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The Monthly Newsletter from RachaelsCentre.org
March  2010 / Adar-Nisan 5770 - Vol 1, Issue 6
In This Issue
Koleinu Archives
Candle Lighting Times
From the "Many Voices" Blog
A Seder to Remember
What To Do With All That Chametz?
This Month's Mussar Dilemma
February Mussar Dilemma Recap
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A Message From Rachael:
 
I trust everyone had a great Purim and then it seems we're right on the heels of Pesach.  This month at Rachael's Centre has been like a whirlwind.  We had some changes in our various websites which meant a good deal of 'site up', 'uh oh, site's down' filling our day.  I think we're all settled now.
 
Our next step is to start to add more layers and more features to rachaelscentre.org and it's very exciting.  In the meantime, I've started to get emails from people all around the world.  A gentleman in Italy, a Rabbi in Puerto Rico and varied participation from Australia, South Africa, the Netherlands and India.  It's a wonderful Jewish world filled with people seeking ways to study Torah and connect!
 
And yet, amidst it all I know that the cupboards and closets are still filled with chametz, waiting...beckoning...
 
The beautiful and spiritual side of Pesach is just around the corner.  But we all know that in these few weeks right before the Seders, the more appropriate thought in my head is 'hi ho, hi ho.'
 
So to all my fellow Pesach preppers, whenever it feels like the stress is growing and the patience is thinning, come visit me online - I'll put some thoughts on the website that I hope will help.
 
Shabbat Shalom,


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Dr. Rachael Turkienicz
Executive Director, RachaelsCentre.org

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VLOG


From the Many Voices Blog
 Blog Tree
We are always updating our blog with new thoughts and moments from our diverse group of bloggers.

Click here to see the latest entry.
A Seder to Remember - On the Breath of Children
 
Judaism teaches us that the world exists on the breath of children.  We'd like to share some of the true moments where the words of children have inspired us.

A mother was looking forward to coming into town for Pesach with her husband and their 3 little children. She had spent weeks preparing her children for the special Seder they were going to attend with the whole family and the wonderful food they were going to eat and all the songs they were going to sing.
Since she herself had not been in town for years, she forgot that most of the family was now somewhat elderly and she was the only one at the Seder with small children. She told me she completely underestimated how long the Seder would take.

The evening started well enough with lots of smiles. Once everyone sat down, the mother sat with the adults while her children were seated at 'the kid's table'. As time went by, the mother was keenly aware of all the noise coming from the kid's table and she was trying to quietly shush her children and encourage patience.
It was clear the kids were not going to be able to sit quietly for much longer...

Click here to continue reading...
What To Do With All That Chametz?
'Olameinu': Our World, Our Environment
Chametz

The history of selling our chametz before Pesach is layered with Jewish creativity, Jewish history, Halachic innovation and the financial challenges of completely emptying our pantries to refill them with Pesach goods, only to then have to refill them again the following week.

There is no question that when this 'cleansing' of the cupboards and double-filling becomes a financial hardship, one should consider selling the chametz and reclaiming it afterwards. But fortunately, many of us are not facing financial hardship with our food - we sell it because it is convenient.

In that case, Jewish environmentalism would speak loudly inviting us to use the mitzvah of 'burning the chametz' as an opportunity to fulfill other mitzvot.

Unopened food packages should be taken to city food banks and donated. In that way, the food is not wasted and the mitzvah of supporting and sustaining those less fortunate is engaged. It is sad that in our day we cannot donate opened food goods because of health and safety concerns (sad but completely understandable). In that case, we must always remember that our responsibility toward those less fortunate includes all creatures and not just other people...

Click here to continue reading...
This Month's Mussar Dilemma: A Real-Life Moment We've All Faced

You are attending your family Seders at a relative's house. You look forward to it and have some insights you'd like to share about Jewish values and challenges.

There are other people at the table who are not as engaged in the 'Jewishness' of the evening and would like to race through the Hagadah to get to the food. Every time you raise a topic for discussion, they groan or roll their eyes.




Experienced a dilemma? Share it with Rachael by emailing info@rachaelscentre.org and it could be featured next month!
February Mussar Dilemma Recap

Last month's Mussar dilemma asked the question about the cashier who opens a new till and then serves the people who lined up instead of inviting the next person in line (who has been waiting the longest) to be served first. The choices were:

(a) Loudly tell the new cashier that the person in front of you should be served before the others in line.
(b) Say nothing and do nothing
(c) Wait until after you check out and then complain privately to the manager about the cashier
(d) Quietly speak to the person in front of you in line and let them know you are aware they should have been served next.