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Achim Newsletter
Parshas Tzav
Pesach
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Greetings!
With the month of Nissan rising to its apex and Pesach quickly approaching I hope this newsletter finds you well.
Candle lighting time for Baltimore between 6:07 - 7:06
pm
Shabbos concludes
8:15 pm
I wish you an easy preparation for the Pesach
holiday and a successful Seder.
Vsego khoroshego,
Paysach Diskind
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The Seder; the key to the transmission
As we stand on the cusp of the holiday of Pesach it is
worthy that we focus on the intense holiness of the holiday and how accessible
it is to every one of us. I will therefore devote this thought to our Shabbos'
proximity to Pesach rather than on the Parsha of Tzav that we will be reading
tomorrow.
The Shabbos immediately preceding Pesach carries a special
name, Shabbos hagadol, which means
The Great Shabbos. The question is what makes this Shabbos greater than any
other Shabbos? It clearly relates to its proximity to Pesach but what is it?
There is a principle in Judaism that states that the
influence of kedusha (holiness) that occurs during the week finds its source in
the Shabbos that precedes it. Hence, the preceding Shabbos contains in it and
is the source of the kedusha of Pesach. Being that this is the case we could
begin to appreciate the greatness of the Shabbos preceding Pesach. However, we
still need to understand what is unique about this Shabbos over the Shabbos
that precedes the holidays of Shavuous and Succos? Those Shabbos' also contain
in them the kedusha of the coming holidays and they were not given the title of
Shabbos Hagadol?
To address our question satisfactorily we need to identify
the unique greatness of Pesach to appreciate why specifically the Shabbos
preceding Pesach is called Shabbos
hagadol. Before we begin I need to state that on the first two nights of
Pesach, Jewish families throughout the world celebrate the holiday in the form
of a Seder. The Seder is a banquet at which parents sit and share the story of
our Exodus from Egypt
with their children. It is common to find grandparents, children and
grandchildren participating at one Seder. It is even not uncommon to find four
generations participating at one Seder.
There is no way for a person to overstate the significance
of the Seder night. Any and every superlative that one can attribute to the
Seder night would not be sufficient to identify the greatness of the Seder
night. It would even be accurate to identify the Seder's greatness as being
infinite! Why? Because the entire world's purpose rides on our Seder!
I will explain.
The distinction between the Jewish people and the other
nations of the world lies in the relationship between them and their law. Other
nations exist outside of their law and only create a law (or a series of laws)
to serve them. The Jewish experience is quite the reverse; our law, the Torah,
existed before we came into existence and we were created and formed into a
nation to serve our Law. Let me elaborate.
Before HaShem created this world He created the Torah. Only
after the Torah's creation He formed the world as the place where the Torah
could be propagated. HaShem wanted to give Man the opportunity to connect to
Him by means of this Torah. HaShem now needed a method by which He could
deliver the Torah to Mankind in every period of world history. It is for this
purpose that HaShem created His chosen People. Even though all nations die and
fade away over the centuries, HaShem would ensure that His people would last
throughout the entire history and beyond. But how can HaShem ensure that the
veracity of the Torah and its authorship by HaShem is maintained? He only gave
it once, over 3,300 years ago. How would people 3,000 years after its' being given
know and be confident that this Torah is the same one that was given three
millennium ago?
The answer is that this would be the job of the Jewish
people. They, being the nation that received the Torah, must remember receiving
the Torah at Mount Sinai and tell their
children about it who would in turn teach their children about it and so on.
This unbreakable chain of transmission is perpetuated by the universal and
eternal Seder. Ever since our exodus from Egypt
each generation sits down to a banquet on the night of Pesach to share with
their offspring what transpired in Egypt and how we came into
existence and why we came into existence and so on. The Seder is a monument
built to remember the birth and the purpose of the Jewish people that is
rededicated every year.
The intense holiness of such a monumental experience is
truly infinite. The kedusha generated by the Seder is accessible to everyone
who participates in the Seder experience. It is no wonder that many of the
greatest miracles that occurred to our nation happened on the night of the
Seder!
The holiness of the Seder finds it source in the Shabbos
that precedes it as we said in the outset. It is therefore clear that our
Shabbos be referred to as Shabbos hagadol.
Have a wonderful Shabbos, a successful Seder and a beautiful
Yom Tov.
Paysach Diskind
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Mom's Workshop
The workshop is hard at work.
Last week we worked on Pesach preparations. Our next shop will be meeting after the holiday.
