B"H
 
Chabad of Sunny Isles Beach
17555 Atlantic Blvd. (ground floor King David)
April 18, 2008 13 Nissan 5768
 

 

Dear Friends,

Tomorrow night we celebrate the onset of the Festival of Passover, the most celebrated holiday of the year. Learn all about the holiday of Passover, how-to- guides, recipes and games for the children by clicking onto our Mega Passover Website

Just as the Jewish people were redeemed from Egypt on the festival of Passover, may each of us experience redemption in our personal lives. May we have the strength to leave our personal limitations and "our comfort zone" and strive for new and higher levels in our spiritual life and in our relationships with friends and family.

Wishing you a happy, healthy and meaningful Passover.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Yisrael & Toby Baron

This Weeks Kiddush Sponsor
Isaac Raz
 
You too can sponsor a Kiddush.  Contact us to reserve a date.
A Bit of Wit
An elderly man in Miami calls his son in New York and says, 'I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing. Forty-five years of misery is enough.'
 
'Pop, what are you talking about?' the son screams.
'We can't stand the sight of each other any longer,' the old man says. 'We're sick of each other, and I'm sick of talking about this, so you call your sister in Chicago and tell her,' and he hangs up.
Frantic, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone, 'Like heck they're getting divorced,' she shouts, 'I'll take care of this.'
 
She calls her father immediately and screams at the old man, 'You are NOT getting divorced! Don't do a single thing until I get there. I'm calling my brother back! , and we'll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don't do a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?' and hangs up.

The old man hangs up his phone and turns to his wife. 'Okay,' he says, 'They're coming for Passover and paying their own airfares.'    
ASK THE RABBI
 
Dear Rabbi:
What is the connection between eating matzah and escaping from Egypt ? I know that the Jews left Egypt in such a rush, the dough didn't have time enough to rise. The men would have been saying to their wives, "Honey we gotta go in 10 minutes, just grab some food and let's go!!"
 
So they happened to eat matzah - who cares? It doesn't seem at all significant. Why is matzah elevated to be main focus of the whole Pesach experience? I think Pesach is about freedom, not food!
 
Answer:
 
Think about it. The Israelites had to rush out of Eqypt so fast, they didn't have time for their bread to rise. Why? Does that make sense? What was the rush exactly? The Egyptians had just been blasted with ten plagues as divine punishment for holding the Israelites captive, they were more than ready to let them go. So why rush things? Couldn't they have spent the few extra minutes it takes to let the bread rise and make proper sandwiches for the trip?
 
The answer is: they weren't running from the Egyptians, they were running from themselves. The two centuries of slavery had taken their toll on the Jewish people's spirit. They had forgotten their illustrious past as children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, pioneers of a path of ethics and higher morals. The corruption and depravity of the Egyptian society had slowly crept into the Israelite mentality, and they assimilated many of its paganistic ideals into their own. They were slaves to Egypt , not just in body, but in mind as well.
 
It came to a point where their unique identity was all but lost. Suddenly they realised that the legacy of Abraham could be lost forever, and the message of hope that the Israelites were to bring the world would not be delivered, all because of them. Only then did they cry out for help. On the brink of point of no return, they called out to G-d.
 
Think of an alcoholic. For a while, the alcoholic fools himself into thinking that things are in control, he is just drinking socially, it relaxes him, there's nothing wrong. Gradually, the habit overtakes him, and one-by-one he loses everything he has: his family, his job, his money, his dignity. But it's only when he hits rock bottom, when he has been stripped of everything, that it suddenly dawns on him that he has a real problem.
 
Now he has to act fast. Once he has recognised the problem, he has to deal with it immediately, before that moment of clarity passes by and he slips back into self-justification. He can't do it alone. He's too drunk to help himself. He has to call for help. Someone from the outside, someone sober, will have to reach out to drag him out of his addiction. But they can only help him if he is willing to go cold-turkey, not to touch alcohol until he is cured. He has to run away from the addict that he has been until now. Otherwise he cannot begin to heal.
 
That's why Matzah is the crux of what the exodus is all about. The children of Israel had to make a hasty retreat from Egypt . Egypt had a hold on them, as powerful as an addiction. They had to first get out of Egypt in order to get Egypt out of themselves. To delay would be deadly. Once they had realised the problem, if they would then have hesitated, it could have spelt the end for them - they may have sunk to the point of no return.
 
