Celebration! Guide How to passover 13-22 Nissan, 5769 • April 7-16, 2009 the soulful meaning, how to seder, history, customs, blessings, schedules & how to celebrate.

The Journey of Freedom

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L The , Menachem M. Schneerson, OBM – whose birthday is Some on the 11th day of the month of Nissan, Celebration! four days before Passover – made the 3 reBBE’S MESSAGE idea of absolute personal freedom one PassOver, Jump Over of the hallmarks of his leadership. The 3 CELEBRATION OF UNITY Rebbe’s example and inspiration sent the message to all those who knew him that 4 FREEDOM, FAITH, AND PassoverThoughts we can always rise above our individual NATIONHOOD limitations. “I can’t” does not exist. 5 tHE SEDER My Dear Friends, Wisconsin Jewry, The practical how, what and the of Great Britain, Rabbi meaning of items on the seder Consider the following question. Are we Jonathan Sacks, recalls how as a young free people who were once slaves or are plate philosophy student at Cambridge he we slaves who were once freed? 7 BIRKAS HACHAMAH traveled the world visiting great leaders. Rarest event on the Jewish This is not a word game or a matter of When he came to see the Rebbe, the calendar semantics. It’s question of true identity. Rebbe asked him what he was doing for 8 souLFUL SEDER What is our essence? Who are we really? the Jewish students at Cambridge. Having Join us as we perform the Is our freedom conditional or absolute? little to report, the young Sacks sought to Are we defined by our circumstances Seder; as our bodies and souls explain himself, “In the circumstances experience and celebrate or do we have the power to define our I currently find myself…” The Rebbe liberation and freedom today circumstances? interrupted him and said, “No one ‘finds 23 HOW TO PASSOVER In the we say, “It was not himself’ in circumstances. We create our How to prepare for Passover and just our ancestors whom G-d redeemed own circumstances.” what to do once it’s here, for the from Egypt; He redeemed us as well The message of absolute and intrinsic duration along with them....” freedom is particularly relevant in our 28 weLCOME TO DAKAR Ever since G-d redeemed us from challenging times. While we must deal A fascinating story of love and Egyptian bondage, chose us as His people with the current economic realities, we care and gave us the , we were granted cannot allow them to define us, diverting 30 WANTON LOVE TODAY intrinsic freedom which transcends all us from what is truly important in life. conditions and circumstances. We must not fall prey to our fears or 32 wHAT’S HAPPENING AT In choosing us as His people at the compromise our principles. LUBAVITCH OF WISCONSIN time of the giving of the Torah, G-d A photo gallery of recent events As a truly free people, there is nothing in endowed us with something of Himself. the world that can rob us of our freedom 38 passover SCHEDULES AND And just as G-d, the Eternal, transcends BLESSINGS the conditions of the world so do His of choice, our ability to choose our own 39 Counting of the people. actions and even our own thoughts and moods. We are free to transcend our Schedule Our continual existence over the past own fears. 39 saLE OF CHOMETZ 3,300 years is testimony to this fact. It is CERTIFICATE said that the Prussian Emperor, Frederick As we celebrate Passover, may its spirit the Great, once asked his religious advisor of freedom permeate our lives and inspire for a proof of G-d that he could see with us with its message throughout the year. Celebration! Vol. 39 #4 March 2008 his own eyes. “Your Majesty,” came the May it carry us to the day when the entire reply, “Behold the .” world will be free, with the coming of Published 6 times a year by Lubavitch of Wisconsin Mashiach speedily in our days. But while G-d’s watchfulness and 3109 N. Lake Drive • Milwaukee, WI 53211 providence have preserved us to this day, Phone: (414) 961-6100 Best wishes for a very happy and kosher it is incumbent upon us, individually, to FAX: (414) 962-1740 Passover, e-mail: [email protected] access our internal freedom and express it www.chabadwi.org in the way we live. Rabbi Yisroel Shmotkin

2 Check out our weekly online magazine at www.LubavitchofWI.org the power to step out—in the words The Rebbe’s of the Hagaddah—“from to freedom, from sorrow to joy, from mourning to festivity, from darkness Message to great light, from bondage to redemption.” Thus, our sages decreed that PassOver, Jump Over from Egypt is an event that should recur in each Adapted from the teachings of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. generation of our history, and in every day of our lives. For Schneerson, OBM, by Yanki Tauber what else is an “Exodus” if not the power of a people to step out of their past, to wrench free of their circumstances, to give e know that every action produces a reaction birth to a new self that is independent of the womb from which and every event becomes a cause for numerous it emerged? subsequent events. Think of it: gazillions of Therein lays the deeper meaning of the name of the . occurrences and actions, all conspiring to While commonly translated “Passover,” the Hebrew word dictateW to this one single point of now. Any change in any past Pesach literally means to “jump over.” event would alter this equation and produce a different result. “Walking” or “running” implies a change of place, yet this is Simply stated, the present—what I’m going to do and what’s a change that derives from, and is predicated upon, the previous going to happen to me at this very moment—is the sum and position. One foot leaves the ground, but the other remains product of all that I did and all that happened to me up to planted there to provide the forward impetus. The movement now. may be small or great, slow or swift; but in all cases, each step Philosophers are bothered by this because thinking man derives from the one before it. tends to think of himself as a creature endowed with choice. A “jump,” in which both feet leave the ground, implies a break Physicists have a problem with this, because their microscopes from the past—a quantum leap rather than an incremental and particle accelerators reveal a random universe. As for the step, a rebirth rather than a maturing. rest of us, we wake each morning to a new day, but soon feel the Yet the purpose of the jump is not to leap to heaven and stay familiar weight of our yesterdays pressing us into the grooves of there. If you do that, you missed the whole point. The idea is habit and necessity. Nevertheless, we continue to believe that to return to the ground, not only one or two or many strides we are “in control,” that with a sufficient amount of determined ahead, but also as a different person from the one who crouched effort we can, and will, break free. down to leap. To return to your past not as prisoner bound by The Jewish calendar reserves eight days each year to celebrate its laws, but as a master descending upon it from above to use that faith. The eight days of Passover, “our season of freedom,” it and mold it to higher ends as you advance in your journey. embody the conviction that, in any given moment, we have Until the next jump.

Let’s Celebrate Unity Together Sunday, 4 Nissan/March 29 1:45 - 3:00pm At The Shul, 383 W. Brown Deer Rd., Bayside Light refreshments will be served.

In Jewish tradition, this year is a Hakhel year, a year of gathering and connection. Join with tens of thousands from around the globe for an inspirational speech via live satellite with Britain's Chief Rabbi, Sir Jonathan Sacks, as he shares a pre-Passover message of freedom, hope, and unity for our uncertain world.

Call 414-228-8000 or visit www.chabadwi.org for more information.

Special Passover presentation at www.chabadwi.org/Pesach 3 FREEDOM, FAITH, AND NATIONHOOD

“Has such a great thing ever been?” proclaimed forty years later, “Or has the like of it ever been heard? ... Has G-d ever endeavored to come and take for Himself a nation from the womb of a nation, amidst trials, signs, wonders and battles … as G-d has done for you in Egypt before your eyes?” (Deuteronomy 4:32-34)

A nation from the womb of a nation. On the 15th day of Nissan in the year 2448 from creation (1313 BCE), a new entity, the People of , was born, delivered by G-d “from slavery into freedom, from darkness into a great light, from bondage into redemption.” Seven days later, our rescue from Egypt was complete when the sea split to allow us passage and drowned ’s armies in its waters.

The eight-day festival of Passover, which straddles these two events, is our annual appointment in time to access the freedom of the Exodus, the faith that made it possible, and the nationhood we thereby gained.

What is freedom and how is it achieved? What is “faith” and how does it contrast/complement the rational and experiential aspects of our lives? What makes a “people,” and why should we need and/or desire to belong to one?

How do the various Passover observances – the Passover offering, the prohibition against chometz (leaven), the three matzahs and the four cups of , etc. – access and facilitate our faith, freedom and identity as individual Jews and members of the community of Israel?

These are the issues explored in this Passover guide. We have attempted to translate these laws and customs into “today’s language.” We trust you will find it to be as informative as it is enjoyable.

You will also find the practical how, what, and why of Pesach celebration; how to conduct a Seder; insights into the meanings and significance of the numerous details and practices thereof; how to prepare as Pesach approaches; and what to do once the has arrived.

We wish you a very happy and kosher Passover.

4 Check out our weekly online magazine at www. chabadwi.org the top right. Opposite the ze’roa on the left, the beitzah, an egg, is placed. Beneath them, in the middle, is the , a bitter herb. Beneath the ze’roah, on the right is the , a The mixture of ground or finely chopped fruits, nuts, and a drop of wine. On the opposite left, below the egg, is the , a vegetable, such as an onion or cooked potato. Under the maror is the chazeret, salad, bitter herbs (or Romaine let- Seder tuce). Thus, the final Seder Plate is comprised of three , lying On the first two nights of Passover we conduct a Seder. one on top of the other, which cradle the six food items that We affirm our desire to elevate this above all that form two triangles. All together there are nine items and the ke’ara, the plate underneath completes the number ten. is mundane. With it we declare to ourselves and all who are present, that this is “the season of our freedom.” The entire Seder, beginning with the Seder Plate, provides Body and Soul us with tools to achieve personal transcendence; to Each of these items represents a historical event and has experience emotional and spiritual freedom. its practical application, its body. It also has its soul, its meaning, and its relevance in our journey of freedom. The Seder Plate and its Ingredients Generally the ten elements of the Seder in Hebrew means order. Seder plate reflect the structure of Everything we do tonight has a dis- human consciousness, which is tinct and important order. comprised of ten dimensions, the “spiritual DNA” of all existence and The first thing we do is construct a of man. Seder Plate. The plate consists of ten The ten items represent the ten items. First, there are three matzos. On , or “G-d’s tools,” through a cloth spread over the matzos, six food which He assists us to free ourselves items are placed. The ze’roa, a roasted from our limitations on the way to per- shank bone or chicken neck, is placed on sonal freedom. Passover Seders are on April 8 & 9 of Madison • 1722 Regent - Madison For more information call Rabbi Yona Matusof, (608) 231-3450 Chabad on campus THE SHUL-EAST For more information call Rabbi Mendel Matusof, (608) 257-1757 3109 N. Lake Drive - Milwaukee/Bayside For more information call (414) 961-6100 x201 Chabad of Kenosha or (347) 331-9998 206 55th St. - Kenosha For more information call (262) 359-0770 THE SHUL 383 W. Brown Deer Rd. - Milwaukee Agudas Achim Chabad For more information call (414) 228-8000 2233 West Mequon Rd - Mequon For more information call (262) 242-2235 JEWISH REACH (in the Russian language) 3030 E. Kenwood - Milwaukee Grafton For more information call (414) 213-8023 For more information call (262) 242-2235

