enslaved ancestors. On the Seder table are three matzot. The luxury of two “loaves” is provided, as it is on Shabbat; the third “loaf” of matzo is intended for the particular mitzvah of eating matzo itself. The middle matzo is broken, and half of it set aside for the afikoman at the end of the meal. Next in the haggadah comes the maggid, the embellished telling of the Passover story. Traditionally, the section begins with “Ha lachma ahnyah,” “This is the bread of affliction”, a paragraph in Aramaic inviting the needy to the seder table. The four questions are asked, traditionally by the youngest child, introducing the discussion of the Passover story. One commentator has written that the four questions are really all one question; that is, the introduction query, “Why is this night different from all other nights?” The question is answered immediately and throughout the evening: “We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, and God took us out from there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm...” The haggadah goes on to relate the miracles of Passover: the ten plagues, the going out from Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea, the sustenance in the desert, the revelation at Sinai, the coming to Israel. Each gift seems more wondrous than the last. We sing “Dayenu” – “It would have been enough for us” - and drink a second cup of wine. There follow ha-motzi and blessings over the eating of matzah and the bitter herbs. The bitter herbs are dipped into charoset and eaten, then combined with matzah and eaten like a sandwich in honor of Rabbi Hillel. The holiday meal follows these ceremonies. The afikoman is the last course, ending the meal with a final taste of matzah. After hallel - psalms of praise and thanksgiving - and another cup of wine for all present, a cup of wine is set on the table for Elijah the prophet. The door is then opened in the hope that the prophet will come to announce the advent of the messianic age. The seder concludes with grace after meals and various songs.
The evening is a full one. We taste the bitterness of slavery and the tears of suffering, the hopeful green shoots of spring and the rich foods and wine symbolizing freedom. Having perceived the contrast between oppression and salvation, we rejoice in our redemption, and in our destiny as a free nation. Significance and Observance: Passover, the festival designated as the “Season of our Freedom,” begins on the 15th day of Nisan and is observed for eight days. It commemorates the emancipation of the Jewish people from Egyptian bondage and their exodus from Egypt. For more than three thousand years, we have observed Passover with thanksgiving because it marks the end of a dark period of slavery. On the first Passover, freedom was born. Today, that concept is man’s most precious heritage. The first seder is celebrated in the home with one’s family and guests. Biblical Interpretations: The observance and laws of Passover are found throughout the Bible. The festival of Passover is known by three names each with its own significant meaning: Hag ha-Matzot, Feast of the Unleavened Bread (Ex. 23:15), the Biblical designation in commemoration of the actual exodus; Hag ha-Pesah, Festival of the Paschal Offering (Ex. 31:25), the reference to the paschal lamb; and, Zeman Herutenu, Season of Our Freedom, which marks the establishment of the children of Israel as a free and independent people. The number “four” plays a significant role in the haggadah and the seder ceremonials. There are the four cups of wine, four questions, four sons, four expressions of redemption - I will bring you out, I will deliver you, I will redeem you, I will take you (Ex. 6.6-7). Three special foods – pesach (roasted bone), matzah and maror (bitter herbs) – are mentioned throughout the service. The month of Nisan: Nisan, the month in which Passover falls, has a special status. With the exception of the day preceding Passover, fasting is not permitted during the entire month. The Talmud tells us that the Tabernacle was erected on the first of Nisan and a representative of each of the twelve tribes offered a sacrifice on the first twelve days of the month. Each of these days was considered a festival. The Saturday preceding Passover is known as Shabbat ha-Gadol, the Great Sabbath. Feast of Unleavened Bread: Passover is also known as the “Feast of Unleavened Bread.” Every phase of the observance is fastidiously carried out, including the ritual of cleaning the home and of destroying leaven, as well as the preparation of the charoset, maror and roasted bone all of which are symbols of the experiences of the children of Israel in Egypt. The house is fragrant with sweet