"Every House has Death in It"

Rabbi Joseph and I connected to discuss Passover and his homily in preparation for the holy day.

Here’s the sermon:

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CIP TORAH DRASH APRIL 4, 2025

It is time to prepare for Pesach which begins next Saturday night, April 12; this year our Seders will begin with Havdalah-the ceremony that ends the Shabbat.

How do we get ready to observe this most essential festival in the Jewish calendar; studies show that more people observe the Passover Seder than any other Jewish celebration.

There are three verses in the Torah, Exodus 13:6-7-8 which provide us with the essentials of how every Jew should prepare.

שִׁבְעַ֥ת יָמִ֖ים תֹּאכַ֣ל מַצֹּ֑ת וּבַיּוֹם֙ הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י חַ֖ג לַיהֹוָֽה׃

“Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a festival of יהוה.

Verse 6 teaches us about the essential observance of eating MATZAH…the unleavened bread…the food that reminds us each year of the speed with which our biblical ancestors had to leave Egypt…..Pesach Seder is a MEAL of eating, smelling, drinking the foods of the past

מַצּוֹת֙ יֵֽאָכֵ֔ל אֵ֖ת שִׁבְעַ֣ת הַיָּמִ֑ים וְלֹֽא־יֵרָאֶ֨ה לְךָ֜ חָמֵ֗ץ וְלֹֽא־יֵרָאֶ֥ה לְךָ֛ שְׂאֹ֖ר בְּכׇל־גְּבֻלֶֽךָ׃

Throughout the seven days unleavened bread shall be eaten; no leavened bread shall be found with you, and no leaven shall be found in all your territory.

Verse 7 teaches us that Pesach is about the discipline of what we do NOT eat…nothing with Chametz…grains…fermentation….unless of course you are Sephardi…when you interpret these rules differently…in other words…Jews here in Brazil with our wonderful Jewish cultural diversity mixes recipes….for us Rice…some beans…both essential to Brazilian culture remain…..we learn what not to eat…and we learn how each Jewish community has adapted…and adopted….into the cultures that define them today…

וְהִגַּדְתָּ֣ לְבִנְךָ֔ בַּיּ֥וֹם הַה֖וּא לֵאמֹ֑ר בַּעֲב֣וּר זֶ֗ה עָשָׂ֤ה יְהֹוָה֙ לִ֔י בְּצֵאתִ֖י מִמִּצְרָֽיִם׃

And you shall explain to your child on that day, ‘It is because of what יהוה did for me when I went free from Egypt.’

Verse 8 is for me the most essential observance of the festival..

HEGADTAH….the Hebrew Verb from which Haggadah the book that Tells the Story of the first and only/unique Passover in Egypt…a text that developed after 800 years of rabbinic interpretation… the translation of the verb…EXPLAIN…not merely tell the story…but EXPLAIN what happened to YOUR child….today!!

So, when we need to prepare for Pesach…we must go out and buy the foods we are expected to eat….and we must clean out all the foods we must NOT eat….we are used to this kind of preparation.

I suggest the most important act of preparation is the review of the Haggadah for the Seder…whether you are leading the Seder or not….everyone should be ready to EXPLAIN…this is what happened THEN, so I could be free TODAY to attend this Seder.

This year we will have the second Pesach Seder since the Oct 7 attack…555 days of war…59 Hostages remain..35 declared dead…..and more than last year we are all exhausted from the unending suffering of our beloved Israel and the entire area.

Getting ready to EXPLAIN the leaving of our ancestors in Egypt, means we must re-read the 10^th plague…the death of all the first born of Egypt.. Ex 12:29-30

In the middle of the night יהוה struck down all the [male] first-born in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of Pharaoh who sat on the throne to the first-born of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the first-born of the cattle.

And Pharaoh arose in the night, with all his courtiers and all the Egyptians—because there was a loud cry in Egypt; for there was no house where there was not someone dead.

Today we Jews must re-read these few verses not to learn about the past….but to find that our present reality was already part of the Pesach experience…the rabbis are very uncomfortable with the 10 Plague…hence our custom of taking 10 drops of wine out of our cups to diminish our joy…based on a Midrash of God rebuking the Melachim..>Messengers in God’s court who sang when Pharaoh’s army is drown…these too are my children God explains….but these is no Midrash to help us with the death of all the first born…so many deaths were needed for ancient Israel to be free to serve God…SO MANY DEATHS HAVE BEEN NEEDED FOR ISRAEL AND THE JEWISH PEOPLE TO SURVIVE OCT 7.,….the comparison is too obvious to deny…

Can we actually explain the 10^th plague..that GOD does need to destroy the Egyptian first born? Because Pharaoh refused to let us go UNTIL the last plague…which finally convinced Pharaoh

The sages teach that Pharoah was the ONLY First Born to survive the 10^th Plague….in order that he would give Israel permission to leave…and then he survived the Yam Suf..the Sea of Reeds…to tell the story of God’s power…and he would become the King of Nineveh….where he would help Jonah make everyone repent….can we today accept so much destruction by God….for our destiny? Do those who do Evil change because of God’s power? I cannot explain to my grandchildren that so much destruction in Gaza is God’s work for us!!

We return to Torah….Exodus 13:8

וְהִגַּדְתָּ֣ לְבִנְךָ֔ בַּיּ֥וֹם הַה֖וּא לֵאמֹ֑ר בַּעֲב֣וּר זֶ֗ה עָשָׂ֤ה יְהֹוָה֙ לִ֔י בְּצֵאתִ֖י מִמִּצְרָֽיִם׃

And you shall explain to your child on that day, ‘It is because of what יהוה did for me when I went free from Egypt.’

Our task…our challenge again and again every year is to find a new understanding to EXPLAIN the past and its meaning in our lives….we do this with OUR QUESTIONS….the SEDER is not about answers…from the Torah or the Rabbis…but new questions from the new generations….

There was ONLY ONE actual PESACH…in Egypt…an event filled with death and freedom….God’s presence and Israel’s religious destiny…there was ONLY ONE Pesach…

But there are questions forever that sustains the hope of that one Pesach.