Special Passover presentation at www.chabadwi.org/Pesach 5 Beitzah (Hard-boiled Egg) The hard-boiled egg represents Matzos the festival offering (chaagigah) The matzos are the centerpiece of Passover, symbolizing the in the days of the holy Temple, unleavened food that the Jewish people ate as they escaped which was also eaten on the Seder Egypt. night. Why an egg? The egg is a symbol of mourning. Mourners Food of Faith eat hard-boiled eggs at their first meal after a funeral to show Matzah is called the “food of faith.” We left Egypt in such that life is a cycle. Because even on this happy festival of haste that there was no time to wait for the dough to rise, Passover, we remember that our Temple is in ruins. so we ate matzah, unleavened . With only this unleav- In a way, the egg also represents the Jewish people: The ened food, our ancestors departed into the barren desert, more we are in hot water, the tougher we become. relying on the Al-mighty to provide sustenance for our entire nation, several million people – men, women and children. Not conforming to the status quo and taking a tough Each year we relive this event. stand is characteristic of freedom.

The Matzah itself resembles the simplicity of that faith. It is The egg will be eaten at the beginning of the meal humble, staying low and simple, without the enrichment of (See page 19). yeast, oil or sweeteners – nothing but plain water and . Similarly, the basis of a ’s connection to G-d is a simple, egoless bond, beyond any reasons or conditions. Maror (Bitter Herb) Bitter herbs – , Lettuce, Endives, or a mixture The key to freedom is humility, which allows us to of them – remind us of the bitterness and harshness of the take it easy, to free ourselves from being manipulated slavery, which the Jewish people endured in . by subjective emotions. The lettuce, as a bitter herb, teaches us a lesson about The three Matzos represent three categories within the Jewish bondage and freedom. The leaves in a young fresh people. Each Matzah represents a different group: Cohen, lettuce are sweet. Nonetheless, the lettuce grows Levi, Israel. They represent our forefathers Abraham, Isaac from a green-white stalk, which is bitter. The crisp, and Jacob, as well as commemorating the double measure of sweet leaves represent freedom and fine flour which Abraham told to bake into matzahs, the bitter stalk represents slavery. when the three angels visited them. True freedom is attained only by As the Seder continues, the middle matzah will be broken overcoming challenges. into two halves. This will still leave us with two whole mat- zahs, just as we have two loaves of on all and . The Maror will be used later dur- ing the Seder, before the begin- ning of the meal (See page 17). Zeroah (Shankbone) The Zeroah – a shankbone or chicken neck – commemorates the pascal lamb our ancestors were commanded to eat on the eve of the exodus from Egypt, and later on brought to the Temple as the Passover offering and was roasted and eaten as part of the Seder night meal.

Remembering our roots and who we are and where we belong helps us in our determination to free our- selves.

Unlike the other items the Zeroah is not eaten. It remains on the Seder plate until the end of the Seder.

6 Check out our weekly online magazine at www. chabadwi.org Charoses Chazeres (Romaine Lettuce) (Chopped Nuts and Fruit with Horseradish, Lettuce, Endives or a mixture of them is used. Wine) The color of the Charoses is like The Chazeres is used in the Korech . (See that of the mortar we used to page 18). make the bricks and clay when we were enslaved to Pharaoh in Egypt. Charoset is a mixture of fruits and nuts. The fruits used in the mixture – apples, pears and dates – are symbols of the Jewish people, who are affectionately referred to in the by these names. Four Cups of Wine During the course of the evening we will be treated to four The greater the challenge, the sweeter the freedom. cups of wine. The four cups represent the four expressions of “deliverance” or “freedom” mentioned in the Torah in con- The Charoses is used as a dip for the Maror and nection with our liberation from Egypt: “I will bring you Chazeres (See page 17 & 18). out; I will deliver you; I will redeem you; I will take you as my people” (Ex.6:6,7). Also, the children of Israel, even while in Egyptian exile Karpas (Vegetables) have four great merits: they kept their Hebrew names, they kept their Onion, parsley or cooked potato , they remained will be used later in the Seder as an highly moral, and they remained appetizer. (Its symbolism and sig- loyal to one another. nificance in the journey of freedom Wine is used as a symbol of joy is explained in Step #3 on page 10). when welcoming the Festival, the Season of our Freedom.

Where Will You Tell Wednesday Your Grandchildren You Were on 4/8/09? 14 Nissan/

The rarest event in Jewish practice – Birkas HaChamah April 8 (The Blessing of the Sun) – is recited only once in every twenty-eight years. 6:45am This year, on April 8, the sun will arrive at the exact location of its creation. At the Rubinstein Pavilion of Upon witnessing this extraordinary synchronization of time and place, we the Milwaukee Jewish Home will recite a blessing praising G-d for the wonders of His creation. and Care Center

This will not happen again until 2037. 1414 N Prospect Ave, Milwaukee

Join us on the morning before the Seder (Wednesday, April 8) at 6:45am outside the Rubinstein Pavilion of the MJHCC for morning services and the recital of the special blessing on the sun as it rises over Lake Michigan. There will be a short satellite broadcast and a delicious boxed breakfast before returning home to get rid of .

Special Passover presentation at www.chabadwi.org/Pesach 7 The Soulful Seder The 15 Steps of the Body & Soul Partnership Seder

The Hebrew word for Egypt, “Mitzrayim,” is rooted in the word “meitzar,” meaning boundaries, limits, restrictions. Egypt represents constraints and 1. Kadesh Separate/Sanctify; Make this night different confinements: psychological, emotional and spiritual. Anything, from within or from without Body that inhibits our free expression is a form of It’s been a busy week, or a busy year. The first step tonight is to forget the noise and leave it behind. Tonight we enter a mitzrayim. timeless space, where we experience the Seder together with our great-grandparents, and Moses. We begin by welcoming Exodus is the most important element in life: The the festival with a “toast” to the Al-mighty with a full cup of ability to free ourselves from our confines and get red wine. A cup filled with generations of rejoicing and tears and celebration and wisdom. out of the rut. What better time to reaffirm G-d’s promise to Abraham that we will be freed from We affirm our desire to elevate this night above all that is mundane. With it we declare to ourselves and all that are Mitzrayim? This promise was true for the first present that this is “the season of our freedom”. Exodus from Egypt and is true today, for in “Each Fill a cup with wine (or grape juice). That’s cup #1. generation one must envision himself as if he just 1 You can have someone else fill your cup. Then return the left Mitzrayim.” favor. This way, we are all like nobility, whose cups are filled by someone else. Make sure your cup holds at least The Seder provides us with the keys to open the 86 mil. (a little more than three ounces). doors of freedom. “” is an oxymoron: 2 Everyone stands and says or listens to the seder leader. The word Pesach (Passover) means to leap, to The rest of the year, one person says Kiddush and bypass the normal order; whereas, Seder means everyone takes a sip. Tonight, each man, woman and child drinks their own full cup. Get ready for some order and organization! The Seder is an order that serious relaxing. allows us to transcend order. Like music: By playing 3 Recline on a cushion to your left side, and drink. the defined musical scale, we can create infinite Remember the ancient times, when we used to recline on our couches while sampling grapes? That’s what we are musical combinations and songs. dramatizing by reclining now. We are not just free; we are our own masters. The fifteen Seder steps represent fifteen keys to open doors freeing us from our confinements.

8 Check out our weekly online magazine at www. chabadwi.org (separate/sanctify) and Urchatz (purify), describe what we set out to accomplish through this night: to rise above the EverySoul journey begins with a separation.You’ve got to leave restraints of our world in order to elevate it. somewhere to get somewhere else. In this way, separation is the first step towards freedom. By ignoring the negative voice of Pharaoh’s mockery that says, “Who are you to Personal Application begin such a journey?” we’re ready to leave Egypt behind. Bondage Mentality Separation is the first meaning of the word “kadesh”—to Look, I’m a down-to-earth kind of person.I’m trying to manage transcend the mundane world. Once you’ve set yourself real life. I can’t get into this spirituality stuff. Let’s just get to the free from those things that hold you down,you can achieve . the second meaning of “kadesh”—to return and sanctify it. Spiritual freedom is achieved through sanctifying the Freedom Mentality material world, using its elements as physical expressions of I can master my world by staying above it. I come to the Seder a higher purpose. The first two steps of the Seder, Kadesh to get that strength.

2. Urchatz Wash your hands; Purify HandsSoul are instruments that allow the mind to interact with their environment. Our hands reflect our mental state and act according to our emotions: love, fear, compassion, the urge to Body win, to be appreciated, to express ourselves, to dominate. But 1 Fill a cup with water too often the aspects of our psyche sit compartmentalized, Many Jewish homes have a special two-handled cup detached from one another. The mind sees one way, the heart designed for this. You could leave the table to go to the feels another, and our interface with the world is disoriented. kitchen or you could bring a basin and towel to the Water symbolizes wisdom. Flowing downward from on-high, table. everything in its stream is affected by its pure and simple (What? We just sat down and now we have to get up and essence. We pour water over our hands so that our heart and leave already? Well, that’s a fairly standard Jewish migration emotions may be touched by wisdom, and from there shape pattern.) our interaction with the world. A wise rabbi asked, “Wouldn’t it make more sense to wash 2 Pour the water over your right hand three times, then over your left hand three times. first and then say Kiddush? To first purify, so you can then Tonight we do like the Kohanim (Temple staff/priests) sanctify yourself?” who washed before eating the trumah tithing especially Then he answered,”You need first to get out of the pit, and designated for them. then clean up your act. That’s why G-d first took us out of Egypt and only then had us purify ourselves for 49 days in the 3 Dry your hands. wilderness to prepare us for the revelations at Mount Sinai.” The rest of the year we say a blessing after washing our hands, but not now. When Personal Application we wash the second Bondage Mentality time before eating Just react. Let your instinct be your guide. the matzo, we’ll say it then. Freedom Mentality Count to ten. Let your mind and heart talk things over with one another.

