PESACH 2021 והגדת לבנך A collection of Divrei Torah by AMIT students 2 1 Table of Contents The Connection Between Miriam’s Tambourine and the Dear The Importance of Careful Speech AMIT Women by Dafna Gil, 10th Grade . 4 by Ma’ayan Simantov, 9th Grade . 31 And It Came to Pass… by Gabriel Cohen, 12th Grade . 5 The Four Sons by Eliya Amsalem, 9th Grade . 33 True, Inner Freedom by Yonatan Cohen, 11th Grade . 6 The Unity of the People of Israel by Ravid Kadoshim, 12th Grade . 34 What’s the Connection Between the Exodus from Egypt and Corona? by Zofia Harpanes, 12th Grade . 7 It Begins with Disgrace and Ends with Praise by Ilay Hajbi, 11th Grade . 36 Miriam the Leader by Tohar Ezrahi, 11th Grade . 9 “We Survived Pharaoh, We’ll Survive This, Too” Corona as a By the Merit of Women – Pesach, Redemption and Parable of the Plagues of Egypt and the Exodus Miriam the Prophetess by Shahar Levy, Rani Siman Tov and by Osher Hadad, 10th Grade . 37 Shani Yaish, 9th Graders . 11 When Our Heart is Beating, It Means We are Alive And You Shall Tell Your Son by David Laredo, 12th Grade . 12 by Anael Avinoam, 12th Grade . 39 The True Meaning of B’nei Chorin—Free People The Five Terms of Redemption by Avi Yousofov, 11th Grade . 41 by Yuval Brot, 11th Grade . 13 D’var Torah for Pesach Night by Yael Fribor, Ayelet Koren, Why Does the Exodus Matter? by Hillel Seeman, 10th Grade . 15 Reut Ashkenazi, and Tal Gotlieb, 10th Grade . 43 This Month Shall Be To You by Noga Maksimov, 11th Grade, New Insights on the Ten Plagues by Ilay Vaknin, 10th Grade . .44 and Inbal Manna, 10th Grade . 16 Why were the Ten Plagues Needed? Why is it Called Shabbat Hagadol? by Moriah Ben Udiez, by Harel Geva, 11th Grade . 48 11th Grade . 18 “But to all the children of Israel, not one dog will whet its tongue” For the Sake of Peace by Menachem Kuart, 10th Grade . 19 by Dolev Sharai, 10th Grade . 50 A Pesach Davar Torah by Nitai Atari, 10th Grade . 21 Shabbat Shira by Shaked Elmaliach, 14th Grade . 51 The Connection with the Creator is Revealed on Passover Pesach, Matza and Maror by Yoav Spirer, 11th Grade . 52 by Hila Lugassi, 12th Grade . 22 Therefore, We are Obligated by Adi Silverstein, 11th Grade . 54 Maggid by Eliah Maoz Segel, 8th Grade . 24 Biblical Exegesis for Passover by Talya Barak, 10th Grade . 56 Matza – the Food of Faith by Shlomi Yaakovi, 12th Grade . 26 Eating Matza by Tuv Arad, 7th Grade . 57 Unconditional Love for all of B’nei Yisrael “A Person is Obligated to Regard Himself as if He had by Yakir Ya’akov Amira, 10th Grade . 28 Come Out of Egypt” by Gilad Berman, 12th Grade . 58 The Pesach Experience: How to Tell a Story Why Do We Recite Hallel on Pesach Night? by Elroie Taub, 13th Grade (1st Year) . 29 by Yochai Mashiach Ben Oren, 10th Grade . 59 2 3 The Connection Between Miriam’s And It Came to Pass… Tambourine and the Dear AMIT Women Passover is a great and holy holiday, a day capable of redemption, as it As our Sages teach: Due to the merit of women, the Children of is said: “In Nisan we were redeemed and in Nisan we will be saved.” It Israel were redeemed, and due to the merit of women, they will be is a time of great heavenly mercy and we must pray hard in these days that we will have complete redemption and the coming of Mashiach. In redeemed. my opinion, this year Passover will be a time of greater heavenly mercy The image of women in Egypt is significant. There is Miriam, who than other years, since we have seen in several places in the Torah and urged her father Amram to remarry her mother Yochevet because in the Book of Esther that when the expression “And it came to pass…” is used, it refers to a language of sorrow (as presented by Rabbi (ויהי) his decree was harsher than Pharaoh’s decree; and then Moshe was born, who illuminated his surroundings from his earliest childhood Chaim ben Atar in his book Or HaChaim). and then became a great leader . There were the women who gave As mentioned in the Book of Esther, for example, “And it came to birth in secret. And then at the end of their enslavement in Egypt pass in the days of Ahasuerus…” and in fact, those days are known and at the moment of their liberation, Miriam and the women sang, to have been days of sorrow because the evil Haman wanted to and the tambourine was heard in the background