Passover
In this meditation, we explore the obligation to see yourself as if you personally left Egypt by understanding the leaving of Mitzrayim as the leaving of a narrow constricted emotional space and entering into merkhav Yah (based on Psalm 118 in Hallel), a place of divine expansiveness which is open and inclusive and welcoming of […]
MEDITATION: Moving into “Merkhav Yah” — a Place of Expansiveness (Passover) Read More »
The first commandment the Isarelites receive as a nation is to mark the new moon. In this meditation, we look at this commandment as an invitation to remember our own capacity for renewal. (Click image to read more)
MEDITATION: Release and Renewal (Parashat HaChodesh, Passover and Parashat Bo) Read More »
We break the matzah in half, hetzi,because our hearts need to be broken open, pierced (as if by an arrow, a hetz),just a crack, enough for the winedrops of redemption to drip their slowfast way in and remake uswhole. It hurts — this breakingand our growing knowing of the broken. We are opening to oni, to onlyto lack and
POEM: Yachatz (Passover) Read More »
What if it is the “poorest” parts of ourselves that are the doorway to redemption? On Pesach we eat lehem oni, the bread of poverty and affliction. On Pesach, we hold up this flat meager bread and say — this is it. This is the portal. We normally honor only our “good” or rich
QUICK THOUGHT: “Lehem Oni”:The Portal to Redemption (Passover) Read More »
How much do we control our own destiny? Particularly at times of uncertainty and anxiety, we hold on very tight. We try so hard to make things just right so that all will be well for ourselves, our families, our community and the world. Purim celebrates these efforts. On Purim we say what Mordecai said
SHORT ESSAY: Relaxing into Trust on Seder Night (Passover) Read More »
Dayenu. It would have been enough for us. It would have been enough for us if You had taken us out of Egypt but not also punished the Egyptians. It would have been enough for us if You had taken us out, but not also split the Sea for us. Dayenu. It would have been enough.
SHORT ESSAY: Dayenu = We Are Enough (Passover) Read More »
Our answer to the wise child of the Haggadah is: ayn maftirin ahar haPesach afikoman. “One adds no after-dinner revelry after eating the Passover sacrifice.” Normally, after the meal, we might have another mini dessert party. But not tonight. The mitzvah is to end with the Passover lamb. [In our seders today, of course, since we
SHORT ESSAY: Nothing After the Afikoman (Passover) Read More »
The Sefat Emet explains that when we say that matzah is lehem oni, poor person’s bread, what we mean is that matzah is the very core of bread, the bare bones dough; spiritually, it represents the essence of our inner selves, our most basic inner divine point. On Pesach we peel away all the extra layers
SHORT ESSAY: On Bedikat Chametz (Passover) Read More »
Pesach is a time to tell the story to our children. It is a time to speak. But perhaps it is also a time to listen. At the beginning of Magid, we are told a story about 5 rabbis who held a Seder together. What do we hear of their Seder proceedings? Only one teaching:
SHORT ESSAY: Listening at the Seder (Passover) Read More »