Special Passover presentation at www.chabadwi.org/Pesach 9 On the night that we left Egypt, we were like a newly hatched chick, breaking out of our shell to discover life 3. Karpas and the light of day. It is with those fresh eyes that we were able to experience wonder, to travel forth with Eat the vegetable; A taste of humility faith and innocence and trust. So tonight, again, we enter the mind and heart of a child. The child is the most important participant at the Seder. Body In fact, the entire Seder with all its customs revolves 1 Take a small piece of some around the child. The of the Haggadah, vegetable (potato, onion, V’higaddeta, is “tell the story to your child.” The child parsley). asks, we respond. The rest of the year, we would be getting But more than the child learns from us, we learn from to the meal now. But we’re doing things differently the child. We awaken the mystical child within us, the tonight, principally to spark questions from the small place that is still innocent and fresh and able to grow, children. If they ask, “Hey mom and dad! Aren’t we to be amazed, to sense awe. supposed to eat real food now? Why the funny green stuff?”—you know you’re doing things right. How do you answer them? “We are doing this so that you will ask questions.” And if they say, “Well, so what’s the answer?” “You can’t learn if you don’t ask. And the first thing to learn is that not all questions have immediate WeSoul need to retaste the back-breaking labor of Egypt to answers.” This is one of the most distinctive elements of liberate ourselves from it once again. It was this labor that : more than teaching our children how prepared us for freedom. It was this labor that gave us a to answer, we teach them how to ask—and how to be humble spirit to accept wisdom. patient in their search for answers. Today, as well, you can choose to achieve this humble spirit by enduring the battle to survive the rat race. There 2 Dip it into saltwater. These are our tears, and the tears of all our people will be plenty of futile, hamster-wheel tasks to bring you to beginning with the tears of our labor in Egypt. your knees. If you know some Hebrew, look at the word Karpas Or you could choose another path: achieving true humility and read it backwards. Samach PeReKh. That refers to with the realization of just how small we earthly creatures are. the backbreaking labor (PeReKh) of the 600,000 Jewish That will free you from the need to experience materialistic slaves (Samach=60 x 10,000). futility. 3 Say the blessing that is said over the vegetable, and munch it down. Personal Application Munch good. You’re not going to get much more for a while. Bondage Mentality I owe, I owe, so off to work I go. Freedom Mentality Through my work I appreciate the higher things of life.

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10 Check out our weekly online magazine at www. chabadwi.org the adults hide it and the children find it. Either way, it keeps the kids awake and in suspense until the end of the Seder. 4. Yachatz Many Sephardic Jews follow the tradition of tying the under the arms of the children, who carry it like that all night, just like when we left Egypt. Break the Matzo; The poor man’s bread Body SoulWhy is so much broken in this world? Why did the Creator 1 Remove the middle matzo. We need the top matzo to make a world where hearts break, lives shatter, beauty remain whole because we’ll crumbles? make a blessing on it later Because a whole vessel can only contain its measure, on. (Blessings are said on while a broken one can hold the Infinite. Matzo is called whole things.) the poor man’s bread. He is low and broken. And it is this brokenness that allows him to open his soul and escape 2 Break it in two different- his Egypt. As long as we feel whole, there is no room left sized pieces. Put the smaller for us to grow. When we realize that we are just a fragment piece back between the two —that we need the others around us, that so much of complete matzos. ourselves is missing —then can begin. The piece you put back is the “poor man’s bread”over which the tale of our slavery is recounted. Poor people’s bread is, intrinsically, never whole. Personal Application 3 Break the remaining (larger) piece into five pieces and wrap them in a cloth. Hide the package until the end Bondage Mentality of the Seder when it will be eaten as the Afikoman, I know who I am. Look what I have achieved. or dessert. Freedom Mentality In many houses, the children hide the Afikoman and the There is much that I am lacking. I have only started to grow. adults have to find it at the end of the meal. In others,

story is told over. The “wicked” child is one who needs this story the most, and one who can really appreciate it. 5. 2 Children ask the Four Questions. Of course, they can always ask more. No Tell the Story; Experience Exodus children at your Seder? Let an adult ask. This is it, folks. This is why it’s called a There’s just you? You be the child, and Haggadah. Now we get to the meat and G-d will be the Father. While you’re at it, ask Him a few other difficult questions potatoes your soul is longing for. (As for for us all. the other meat and potatoes, you can 3 Continue recounting the Passover probably smell them simmering in the story, as written in your Haggadah. kitchen. Hold on, we‘ll get there soon.) Hey, you’re not limited to the Haggadah! That was written so that everybody would have something to say. But now is Body the chance to get creative. Tell every story you know about the Exodus. Examine 1 Fill your cup with wine (or grape juice). That’s cup #2 every word of the Haggadah and get into its deeper There are “four sons” at the Seder table, as described meaning. Keep it real — make it profound. in the Haggadah. The second cup corresponds to the second child—the “wicked” child. This is the cup the #5 Continued on page 12

Special Passover presentation at www.chabadwi.org/Pesach 11 Basic rules of telling the story: • Get the children involved. • Start with Abraham and Sara and work your way through the Egyptian scene until we receive the Torah Mah nishtanah at Mount Sinai. • Tell it in the first person, in the now. Instead of, “Long halailah hazeh... ago, the ancient Hebrews…” say, “When we were slaves “Why is this night different from all other nights?” our in Egypt,the perverse system crushed our sense of self.” children ask us at the Passover Seder. Because, we Everything that happened in Egypt parallels something in each of our lives. We are truly living it now. We are answer, we were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt and G-d simply examining our own lives in the dress of ancient set us free. Egypt. Free? Are you free? • It’s all about miracles. Moses and his signs and wonders. Can a person with a mortgage be free? Can a person The Ten Plagues. The Splitting of the Sea. These miracles happened so that we would look at the events of with a job be free? Can a person without a job be free? our lives and recognize that they, too, are miracles. Freedom! Is there anything more desired yet more • Tell it like it is. We are a people born of miracles, who elusive? Is there a need more basic to our souls, yet so endured this long by abrogating natural law. The very beyond our reach? How, indeed, do we achieve freedom fact that we are here now telling this same story to our from the demands, cares and burdens of daily living? children in an unbroken chain of 3,314 years is beyond human comprehension. But look at your child. Observe her at play, immersed in • Offer a few words of praise to G-d. After telling the story a book, asleep and smiling at her dreams. Assured that of the Exodus say the formal blessings (see Haggadah) father and mother will feed him, protect him and worry before drinking the second cup. about all that needs worrying about, the child is free. 4 We drink the second cup of wine at the end of Free to revel in her inner self, free to grow and develop, this step. open to the joys and possibilities of life. This is why Passover, the festival of freedom, is so much Soul the festival of the child. For it is the child who evokes in The Exodus is not simply an event that happened to us. It us the realization that we, too, are children of G-d, and is an event that we became. It is who we are. It is the life of are thus inherently and eternally free. It is the child who each one of us, occurring again and again, in our wrestling match with the world, in our struggle with our own selves. opens our eyes to the ultimate significance of Passover: We embody freedom in a constant mode of escape. Perhaps that in taking us out of Egypt to make us His chosen that is why Jews have always been the rebels of society. The people, G-d has liberated us of all enslavement and experience of leaving Egypt left such an indelible mark on our subjugation for all time. souls that we never stop doing it. A Jew who stops leaving Egypt ceases to allow his soul to breathe. The child is the most important participant at the To tell the story is to bring our essential self into the Passover Seder. The entire Seder is constructed around open, and to come face to face with who we really are and the goal to mystify the child, to stimulate his curiosity, resuscitate it back to life. to compel him to ask: Why is this night different from all other nights? Personal Application The child asks, and we answer. But there is another dialogue taking place – a dialogue in which we ask, and Bondage Mentality the child explains. I’m free already. I live in a land of freedom. Who needs more freedom than that? Take a good look at your child this Passover. Pay her Freedom Mentality close attention – enter her mind, view reality from her My body is free because my soul is free. perspective. For how else might we taste freedom?