emanating from destroy the People of Israel and G-d defeated his counsel and the depths of their souls. It was a song of thanksgiving to G-d for ruined his designs, and redeemed us, and those days became days removing B’nei Yisrael from the bonds of slavery and bringing them of rejoicing and feasting. out of Egypt. We also see in Parashat Beshalach, the Torah portion that contains the Exodus from Egypt, that it is written: “And it came to pass that Pharaoh In this year of the corona pandemic, we long for freedom from the send the people away.” When Pharaoh sent the People of Israel out COVID-19 virus. We will use the voice of women and pray for our of Egypt, he regretted his decision and decided to pursue them. The complete redemption. People of Israel stood by the sea and had nowhere to turn, and then Nachson Ben Aminadav jumped into the sea, and G-d split the sea. The We thank the AMIT Women who had the foresight to create an people of Israel passed through on dry land and HaShem redeemed us educational institution in Israel 95 years ago and all the AMIT from the Egyptians and from the enslavement of Egypt. supporters who continue to help us. They serve as Miriam’s Therefore, we must celebrate Passover with great joy because G-d tambourine, providing a tune for every student to grow and develop treated us with great favor by bringing us out of Egypt. And thus, too, in freedom in the wonderful AMIT network . there is a mitzvah to remember the Exodus from Egypt every day, Wishing you a chag kasher v’sameach, a very joyous Pesach. when we put on tefillin and also when we make kiddish on Shabbat and holidays, and especially on Passover. May we be privileged to witness the coming of Mashiach and the building of the Temple speedily in our days, amen! AMIT Gould Hallel Junior and Senior AMIT Kennedy Junior and Senior High High School for Girls, Rehovot School, Acco Dafna Gil, 10th Grade Gabriel Cohen, 12th Grade 4 5 True, Inner Freedom What’s the Connection Between the Exodus from Egypt and Corona? Passover is the holiday of freedom. The human longing for freedom expresses a person’s desire to do what he really wants to do, and not what others want him to do. “You shall keep the Pesach unto the Lord thy G-d… that you shall remember the day when you came forth out of the land of Egypt all But it turns out that even without Pharaoh it is necessary to reach the days of your life” (Devarim 16). freedom. A person may also be enslaved to himself—to be enslaved to his desires, his habits, or his weaknesses. True freedom means Question: What is the connection to an event that happened some that a person manages to break free from his personal shackles and 3,000 years ago, and how important can it be today? For what give expression to his true self. purpose does G-d command me, a young person in 2021, to upload the Exodus into my memory? The true essence of every Jew is the divine soul within him; he is bound by the material body, his desires and wants. Judaism teaches Answer: G-d continues to choose us from among all the nations, and us to fight this inner bondage and to strive for freedom of the soul— it is clear that like all the commandments that G-d gave us, also the to reach a state in which we can do what our Jewish soul desires. remembrance of the Exodus belongs to all generations, and certainly also to the reality of each and every one of us today. Such freedom can only be achieved via the Torah and the mitzvot . Through them, a person can face his passions and weaknesses, and Today, too, in the corona era, we are in big trouble! We are all at discover the soul within him. This is why the Sages say: “None are risk! There is an untrue expression that says “We survived Pharaoh, free but those who concern themselves with the Torah.” we’ll survive this, too.” The meaning is that in the end, we’ll be able to defeat corona. Is this true? Will we be able to survive Pharaoh? With G-d’s help, may we have true freedom and the coming of Could weak, submissive slaves have conquered Egypt, the world Mashiach. superpower? Certainly not! How then, did we leave Egypt? We didn’t leave; rather, G-d took us out! It wasn’t us, it was G-d! Also today, we need to speak the truth. We are all at great risk. We don’t have a cure for corona.