Date: Monday evening, April 12
Time: 8:45 - 9:45 pm
Location: the Mikeladze home (6807
Park Heights Ave. apt. 3I)
For more information call Leah Mikeladze at 410.358.1450
If you have any questions call me at 443.286.9338 or
paysach@achim.org.
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Хасидская притча
Жил-был в местечке Никльсбург богатый просвещенец.
Дом он держал на широкую
ногу, внешне старался еврейские традиции не нарушать, но все знали, что он в
тайне ест трефное и не соблюдает субботу. Однажды раби Мордехай, раввин города,
пришел к нему за пожертвованиями. Состроив постную физиономию, богач
сказал:
- Раби, я жертвую много денег бедным, но стараюсь делать это в
тайне.
- Да,- произнес раби,- не все получается у человека, как он хочет:
вот, например, ты скрываешь и свои грехи и свои добрые дела. Но грехи твои
известны всем, а о добрых делах никто и не подозревает.
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Gemara Class
Weekly class in Russian language
The Talmud is the exposition and clarification of the Oral Torah. Talmud and Gemara are interchangeable terms for this work. So much of classic Jewish literature is built on the teachings of the Talmud. Children 13 years old as well 80-year rabbis study this ancient text. It engages the mind and activates the thinking process in a very deep way.
Monday evenings from 8:00 - 9:00 Dr. Michael Keidar gives a class on Gemara (Talmud) in Russian. This class is designed to accommodate people with limited background in Torah study.
Dr. Keidar gives the class at the Baltimore Community Kollel (3800 Labyrinth Road 21215)
If you are interested in participating or have questions contact Dr. Keidar at keidar@gwu.edu. |
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Parsha Class
Weekly Class in Russian Language
The Torah carries within it many messages. Every Shabbos is assigned its own special portion that is read in the synagogue. This weekly portion is called the Parsha. The lessons and insights that are packed with the Parsha are timeless as they are profound.
Tuesday evenings 8:00 - 9:00 Dr. Michael Keidar presents insights on the weekly Parsha in the Russian language. Participation does not require any background in Jewish education.
Dr. Keidar gives the class at the Baltimore Community Kollel (3800 Labyrinth Road 21215)
If you are interested in participating or have questions contact Dr. Keidar at keidar@gwu.edu. |
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Sunday morning @ Milbrook
Shachris service
Every Sunday morning we have a morning prayer service followed by tasty donuts with coffee and lively discussions with insights on the weekly Parsha dealing with relevant applications.
People who need to recite kaddish but are embarrassed to do so will feel comfortable at our service. We provide help and support in reciting kaddish in a friendly atmosphere.
Sunday morning schedule
Service 8:00 - 9:00
For kaddish be there no later than 8:45
Donuts, coffee and discussion 9:00 - 9:45
Everyone is welcome
Special prayers are recited by the minyan for sick members of the community. If you have someone you wish to be mentioned contact me at paysach@achim.org .
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Hebrew Literacy Level II
This class ran its six sessions
and is currently not running.
If you are interested in creating a new class
please contact me at 443.286.9338 or paysach@achim.org
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Weekly Women's Class
Continuing professional education
The Jewish woman has many responsibilities, each of which is critical to their family and to their people as whole. We can define the position of Jewish womanhood as requiring a degree in culinary arts, psychology, clinical social work, business management, human resources and education. In addition to this list, a comprehensive background in Jewish law comes in handy.
As with every profession, Jewish womanhood requires Continuing Professional Education. Achim is very fortunate to have Mrs. Tamar Englander who is an outstanding member of this elite class of Jewish Women. Tamar conducts a weekly class that provides motivational and educational approaches to practical Jewish womanhood. A sampling of the areas that are covered in her classes include perspectives on Shabbat, dealing with the challenges of stress that find themselves in life, cooking with a touch of spirituality, child rearing, marital relationships and many more.
Every Wednesday evening from 8:30 - 9:30 Tamar conducts this class at her home, 6307 Wirt Avenue 21215. All women are invited to participate in this group.
Please contact paysach@achim.org if you wish to join. |
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Mesilas Yeshorim / Path of the Just
We have concluded the second chapter and hope to begin the third chapter at our next meeting.
This class meets Wednesday's twice a month.
Our next session:
Date: Wednesday evening,
April 7.
Time: 8:00 - 9:00
Location: Home of Alla and Joseph Kovalerchik (101 Clarendon Road 21208)
If you wish to join contact me at
paysach@achim.org.
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Employment Opportunities?
Do you know of any opportunities that perhaps someone in our group might benefit? Or perhaps you are looking for an opportunity and you wish to include other people in your search. Please contact me at paysach@achim.org.
We will be posting such opportunities on our website at Employment Opportunities
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