From Chabad.Org

12 Check out our weekly online magazine at www. chabadwi.org compassing that ever existed, as it was not only physical but spiritual as well. Through the redemption from Egypt, Personal Freedom both bodies and souls became free. n the fifteenth of the Hebrew month of Nissan, The Exodus was the prototype for every redemption that Jews around the world will sit together with would ever follow. It was a world-altering event that led to family and friends. They will sit at tables covered the birth of the Jewish nation and the giving of the Torah, with white cloths, illuminated with candlelight, the Divine mandate for all of humanity. sparklingO with silver, china and crystal. Throughout the night, they will taste the richness of wine, the bitterness of explains that the Hebrew word for Egypt, Mitz- horseradish, and the subtle pure taste of matzah, the bread rayim, means limitations, boundaries, constraints. In break- of faith. ing out of Egypt, we were freed from those constraints, changed forever. From the moment Pharaoh let us go, there On the seder night, we celebrate our liberation from slav- was no longer any force in the world powerful enough to ery in Egypt, our redemption and freedom. keep a Jew from connecting with And yet, we are still waiting to be free. G‑d. No force in the world. When I was a small child, my parents, Many times over the millennia of my brothers and I – together with all our history we were enslaved, op- my aunts, uncles and cousins – would pressed, expelled—and much go to my grandparents’ to celebrate worse. The world has not been a the seder. hospitable place for the Jews. But in I remember the kids clowning around, each of those situations, Jews kept my grandfather talking about the Exo- the Torah. Though the world has dus from Egypt and my grandmother tried to destroy the Jewish nation saying: “, I’m hungry! Can you time and time again, the Jews have please hurry so we can eat?” never agreed to disappear. I never wanted my grandfather to This is G-d’s gift to us. However, hurry. I would have loved it if he had each of us has to free ourselves from told the story of the Exodus all night our own “Egypt” enslaving us. long. Because from as far back as I can Our personal Egypt is that which remember, at the seder – in the eating, the drinking and makes us feel small and unworthy. It makes us forget who the telling of the story – I could feel the walls of the world we are and who we could become. It makes us believe shifting, opening and moving back. I could feel the pres- that we have to blend in with those who seem bigger and ence of something else; something sparkling, something more powerful than ourselves. It gives us the stubborn illu- powerful, profoundly in motion, real and alive. sion that the world is solid and real, and that the intimate Many years have passed since my grandparents passed presence of G‑d and our own souls is a fantasy or a dream. away. There were years – lots of years – when I didn’t go to This “slave mentality” is the cause of all the limiting beliefs, any seder. There were years when I didn’t even know that uncertainties and fears that are in our way. It makes us feel Pesach had come and gone. helpless and disempowered. It cuts us off from the mira- Then began my own journey back—back to my roots, to cles of our past, the potential of our future and our own the roots of my grandparents and great-grandparents, truly infinite power to change our world for good. to the roots of all the generations that came before. My It all comes down to this: The only ones who can free us journey brought me all the way back to the generation of from our inner Egypt is us. the Exodus from Egypt, an Exodus which is still occurring But once we do, we will never be slaves again—to any- today. thing, or anyone. Not even ourselves. The slavery of Egypt was the most profound and all-en-

Special Passover presentation at www.chabadwi.org/Pesach 13 AsSoul long as we live in this world, freedom remains 6. Rochtzo elusive. While moving forward, we are free. Stop, and Wash your hands; Purify again we are bound and fettered again. That is why freedom is something Body that you cannot buy or steal. Never can you put freedom in your purse 1 Fill a cup with water. and say, “Freedom is mine forever!” Again? Yes, again. It’s been a long time since the last Spiritual freedom is like a marriage between washing. (Who knows what those hands may have touched? our finite selves and the Infinite, providing the power to Anyway, it’s good to get up and stretch a little.) transcend the material world while working inside of it. It is a marriage of heaven and earth, spirit and matter, soul and 2 Pour the water over your right hand three times, then over your left hand three times. body. And like any marriage, it is kept alive through constant Say the blessing: “Blessed…concerning the washing of renewal. Our release from slavery was only the first step of the hands.” our Exodus. We were granted eternal freedom—the power to perpetually transcend Egypt. 3 Dry your hands. That’s the order of the Seder tonight: Kadesh, Urchatz, Transcend and Purify. Over and over. Rise higher, then draw that into deeds. Rise higher again, draw even more. Never stop rising. Never stop applying. Here is the meaning of the blessing we say, step by step: Personal Application Blessed Bondage Mentality Passover? Been there, done that. Meaning, to “draw downwards.” What do we draw Freedom Mentality downwards?… Each year at the Seder, I discover new things that I just never saw before. be You, The Essential You, Who is beyond name, into …

YHVH (pronounced “Ado-noi”) A name, but the most transcendent of names: The One Who Transcends Time and Space. And from there, we continue to draw into…

Our G-d The Divine Force within us. How?…

Who has betrothed us with His With each mitzvah, we become His bride, transcendent just as He is …

and bonded with us through the purification of our hands. And with each mitzvah we bring a different aspect of ourselves into this bond.

14 Check out our weekly online magazine at www. chabadwi.org 7. Motzi 8. Matzah Thank G-d for bread; Remember your roots Say a blessing for the matzah; Eat to your soul’s content Body (Hold it! Didn’t we just say a blessing on the matzah bread? Get ready Seder Leader, techie matzah instructions to That was a blessing for giving us what to eat. Now we go on follow: to bless and praise Him for connecting us to Him through the mitzvah of eating matzah.) 1 Grab all three matzahs—the top one, the broken middle one and the bottom one—and pick them up. 2 Say the blessing: “Blessed…Who brings bread out of Body the earth.” 1 Techie instructions continued: carefully release the This blessing, “He makes bread come out of the earth,” bottom matzah. (Continue orbiting while it makes its may seem ordinary, even odd. But think about it: the earth descent to the table.) upon which we tread germinates all the nutrients a human 2 Recite the blessing on the top whole matzah and the being needs to survive—it is the substance that powers our broken middle matzah: “Blessed…and commanded thoughts, creativity, music, art, philosophy, meditation, us concerning eating matzah.” prayer. 3 Break off a piece from each of these two matzahs for yourself and for each of those sitting at your table. Pass them around. Soul 4 Everybody eats at least two thirds of a matzah. (To do We feel an affinity with the food we eat: we, too, are a this, they will need to help themselves to an auxiliary out of the earth. reserve of matzah.) We share a common journey with bread. The bread begins Hey, it’s a mitzvah after all! as a seed buried beneath the ground. And then, a miracle Don’t forget to lean to the left while you munch—just occurs: as it decomposes and loses its original form, it comes like with the wine. alive, begins to sprout and grow. As arrives, it pushes its way above the earth to find the sun, and then bears its fruit for the world. Soul We, too, begin buried in Egypt, our identity all but lost. Since the destruction But that furnace of oppression becomes for us a firing kiln, a of the Holy Temple in baker’s oven, and the womb from whence we are born as a , matzah is nation in the Spring. In our liberation, we bring our fruits of the only opportunity freedom to the world. we have to actually eat a mitzvah. That’s right, the matzah you are eating is pure G‑dliness. Personal Application The calls matzah Bread of Faith and Bread of Bondage Mentality Healing. “Faith?” Well, actually, that’s a rather feeble translation. I’m stuck here under ground. Life is rotten. “Emunah” is the word in Hebrew, and it means a lot more than “I believe.” Faith can often be something people claim Freedom Mentality when they don’t care to think too much. Emunah is when you My challenges in life help me discover the strength of my soul. go beyond thinking to a place your mind could have never brought you. Emunah means touching the place where your soul and the essence of the Infinite Light are One. It’s a place that nothing can describe. Where there are no words. No doubts, no uncertainty, no confusion, nothing but a magnificent Oneness before which nothing else exists, and the challenges

Special Passover presentation at www.chabadwi.org/Pesach 15 of life withdraw. Personal Application Eating matzah is a way of tapping into that reservoir. Your physical body digests the Emunah of your soul, everything is Bondage Mentality integrated back into One, and your body and spirit are whole Sure, I’ll eat a little matzo because that’s the and harmonious. tradition. How on earth can a mixture of water and wheat baked in Freedom Mentality an oven contain such a spiritual cure? Welcome to , I can’t get enough of this stuff! Feed me matzo! Feed my soul! where there is no dichotomy of spirit and matter, soul and body. Where the spiritual transforms into the physical, and material objects become spiritual in a perpetual chemistry of exchange. Where the body is healed through empowering the soul, and the soul is nourished with the rituals of the body. (After all, we live in the world of One G-d.)

ou’re trapped in your marriage. You’ve said certain things, she’s said things, both quite unforgivable. So now you’re imprisoned in this cube of tense silence you used to call “home,” and the only place to go from here is down. Yes, there Yis a way out — just yesterday there was a moment, a fleeting opportunity for reconciliation. But you were too big to squeeze through. You’re trapped in debt. There’s the house redo you just had to do, the car you absolutely had to have, the vacation you simply wanted (you deserve something for yourself, too). The bills are closing in, and the only place to go from here is down. Yes, there’s a small opening, through which a tiny voice inside you sometimes beckons, “You don’t really need this.” But you’ve gotten too big to squeeze through. You’re trapped in your life. Whichever way you turn, you encounter walls—unshakable habits, antagonistic colleagues, elusive desires. The only direction that seems not to be closed to you is down — the direction leading deeper into the quagmire. Sometimes, the weather clears enough for you to see the escape hatch set high up in the wall — the way out to freedom. But it’s so small. Actually, it’s not so much that it’s small but that you need to make yourself small — veritably flatten yourself — to fit through. You need to deflate your selfhood enough to say to yourself, “Wait a minute! I’ve got the wrong idea of what it’s all about! It’s not about me, it’s about Us. It’s not about what I can be and have, but what I can do and accomplish.” We celebrate the festival of Passover by eradicating all chametz (leavened foods) from our home and replacing iit with matzah, the . The Chassidic masters explain that in order to re-experience the freedom of the Exodus — the moment in history that liberated our souls from all and any future forms of slavery — we must eradicate the chametz from our souls and replace it with matzah. Chametz — grain that has fermented and bloated — represents that swelling of ego that enslaves the soul more than any external prison. The flat, unpretentious matzah represents the humility, self-effacement, and commitment that arethe ultimate liberators of the human spirit.

hxm m a t z a h Xmc c h a m e t z h h e i c c h e t The liberating quality of matzah is also shown in the forms of the Hebrew letters that spell the words “chametz” and “matzah.” The spelling of these two words are very similar (just as a piece of bread and a piece of matzah are made of the same basic ingredients) — chametz is spelled chet, mem, tzadi; matzah is spelled mem, tzadi, hei. So the only difference is the difference between the chet and the hei — which, as the illustration above shows, is also slight. Both the chet and the hei have the form of a three sided enclosure, open at the bottom; the difference being that the hei has a small “escape hatch” near the top of its left side. Which is all the difference in the world. From Chabad.Org

16 Check out our weekly online magazine at www. chabadwi.org stayed and died there. As for the rest of us, when Moses came and told us we were going to leave, we believed him. It was our bitterness that had preserved our faith. 9. Maror This is the sweetness we apply to the bitter herb: bitterness Eat a bitter herb; alone, without any direction, is self-destructive. Add some It’s okay to experience bitterness life and optimism to it, and it becomes the springboard to freedom. Body 1 Grab some of that bitter herb (such as horseradish.) Personal Application Take enough to make the size of an if you were Bondage Mentality to crunch it into a ball. Look, this is what I’m used to. I can’t change. 2 Dip the bitter herb in the Charoset. Shake off any Freedom Mentality excess. I don’t belong to my habits. It’s a careful balance: you want bitter herbs, but you want to sweeten the bitterness. Yet it still has to be bitter herbs—not a sumptuous Charoset hors d’oeuvre. The relates: When the Jewish people fled 3 Say the blessing: “Blessed…and commanded us Egypt, after crossing the parted , they sang in concerning eating bitter herbs.” praise to G-d. He welcomed their song and incorporated 4 Eat the bitter herb it into the Torah. When the heavenly hosts wished to offer (Don’t worry if it doesn’t taste that great—it’s not a song to G-d, He told them, “My creatures (the ) supposed to.) are drowning in the ocean, and you sing?”