We all have our addictions, whether to harmful substances, poisonous relationships, toxic habits or negative ideologies. Pesach is a de-tox retreat, where the spirit of liberty calls upon us to free ourselves from our personal Egypt . The Matzah reminds us that the first step towards freedom is to go cold-turkey. No hesitations; make a sudden and complete exodus from the you that was, and march through the desert towards the you that you can be.

 

 

Join Our List
Join Our Mailing List

Passover Times of Service & Schedule

Friday, April 18th

  • Morning Service @ 8:00am
  • Burn Chametz before 12:15pm
  • Light Shabbat Candles @ 7:28pm
  • Evening Service @ 7:30pm

Shabbat, April 19th

  • Morning Service @ 7:30am
  • Eat Chametz before 11:10am
  • Flush Chametz before 12:15pm
First Night Seder
  • Evening Service @ 7:30pm
  • Light Candles after 8:21pm

 

Sunday, April 20th (1st Day Passover)

  • Morning Service @ 9:30am
  • Afternoon Service @ 7:30pm
  • Candle Lighting after 8:22pm
  • Count Omer 1
Monday, April 21st (2nd Day Passover)
  • Morning Service @ 9:30am
  • Evening Service @ 7:30pm
  • Yom Tov Ends @ 8:22pm

April 22, 23 and 24th - Intermediate Days of Passover

  • Morning Service @ 8:00am

Friday & Shabbat, April 25th & 26th (Shabbat 7th Day of Passover)

  • Candle Lighting @ 7:31pm
  • Friday Night Service @ 7:30pm
  • Shabbat Morning Service @ 9:30am
  • Evening Service @ 7:30pm
  • Shabbat Ends @ 8:25pm
  • Light Candles after 8:25pm

Sunday, April 27th (8th Day of Passover)

  • Morning Service @ 9:30am
  • Yizkor - Memorial Service @ 11:00am
  • Evening Service @ 7:00pm
  • Feast of the Mashiach @ 7:15pm
  • Holiday Ends @ 8:26pm

PASSOVER IN A NUTSHELL

Enslavement-The Children of Israel arrive in Egypt; Pharaoh fears their growth and enslaves them; a leader is born

Moses is Appointed Leader-As a young man, Moses leaves the palace and discovers the hardship of his brethren; thus begins his journey to become leader of the Israelites
The Ten Plagues
Pharaoh refuses to let the People of Israel go; G-d brings upon Egypt ten plagues; the people of Egypt beg Pharaoh to let the Jews go; Pharaohs heart remains hardened
Exodus
Pharaoh's resistance is finally broken and he actually chases the Israelites from his land. Finally, the Jews are free...but the story's not over yet
 

 

E-TORAH

Mah nishtanah halailah hazeh... "Why is this night different from all other nights?" our children ask us at the Passover Seder. Because, we answer, we were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt and G-d set us free.

Free? Are you free?

Can a person with a mortgage be free? Can a person with a mother-in-law be free? Can a person with a job be free? Can a person without a job be free?

Freedom! Is there anything more desired yet more elusive? Is there a need more basic to our souls, yet so beyond our reach? How, indeed, do we achieve freedom from the demands, cares and burdens of daily living?

But look at your child. Observe her at play, immersed in a book, asleep and smiling at her dreams. Assured that father and mother will feed him, protect him and worry about all that needs worrying about, the child is free. Free to revel in her inner self, free to grow and develop, open to the joys and possibilities of life.

This is why Passover, the festival of freedom, is so much the festival of the child. For it is the child who evokes in us the realization that we, too, are children of G-d, and are thus inherently and eternally free. It is the child who opens our eyes to the ultimate significance of Passover: that in taking us out of Egypt to make us His chosen people, G-d has liberated us of all enslavement and subjugation for all time.

The child is the most important participant at the Passover Seder. The entire Seder is constructed around the goal to mystify the child, to stimulate his curiosity, to compel him to ask: Why is this night different from all other nights?

The child asks, and we answer. But there is another dialogue taking place -- a dialogue in which we ask, and the child explains.

Take a good look at your child this Passover. Pay her close attention -- enter her mind, view reality from her perspective. For how else might we taste freedom?