nostalgic odors of the traditional holiday foods. The seder table is beautifully set with shining candlesticks, the haggadah and wine goblet at each place, the seder plate before the head of the house and the cup for the prophet Elijah. Order of Service: In a systematic way, the Talmud set up an Order of Service (the Hebrew word for which is seder). The family and guests go through the time-honored and fondly-remembered ritual of the kiddush, the asking of the Four Questions, the recital of Israel’s woes and of God’s might, the Hallel (Psalms of Praise), the delicioius first Pesach meal and finally, the merry songs enjoyed by young and old alike. Thus, the seder is the retelling of the exodus story in a dramatic pageant enacted by the family and guests around a festive table. Passover holds out the hope for Israel’s redemption and for the future deliverance of humanity. This two-fold characteristic of Passover, the Passover of years ago and the Passover of the future, is expressed in poetical insertions in the festival prayers and by the haggadah, the basis of the seder service. Haggadah means “telling a story.” The seder is based upon the Biblical command, “And thou shalt tell thy son on that day saying ‘it is because of that which the Lord did for me that I came forth out of Egypt’.” In reading the haggadah, we observe the Biblical command to tell the story of the Exodus from Egypt. The haggadah is permeated with the ideal of God as our sole savior and hope in all crises. Hesibet is a compound of the Hebrew word hesibah (reclining) and the German bet or bed. It is customary to recline at the seder in conformity with ancient Greek and Roman procedure where at banquets the guests ate in reclining positions on couches and were served from little low serving tables. This indicates one is a free person. Matzah made of flour and water is the unleavened bread eaten in recollection of the hurried departure from Egypt. It is known as the “bread of affliction.” One must refrain from eating chametz during the eight days of Pesach. The eating of matzah, however, is obligatory only at the seder evening. During the rest of Pesach, one may abstain from matzahs and avoid all chametz. Three matzot are placed separately in the sections of the special matzah cover or in the folds of an ordinary napkin. Two of these matzot symbolize the two loaves of bread over which the usual benediction is pronounced on Sabbaths and festivals. The third matzah emphasizes the role of the matzah in the Pesach ritual. The three matzot are said to represent the three types of Jews in ancient Israel - the Kohen or priest; the Levite who assisted the Kohen; and the Israelite. Kiddush (sanctification of the day) over the first cup of wine is the formal act whereby the sanctity of Sabbath or a festival is proclaimed. The meal constitutes a service of God. Arba Kosot means “the four cups.” The wine symbolizes joy. Each person at the table is obliged to drink at least four cups of wine. Each cup has a specific place in the service. The first is used for Kiddush, the second is taken at the conclusion of the first part of the seder, the third cup is drunk after the grace recited after the meal is ended and the fourth cup is imbibed at the conclusion of the seder. The four cups are said to refer to the four promises of redemption made by God to our ancestors when they were freed from Egyptian slavery, “And I will take you out of the land of bondage,” “And I will save you,” “And I will free you” (from slavery) and “… I will take you” (to be My chosen people). Spilling of Drops of Wine: As we name the plagues inflicted upon the Egyptians, we spill drops of wine from our cups to show that we are not gladdened by the sufferings of our enemies, and therefore our cup of salvation cannot be full. Hol Hamoed are the four intermediary or “week days” of the festival. These days are semi-holidays in that all the laws of Passover apply to them, but work is nevertheless permitted. In Israel during this period, thousands of Jews still visit Jerusalem and other holy places as our ancestors did thousands of years ago. Sefirat Ha-omer refers to the period between the second day of Passover and the holiday of Shavuot. Forty-nine days are counted from the time a measure of barley from the new produce of that year was brought in the Temple until the holiday celebrating the gathering of the produce from the field. A mourning tone was injected into these days in a later period of Jewish history when Rabbi Akiba lost his students through a plague that overtook his yeshiva in Israel.
|
|
For More
Information Contact: Send e-mail to
office@brothersofisrael.org with questions or comments about this web site.
|