Why did G-d accept the song of the Jewish people but not that of the angels? WeSoul can never get used to Egypt. We never belonged there. We can never say, “They are the masters and we are the The angels never suffered, but the Jewish people slaves, and that’s the way it is.” It must remain something demonstrated their loyalty to G-d even while suffering we feel bitter about, something that is unjust and needs to pain and their lives and the lives of their children were change. at stake. Their song is a true praise to G-d, rather than an If we get used to Egypt, it’s very hard to leave. In fact, many expression of self satisfaction. Jews said, “Egypt is our land. How can we leave it?” And they

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Special Passover presentation at www.chabadwi.org/Pesach 17 TheSoul world, when viewed from within Egypt, looks to be a mess 10 Korech of fragments. It’s a “Passoverly- Have the Hillel sandwich; Challenged” perspective. Plain Bring it all together materialism. Mitzvahs appear to be a mishmash of do’s and don’ts; the Jewish people are a collection Body of irreconcilable individuals; daily life 1 Break the bottom matzah into two pieces. is a cacophony of hassles and just, well, If you’ve followed the instructions until now, the bottom stuff. matzah should still be whole. Once we escape materialism’s gravitational pull, we can look back and see 2 Take an olive-sized amount of the bitter herb, put it in some romaine lettuce and dip it into the Charoset. a whole new perspective. Mitzvahs are multiple Shake off any excess. expressions of a single spiritual path; Jews are multiple faces Now you know what the romaine lettuce on the Seder to a single soul; the elements of today’s journey harmonize plate is for. together as a symphony playing a delicate melody. After we make ourselves into a temple for the Divine, then 3 Place the bitter herb and lettuce in-between your two the bitter, the sweet, and the tasteless responsibilities of life pieces of matzah. wrap together in a single package. 4 Say the words: “This is what Hillel did, at the time that the Holy Temple stood. He wrapped up some Personal Application Pesach lamb, some matzah and some bitter herb and ate them together.” Bondage Mentality (And you thought it was because they packed fast-food I have to take care of career, family, health, hobbies, handball, to leave Egypt in a hurry.) friendships, parents, taxes, studies, the house, the car, the cat. Hillel understood the words of the Torah about the Freedom Mentality Pesach lamb, “On matzah and bitter herbs you shall eat I am a conductor and the world is my orchestra to play a it,” in its literal sense. And so, he invented the sandwich. symphony for its Creator. (Or should we call it a Hillel?) 5 Lean to the left while you eat.

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18 Check out our weekly online magazine at www. chabadwi.org 11. Shulchan Orech The Feast It was the first night of Passover and, as I was accustomed Let’s Feast! from my parents’ home, I wished to participate in a seder. My friend never experienced a seder. I convinced him to Body come along with me to the , on the first night of Passover. After services we were both invited to different Time to really eat. You know how to do this, right? homes for the festive ceremony of the seder. Oh, don’t forget the tradition of eating the hard-boiled egg on your Seder plate, dipped in some salt water. Most Hours later we met in a predetermined place in the local do this at the very beginning of the meal. park. But to my amazement, my friend was blazing mad. A hard-boiled egg is a sign of mourning. However, on every “What did you do to me?” He shouted. “It was torture!! It festive occasion, we remember to mourn for the destruction was hell!” of the Temple and Jerusalem. “What do you mean? What happened?” I asked. “What happened? You know! Religious Jews are crazy-- ThisSoul step, along with Korech before it, marks the re-entry that’s what happened! First we drank a glass of wine. I like we mentioned at the beginning (in Kadesh). We’ve escaped wine, but on an empty stomach... My head started spinning Egypt and reached a higher vision. a bit but I figured that any second we would begin the But freedom consists of more than escape. Complete meal. The smell of the food from the kitchen was great. freedom is when you can turn around and liberate all the Then we ate a bit of parsley. Then they started talking, and elements of your world from their pure material state, and talking, and talking. In Hebrew. All the time I’m smiling and make them transcendent as well. nodding my head as if I understand what they’re saying-- That’s what we do when we eat every day—we take foods like you told me to--but my head is really swimming and grown from the earth, say a blessing over them, and bring hurting from the wine and I’m dying of hunger. them into our journey as human beings. And when it’s a Jewish holiday or Shabbos, we elevate them further, into the “The smell of the food from the kitchen is making me realm of pure spirituality. As for tonight, this meal is going to insane, but they don’t bring it out. For two hours they be truly Divine. don’t bring anything out! Just talking, and more talking. So don’t imagine we’re just feasting. We’re reaching a Then, just what I needed.... another cup of wine! Then we higher state. And it’s a great way to do it. get up, wash hands, sit back down and eat this big wafer called matzah that tastes like newspaper, leaning to the Personal Application left (don’t ask me why...). I started choking, almost threw up. And then finally they give me this lettuce, I took a big Bondage Mentality I am a slave to food. I live to eat. bite and wham! My mouth was on fire. My throat! There Freedom Mentality I am a food liberator. I eat to live. was horseradish inside! Nothing to eat but horseradish! You guys are crazy.... “Well, I just got up and left. Enough is enough!” “Ah, I should have told you.” I replied. “What a shame! After the bitter herbs is a glorious meal. You suffered so long; you should have just held out for a few more minutes...!” is a seder. We’ve had our appetite teased with small moments of triumph. But mostly we’ve had plenty of “bread of faith” that our palates can’t really appreciate. And generous helpings of bitter herbs. But, you need patience to be a Jew. And since we’ve swallowed the maror already, we might as well hold out one minute longer and get to the feast and then we will come to realize why we waited so long and how good it is to be Jewish.

Special Passover presentation at www.chabadwi.org/Pesach 19 12. Tzofun 13. Berach Grace after the Meal; Eat the Hidden Matzah; Lost and found Thanks for having us Body Body Grab that last bite. 1 If you’re still awake now, you know it’s getting late. Adults are Be sure you’ve eaten enough, because the only thing to falling asleep. Kids are having a great time taking advantage pass our lips after this step of the Seder tonight is another of that. But it’s not over. There are songs and wine, and two cups of wine.(Oy.) the is on his way…. Retrieve that hidden matzah. 2 1 Fill your cup with wine or grape juice. That’s cup #3. If you can’t find it, you may have to enter into negotiations with your kids to get it back. (Well, if they fell asleep, 2 Say the Grace After Meals as printed in your you will be “forced” to just eat some other matzah). Haggadah. Say a blessing on the wine and drink it all down. 3 Eat another two-thirds of a matzah. Lean to your left. 3 Lean to your left. With the first matzah, we fulfilled the Mitzvah to eat matzah. This one is also in place of the Pesach offering, which is meant to be eaten on a full stomach. TheSoul theme of the Grace After Meals is confidence. Confidence in a Higher Force that is with us in our daily lives. ThereSoul is the body, there is the soul, and then there is the When we say this out loud, with joy and essence. If the soul is light, then that essence is its source of sincerity, we initiate a reciprocal current; light. If the soul is energy, then the essence is its generator. the channels of life are widened and The Kabbalah teaches that this essence remains elusive. It is their currents grow strong.” called “tzofun,” meaning hidden, concealed, locked away and Miracles happen when Divine energy out of reach. It is unlikely to experience it. from beyond the cosmos enters within. Why did miracles We dance around that essence-core, like a spacecraft in happen in Egypt? Because we believed they would. Those orbit, unable to land. We can be inspired, we can meditate, who didn’t believe in miracles saw only plagues. To see a we can pray, but to touch this inner core—the essence of our miracle, you need an open heart and mind, open enough to soul—takes a power from beyond. receive the Infinite. That is the opening we make when we On Passover night, we have that power. But only after thank G-d for the miracle of our food. we have taken all the proper steps: destroying our internal Chometz, preparing our homes for liberation - the previous eleven steps of the Seder. Then, when we are satiated with Personal Application all we can handle, connecting every facet of ourselves to the Divine, that’s when that power comes to us. Whether we Bondage Mentality sense it or not, tasteless as it may seem, the matzah we eat I thank G-d for giving me what I need. now—the matzah of Tzofun—reaches deep into our essence Freedom Mentality and transforms our very being. I thank G-d for letting me know what He needs. Those things you find inspiring and nice may take you a step forward. But to effect a real change, you need to do something totally beyond your personal bounds.

Personal Application Bondage Mentality Seeing is believing. Freedom Mentality Believing is seeing.

20 Check out our weekly online magazine at www. chabadwi.org 14. Praise the L-ord; Sing along Body 1 Pour a special cup of wine and set it in the middle of the table. You won’t drink this one—it’s for Elijah the Prophet. Elijah comes to announce the imminent and final Redemption, with the arrival of Moshiach. 2 Now fill your cup with wine or grape juice. That’s cup #4. Yes, you can handle it. 3 The kids open the front door to welcome Elijah the Prophet. Recite the prayer, “Pour out Your wrath…” from the Haggadah. Watch Elijah enter. (Can’t see him? Maybe you’ve had too much wine.) OPEN THE DOOR Tonight is a called “Leil Shimurim”—a night of protection —when we are secured by G-d’s Gentle Hand. We open our front door in the middle of the night with confidence and FOR ELIJAH trust that no harm will befall us. The true light of redemption comes from within. On that very first Passover in Egypt, we were redeemed on the merit of our trust that He would redeem us. Tonight we are Miracles provide inspiration and cause us to direct our liberated again, and again we demonstrate our trust. attention and efforts to spiritual truths. The ultimate miracle, however, is not the abrogation of nature, but 4 It’s all there in your Haggadah. Sing whatever you the transformation of the natural into the G-dly. know a song for. 5 At the end, say a blessing and drink the fourth and final Although the redemption from Egypt came from cup of wine. “without”--it was orchestrated and produced entirely by the Almighty, our Sages tell us the future and ultimate redemption will be the product of our own effort. TheSoul ancient clued us in on a key principle in cosmic Indeed, the whole point of liberating us from Egypt was functions: whatever G-d tells us to do, He does Himself. Of to provide us with the opportunity to refine ourselves course, there’s a difference. We do it in our little human world, and the world around us to the extent that Divine Will while He does it on a grand cosmic plain. which is the hidden source and root of all of existence He told us to open our door on the night of Passover. So, tonight, He opens every door and every gateway of the becomes openly manifest. spiritual cosmos to all of the Jewish People. To each one of us, This is what we achieve when we struggle to overcome regardless of what we have been doing the rest of the year, the ego-centric inertia of worldly life. Every small, private, tonight is our chance to reach the highest of spiritual levels. Take your choice and jump a quantum leap. There is nothing inner step on the path to spirituality and goodness is a stopping us. step toward the Redemption. The Torah-study, good deeds, and character refinement with which we occupy Personal Application themselves all year open the door of the heart to Elijah the Prophet and all that he represents. Bondage Mentality Since it’s Passover, I’ll make a little change. When the cup of Elijah is filled this Passover and the front Freedom Mentality door is opened, don’t concentrate on the doorway. If you Since Passover, I totally changed. peek into your heart, there’s a very good chance that you will behold the holy prophet smiling back at you.

Special Passover presentation at www.chabadwi.org/Pesach 21 SoulSome people think we are meant to be perfect. But, if that is what our Creator wanted, why did He make us such imperfect beings? 15. Nirtzo Rather, what he wants of us is our very humanness. Sometimes The acceptance; Next year in Jerusalem! we fall. But we keep on struggling, and eventually make some real change in order to create a perfect world. And then, once we have done all we can, like a kind parent help- Body ing with the homework, He makes sure to touch up our work and This last step of the Seder is easy: expect a miracle. make it shine. This is His job now. For 3,300 years we have been leaving Egypt. For 3,300 years we Look up from your wine. The table’s a delicious mess. have been doing our human job of transforming the darkness of His Uncle Irving is snoring in his Haggadah, serenaded by the world into light. And now it is His turn to banish darkness forever, first chirping of dawn. As you carry the little ones to their to make our work shine beds to the sound of matzah crunching beneath your feet, you wonder, “Who will carry me to bed?” Personal Application Was it the best Seder that could have been? Look, it had its highlights. A few times, the kids got a little over-excited. Bondage Mentality And the horseradish and didn’t mix too well. Yaaaaawwwwwwn! Well, there goes another Passover night Grandpa told some great stories, but we heard them last year. under the belt. We all had fun with the songs. We told the tale again with Freedom Mentality new embellishments, just like we have for 3,300-plus years. I’m done with Pharaoh; I’m through with Egypt. Take me to We did what we are supposed to, in our own human way. Jerusalem! And now, let the Creator do what He has promised to do: a re-run. Starring us, in the Ultimate Redemption. With lots of miracles. But this time, forever.

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22 Check out our weekly online magazine at www. chabadwi.org ISOLATE THE CHOMETZ: You don’t need to destroy all the chometz in your house – you just need to make sure it no longer belongs to you. Take all the chometz – the food, dish- es, and utensils used throughout the year (and not koshered for Passover) – and store it all away in a closet or room that Approaching you will lock or tape shut. You’re going to sell this chometz temporarily to a non-Jew, as follows. Freedom CHOMETZ FOR SALE: Since we can’t own chometz on Passover, we sell the products we cannot consume or do not want to destroy, as well as chometz utensils, to a buyer (and then buy it back as soon as the holiday is over). Since the sale THINGS must be legally binding according to both Jewish and civil law, we let the experts handle it. This is why we empower a competent rabbi to do it for us. The rabbi acts as our agent to sell the chometz to the non-Jew before Passover starts and TO DO: to buy it back the evening after Passover. Lock or tape shut these closets or rooms where the chometz is stored – they are before you leased to the buyer at the time of the sale. On page 39 you will find an authorization form to sell your chometz. You may want to mail it, fax it, or email it Passover (per the address indicated on the form) – to reach us well before April 7, 2009, and we will take care of the rest. Do not leave it for the last minute. (For the very latest time for sale of chometz, see schedule page 38). The form can also be completed online at www.chabadwi.org/chometz. UPDATE YOUR KITCHEN: Give some serious thought about Begin well in advance koshering your kitchen. Today, most Passover savvy homes Deadline: April 7, 2009 have special sets of dishes, silverware, pots, pans and other utensils for Passover use only. If necessary, CREATE A CHOMETZ-FREE ZONE: certain ‘year-round’ utensils can be used – provided Chometz is any food or drink made they are koshered for Passover. Ask your Rabbi how from wheat, , rye, oats, spelt or to go about it, as well as how to kosher your stove, their derivatives, which are forbidden microwave, and sink. on Passover, because they are leavened You may e-mail us: [email protected] or call or fermented. If a food contains any of Rabbi 414-961-6100 ext. 205. For more these ingredients and is not certified as information, or for Rabbis in other Wisconsin loca- “kosher for Passover,” it is considered chometz. tions, visit our website at www.chabadwi.org. We will be If a food contains even a trace of chometz, we don’t glad to help with information or in any other way. eat it, and we make sure not to have any of it in our posses- PREPARE TO CELEBRATE: Any processed food you eat on sion for all the days of Passover. Passover needs kosher supervision. Today, that’s no big deal GET A HEAD START: In the weeks and – the supermarkets are filled with “Kosher for Passover” prod- days prior to Passover, clean your entire ucts. Fruits, vegetables and most things raw and unprocessed house, purging it of all crumbs and small are kosher for Passover. (We do not use beans and legumes). pieces of food. Also check for chometz in One way to plan is to go healthy for eight days and cook your car and at the office – don’t overlook everything from scratch. For a complete guide to making desks and drawers, etc. Other spots to be your house kosher for Passover, along with a storehouse of investigated include: clothes, pockets (espe- knockout recipes, get your hands on The Spice and Spirit of cially the children’s), pocketbooks and atta- Kosher for Passover Cooking (LWO, 2003), available at most ché cases. Of course, don’t let the refrig- Jewish bookstores. For good links to Passover foods, check erator escape you. (Vacuum cleaner bags out www.passover.net. You can also contact us with any ques- should be discarded or cleaned after all the tions you may have. cleaning is done close to the holiday). Please be aware that the Matzah that’s fit to eat on Passover must be marked kosher for Passover use. Special Passover presentation at www.chabadwi.org/Pesach 23 SHMURAH MATZAH: The ideal Passover Matzah is hand- do, then you will be in trouble…. After the search, verbally made “Shmurah” (“guarded”) Matzah. The wheat is care- nullify any chometz that was not found (statement #5 on page fully watched –protected against contact with water from the 38) and place the chometz that was found in a conspicu- moment of harvest—to prevent any chance of fermentation. ous spot to be burned the next morning. (Before the search, Kneaded, shaped and rolled by hand, they are baked under put aside the chometz you plan to use the next morning for meticulous supervision to avoid breakfast). even the slightest possibility of leaven. Be particularly careful to eat Shmurah Wednesday, April 8, 2009 Matzah on each of the the morning after: You can still eat chometz in the Seder nights. You may early hours of the morning on the day before Passover. (See contact us at 414-961- Passover schedule on page 38 for the latest time). Once that 6100 Ext. 208 to buy time is up, be careful to eat only foods which are kosher for this special Matzah. Passover for the full eight days of the holiday. On the day of the first Seder, be careful not to eat any foods that appear on Tuesday, April 7, 2009 the Seder plate. Search for hidden chometz: The absence of chometz is key in preparing for Passover. At nightfall on the eve of the day before Passover, we conduct a “formal search” for all chometz through- out the house, while holding a lit candle to light the way. Traditionally, we also use a spoon (as a shovel), a feather (as a broom), and a paper bag to collect any chometz found. After reciting the appropriate BE fireD: blessing for this mitzvah (blessing #4 on page 38), This morning we safely burn the chometz that do a thorough, final, once-over search of every last was found during the search, or that was left over from break- bit of chometz. It is customary to place ten pieces fast and not stored with the chometz which was sold before of chometz wrapped in paper around the house. Passover. (For latest time, see schedule on page 38) Do not hide them so they are hard to find. If you Making Nothing into a Big Deal: Now you are ready to formally declare your home a chometz-free zone. As the chometz is burning, recite the Chometz Nullification statement (#6 on page 38,) verbally disowning any chometz that might have been overlooked.

No matter the price offered, not one merchant was willing Minister for the Defense or able to come up with even a crumb of bread or a dram of alcohol. The town had been converted into a chometz- t was the afternoon before Passover, and Rabbi free zone. Levi Yitzchak was wandering through the streets of Thrilled with the results of his failed quest, the rabbi looked IBerdichev seeking out local smugglers. From one, he up to heaven and declared: “G_d Almighty, look down quietly asked for a quote on contraband tobacco, from with pride at Your people! The Czar has border guards and another he enquired about the availability of smuggled tax-commissioners dedicated to his commands. The law- brocades and imported embroideries. No matter the enforcement and justice systems are devoted to tracking merchandise he sought, everything was available for the down and punishing smugglers and black-marketers and right price. yet anything one could possibly want is available. Contrast He then turned to the Jewish Quarter, asking Jewish folks this with the faith and fidelity of Your Jews. It has been over he met on the street to supply him with some bread or 3000 years since you commanded us to observe Passover. whiskey. They balked. “Rabbi,” said one, “are you trying to No cops, no guards, no jail—and yet every single Jew insult me? The seder will be starting in just a few hours keeps your laws to the utmost! and no Jew would have even a speck of chometz left in “Mi K’amcha Yisrael – Who is like Your nation, Israel?!” his home or business.”

24 Check out our weekly online magazine at www. chabadwi.org tion is explained in the ). On the eve of Pesach, before sundown, set aside a Matzah Wednesday, April 8, 2009 and one cooked item to accompany it (such as meat, fish, or Blessing of the Sun – This Year’s Special: hard-boiled eggs) and designate them for . Now, any Once every twenty-eight years, the sun is in the same further food prepared for Shabbat (on Friday) is regarded as a continuation of this initial preparation. Be sure, however, place in the sky, at the same hour, on the same day that foods prepared for Shabbat are completely cooked of the week, that it was at the time of its creation. before sunset on Friday. We mark this rare occasion with great joy, by going For procedure and blessing #7 and 8 see page 38. Once done, the covers all household members outside at dawn to recite the special Birkas Hachamah and guests. The foods set aside for the Eruv should be (Sun Blessing), acknowledging G-d’s might. (see page saved and eaten on Shabbat. If, for whatever reason, 7 for details). this ritual was not performed, ask your rabbi for instructions. LIGHT UP: As before every Shabbat and festi- val, Jewish women and girls light the candles that Wednesday, April 8, 2009 brighten the home and welcome these special days. Son’s Fast: The last of the Ten (for time and blessing #1 and #2, see page 38.) If you Plagues visited upon the Egyptians that forced them to missed lighting on time, you may light the Yom Tov free the Jewish people was when G-d took the lives of candles before the Seder (or all night), but from a all firstborn males in Egypt, sparing the firstborn sons pre-existing fire only. of Israel. In recognition, firstborn Jewish males over Finally the Seder: Begin the Seder as soon 13 fast on this day. But, since joy eclipses suffering, it as you are able after nightfall. Now it’s showtime; experience is customary to waive this fast with a celebration, upon the Seder! the - conclusion of a Talmudic tractate. (Many conduct this siyum. If you are a first born Thursday, April 9, 2009 male you may join us at the Birkas Hachamah cer- pray and feast: Today is a good day to go to Shul, emony at the Rubinstein Pavilion of the Milwaukee followed by a festive meal for lunch. Wait with preparing for Jewish Home and Care Center at 1414 N. Prospect the second Seder until after nightfall. th Avenue on Wednesday, April 8 at 7am. There will be brighten up again: Tonight we will enjoy one more a siyum following the special blessing of the sun. Seder. But, before we begin the second Seder, the holiday candles are lit after nightfall from a pre-existing flame. (for time and blessings #1 and #2, see page 38). Prepare Again to Celebrate: Now you have a whole Count in Anticipation: Tonight is when we start day to look forward to the Seder. Be sure to prepare at once counting the “Omer,” the seven-week period (49 days) that the seder items for both days. But wait, to develop your spiri- begins on Passover and ends at the festival of Shavuos, when tual and nutritional appetite for the Seder, we abstain from we celebrate G-d’s giving us the Torah. The “Omer” – a eating any food found on the Seder plate today, especially measure of barley – was brought to the Matzah. If you’re a fan of bitter herbs and raw onions, apples, on the second day of Passover, as a thanksgiving offering for nuts and wine, stay out of the kitchen. Utilize your day to the new crops. (For schedule and blessing see page 38). You prepare the Seder table. Get ready for the big . would want to do this even before the Seder begins, as you may fall asleep before you have a chance to recite this blessing : Ordinarily, on Yom Tov (festivals) we at the end of the evening. are only permitted to prepare (cook, bake, etc.) for that day. The 49 days of counting the Omer embody This year, the Yom Tov falls on Thursday and Friday, the 49 steps of self-improvement – begin- followed by Shabbat when we are prohibited from ning with the departure from our “personal” cooking. How are we going to prepare for Shabbat? Egypt, until our arrival at Mount Sinai, The Eruv Tavshilin institution allows us to “join” the when we are ready to accept the wisdom Yom Tov’s Shabbat preparations to the preparation of the Torah. which began on the eve of the Festival. (“Eruv” means mixing or joining. The legal complexity of this institu-

Special Passover presentation at www.chabadwi.org/Pesach 25 Friday, April 10, 2009 are in the midst of the holiday, the holiness of Shabbat is still very special. When Shabbat ends at nightfall, we recognize PRAY AND FEAST AGAIN: It’s time to go to Shul again the departure of the Shabbat Queen by reciting the and enjoy another festive meal for lunch. service (to be found in your prayer book). SHALOM SHABBAT: The two days of Yom Tov are terrific. We begin to experience freedom. Now it’s time to really live Sunday, April 12, 2009 it up. The third day bonus is the gift that we Now you are in the middle: Passover’s intermediate experience every week – the freedom from worries, and the days have begun at the end of the second day of the - chance to concentrate on the good and holy in life. day (Friday night). Between the first two and the last two Before sundown, the Shabbat is ushered in by lighting days of Passover, except for Shabbat, we may resume much the , from a pre-existing flame (for time (not all) of our regular workday activities; but, of course, we and blessing #3 see page 38) Like every Shabbat, we make continue to eat Kosher for Passover foods exclusively. Also, it Kiddush and celebrate with a festive meal. (Don’t forget - No is customary to drink a glass of wine or grape juice each day, challah – just delicious Matzah). in celebration of the festival. Saturday, April 11, 2009 Tuesday, April 14, 2009 MAKE IT PERMANENT: If you And On The Seventh Day: Beginning with enjoyed services at Shul on the first tonight, the following two days, Wednesday two days – three days will constitute to and Thursday, are Yom Tov (Holidays). They are make it “permanent”. observed with the same laws governing all Jewish Festivals. We usher in the Yom Tov by lighting the Make a Difference: Just as we candles (for time and blessing #1 see page 38.) make Kiddush, declaring the sanc- This day commemorates our total liberation from tification of the Shabbat day, we’re Egypt when the Sea of Reeds split and the equally obliged to distinguish between crossed over. We celebrate the holiday with a the sanctified and the mundane, good formal festival meal beginning with Kiddush. and evil, light and darkness. At the You will find Kiddush in your prayer book or the present time, when these qualities are Haggadah. Get ready for an intense experience – it so often blurred and distorted, it is of is customary to stay up all night studying Torah. particular importance. Although we

Pre-Passover Checklist Seder CHECKLIST ❒ Kosher for Passover wine ❒ Kosher for Passover food & supplies ❒ Special Shmurah matzah ❒ Storing Chometz (see page 23) ❒ Kosher for Passover matzah ❒ S ell Chometz (Please see page 23 for instructions and ❒ Shankbone or chicken neck ❒ page 35 for a certificate of sale of Chometz) Hardboiled egg ❒ Salt water ❒ B’dikas (search for) Chometz set ❒ Horseradish or lettuce ❒ Apple and nuts and make charoses To obtain any of these or any other ❒ Onion or cooked potato Passover needs go to ❒ Haggadah www.chabadwi.org and visit ❒ Kiddush Cup our store today. ❒ Ritual washing cup

26 Check out our weekly online magazine at www.LubavitchofWI.org Isaiah’s famous prophecies about the Messianic era: “The wolf will dwell with the lamb, the leopard will lie with the kid… They shall do no evil, nor will they destroy… for the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of G-d, as the waters cover the sea.” The , founder of Chassidus, instituted the custom on the last day of Passover of eating a special third meal, called “Moshiach’s Feast.” In addition to eating matzah it is customary to drink four cups of wine at this festive meal Wednesday, April 15, 2009 as we celebrate the imminent arrival of the . The feast begins before sunset and continues until after nightfall. CROSS THE SEA OF REEDS: Today’s experience in Shul Nightfall is the official end of Passover (for exact time see includes the of the Splitting of the Sea of page38). Wait with your chometz shopping until that time. Reeds. (that’s in addition to the Rabbi’s sermon…. Enjoy!). Also, before getting to eat the chometz which you sold prior The Finals: After nightfall, Passover candles are lit from to Passover, wait an additional hour to give the rabbi enough a pre-existing flame (for time and blessing #1 see page 38). We time to buy it back. celebrate the holiday with a formal festival meal beginning We have made it! Let’s continue the Passover spirit of with Kiddush. You will find it in your prayer book or the freedom throughout the year! Haggadah. On this final day of Passover, we strive for a high- er level of freedom and focus on the final redemption. Make a Difference Again: At nightfall (see schedule on page 38), as we depart the holiday to begin our day to Thursday, April 16, 2009 day activities, we recite the Havdalah blessing. Havdalah invites us to carry the spirit of Shabbat and/or the holiday Last But Not Least: Yizkor Memorial Prayers are recit- into our weekday life. Thus, by contrasting the sacred and ed during morning services. the mundane – the Shabbat or Holidays from the other days The eighth day of Passover is traditionally associated with of the week – we strive to bring some of the holiness of the our fervent hope for the coming of Moshiach (the Messiah). Holidays into our everyday activities throughout the week. The Haftorah (Prophetic reading) for that day contains

Simchas Torah Thursday in May! 27 /

Not exactly. But, it’s the annual completion of ’ landmark May 21 compendium of Jewish Law, the . 7:00pm Hundreds of Milwaukeeans, scholars and laymen, will join tens of thousands of Jews the world Location: TBA over who will gather in groups small and large to celebrate the completion of the 27th cycle of studying Maimonides’ landmark compendium of Jewish Law, the Mishneh Torah. Celebrate Jewish unity and Torah scholarship by supporting those who have partaken in this most impressive accomplishment.

Special Passover presentation at www.LubavitchofWI.org/Pesach 27 In honor of the Rebbe’s, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, OBM, 107th Birthday – (On the 11th of Nissan/April 5, 2009) and in gratitude of his gift of love, we present the following fascinating story.

is name was Clement Bajeau, and he had two days? moved to Dakar, Senegal from Egypt. He Suddenly, someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned worked with his uncle, who had lived there around and saw a young man staring at me. “Pardon me,“ he for the past 40 years, married a gentile woman said in French, “are you Jewish or Indian?” The young man andH removed himself from the Jewish fold. “From the time I continued: “Please excuse me for bothering you with a ques- left Egypt,“ Bajeau told me, “I have not seen a real Jew. When tion.” I saw you walking along, I ran to you….” Not knowing what to make of it, I whispered “Shema On the stopover in Dakar, traveling from South Africa en Yisrael.” The youth responded “HaShem Elokeinu HaShem route to London and , we were notified that due to Echod.” We stared at each other, and then embraced in the a technical problem we would remain there for at least two middle of the street. We found a quiet corner to sit and days. chat, and despite the language barrier, we found a common My very carefully arranged travel plans would be postponed. exchange of words. But, then I recalled my audience with the Rebbe right before I Clement seemed thrilled at meeting me, but as our discus- left. I handed him a report of my work. As the visit went on, sion flowed, I felt that there was something that was deeply he inquired about my flying schedule in Africa, and took great troubling him. interest in whether one really needs to pass so fast from one I asked him if he had . “No,” he replied. “I wore Jewish center to another. “Maybe you could stop on the way in Tefillin only for a short time after my Bar Mitzvah, while I a small place where there are only a few Jews” he said. was in Egypt.” I pulled out my Tefillin from my handbag and Remembering the Rebbe’s comment, I summoned a taxi to handed them to him. “Here are Tefillin for you.” I said. “Will take me to the center of town. There I went looking for Jewish you wear them every day?” He ran his fingers over them lov- people. I walked through the streets, staring at passersby, ingly, but instead of answering, he sighed deeply and turned looking for Jewish appearances. I also glanced at the signs on his face away from me. the storefronts; perhaps I’d notice a Jewish name there. With For the next 48 hours that I was in Dakar, Clement did not my , black hat, and long coat, I figured some Jews leave me. He went with me everywhere and helped me find would notice me. Wasn’t this why my plane was delayed for other Jews.

28 Check out our weekly online magazine at www. chabadwi.org When we arrived at the airport and were about to part, he asked me if he could have a few minutes with me. There were I still remember the sense of urgency . Time still some forty minutes left, so we found a quiet corner to sit was short. Soon the plane would take off, and talk. and I knew that I had to act quickly. He burst out in tears and with a voice full of pain, he said: “It’s been some time now that I am considering marrying a girl Sometime later, I received an invitation to Clement’s who has good qualities, but is not Jewish… It troubles me. I wedding in France. Not only was the girl Jewish, but she do not want to be like my uncle who married out of the faith. observed tradition and had also visited the Rebbe. I know I should not marry her, but there aren’t any Jewish girls The next time when I visited the Rebbe before traveling here… I can’t stop thinking about it. Even as I was walking in to South Africa, the Rebbe said with a smile: “I hope that the street before meeting you I was thinking about it. Then this time you will visit Dakar, even if nothing happens to the I noticed you and said to myself, here is a Jew, maybe he’s a plane.” Of course I took a flight that stopped in Dakar. Rabbi, and maybe he can help me, so I approached you.” On the first night of my stay in Dakar at Clement’s home, “What are your plans now,“ I asked him. “As long as you’re he arranged a surprise party for me. There I met Mr. Pinto, here, Rabbi,“ he replied, “I’m sure I wouldn’t go back to see who began wearing Tefillin and Mr. Edward Politi who had her. But the moment you leave, I am afraid I will be unable to started corresponding with the Rebbe. withstand the test.” Clement told me of the “religious revolution” which had I still remember the sense of urgency . Time was short. Soon taken place in Dakar. When the Rebbe’s Shmurah Matzah the plane would take off, and I knew that I had to act quickly. arrived, the Jews of Dakar decided to arrange a Seder. Everyone I held on to his hand, looked into his eyes and said: “I promise was thrilled with the Matzos the Rebbe sent. “We wanted to you, Clement, that I will remain in contact with you. But for make a proper Seder and eat Shmurah Matzah,” Clement said. now I want you to promise me that you will go to France and “But most of all, we wanted to thank G-d for this great Tzadik look for a Jewish girl.” (righteous person) who doesn’t forget a single Jew.” I stared at Clement, his eyes began to water. He raised his right hand and stretched it out to me. “Rabbi, “ he said with a trembling voice, “you don’t know what this means to me. Rabbi, thank you and don’t forget about me…” Upon my arrival in London, I immediately reported to the Rebbe’s office. Shortly afterwards, Clement received a Gonzalez Saggio & Harlan

onsin Wishes you a Happy Passover package with reli- is c W gious articles from .C. on D “770” Eastern Park- Eido M.Walny, J.D., AEP, EPLS ashing t way (Lubavitch W Wisconsin Rising Star 2008 FIVE STAR: Best in Client Satisfaction Wealth Manager for 2009

Headquarters). Be- ork Ohio Fifth Annual Y fore Passover, the Rebbe sent a pack- Estate Planning Sunday, June 7, 2009 Asset Protection wa Nevada New 5:30 cocktails • 6:15 Dinner age of Shmurah Charitable Planning Matzah for him and at ndiana I o Business Succession for the other Jews The Pfister Hotel llinois I Probate Administration Dinner 424 E. Wisconsin Avenue • Milwaukee, WI in Dakar. I knew Special Needs Planning ornia I that Clement would ali f

ona C For more information be able to find the Ari z please call: 414-228-8000 Please contact Eido M. Walny for more information. strength to keep his 414.277.8500 or [email protected] or e-mail [email protected] Available to meet at any location. promise. www.gshllp.com

Special Passover presentation at www.chabadwi.org/Pesach 29 G-D Sent Me! A Matzah “Who sent you?” the young man asked. “G-d,” replied the rabbi, with a shy but earnest smile. and a Dream With the Pesach festival imminent and preparations for By Yaakov Chayton the festival in full swing, Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, had The address 30/55 Parap Road simply didn’t exist. This was gone out for a final search through the hotels and backpack- the conclusion reached by myself and Zevi Shusterman, ers’ lodges. my classmate from Melbourne’s Chabad , as we It was hardly a time when his wife, Rivka, could dispense made our way through the streets of Darwin, the capital of with her husband’s help in their . Australia’s Northern Territory. But the delight of having even one more guest at the Pesach It was four days before Passover, the 11th day in Nissan, Seder was irresistible. Her sense of love and responsibility 2006. Zevi and I were in Darwin to arrange a public seder for one more displaced Jew, who might be missing from a for the local Jews. But we also wished to pay personal house Seder table, compelled her to urge her husband to make the visits to the fifty or so known Jews of Darwin. rounds one last time. One last search at the reverse address, 55/30 Parap Road, Rabbi Gavriel, or Gabi as he is affectionately known, would be our last, before admitting defeat. As we walked has already been through the guest houses several times into the courtyard of 55 Parap Road, four large buildings and posted Seder advertisements in any possible tourist surrounded us. It was the epicentre of a large Aboriginal location. Yet he perseveres—because the prospect of having commune and the scenes of primitiveness coupled with another guest at the Chabad House Seder excites him too, substance abuse was startling. as he makes his way out to the streets at the charge of his Overcoming our initial fear, we approached a group of dear wife. young men and ambitiously asked them if they knew of a Certain that no guest house had slipped passed his scru- man by the name of Joseph De Backer. The men motioned tiny, Gabi is surprised and to us to go upstairs. Reaching the fourth floor, we found a enthused when he discovers group of older men, whom we assumed to be the commune a backpacker’s inn that had elders. When we repeated our question to the elders, the eluded his previous rounds. men simply shrugged their shoulders. But just as we turned Confident and experienced at around to leave, one of the “elders” announced that there sifting out of such was a man named Joseph who lived a further flight up. locations, he asks the woman With a box of handmade Matzah in hand, we excitedly behind the counter if he may approached a door that bore a tiny mezuzah. Assuming see the guest book. Paging nobody would refuse a free Matzah offer, we knocked and through with skilled rapidity, called out, “Joseph! We brought you matzah!” Gabi notices a name that is An old, life-weary man came to the door with tears obviously Israeli. streaming down his face. Before exchanging any words, the To Gabi, his additional old man strangely poked and prodded our arms. “I can’t guest to the Seder is now just believe it!” he muttered, repeating the words again and again a conversation away, as he as he gazed upon us. We just stood there, speechless and waits patiently by the door perplexed. he has just knocked on. With After a few moments, Joseph calmed down and invited Pesach soon to begin, time us inside. We sat down at the table and Joseph began telling is not on his side. So with his story: no reaction to his repeated “I am a survivor of Auschwitz. After the war, trying to knocking, Gabi reluctantly run away from everything, I moved to Perth. I married a

30 Check out our weekly online magazine at www.LubavitchofWI.org turns to leave. But then he hears a voice calling for him. non-Jew with whom I had a son. After my business failed Returning to the door, Gabi finds an Israeli backpacker, and I was divorced, there was nothing left for me in Perth. soaking wet and clad in nothing more than a bath towel. My only reason to live was now my son, who serves in the The man turns to Gabi and asks, “Who sent you here?” Australian Army and is stationed in Darwin.” “G-d,” Gabi states inexplicably. Joseph took a sip of tea, then continued with his tale. “I moved to Darwin to be near my son and found shel- ter with my few belongings in this government commune. I slowly lost all contact with the outside world. I had no Returning to the door, Gabi finds an Israeli internet, email, not even a telephone. I ventured out of the backpacker, soaking wet and clad in nothing more house only to buy the bare essentials. Even my son rarely than a bath towel. The man turns to Gabi and asks, visited me anymore. “I knew from when I was a little boy that around April “Who sent you here?” there was a Jewish holiday. I didn’t remember much about the holiday, but I knew that for a period of time bread was forbidden, and we ate flat crackers. Yesterday, my meager The young man is startled and clearly shaken as he memories of the holiday and Jewish identity left me feel- motions for the Rabbi to enter. After dressing and gaining ing especially lonely and depressed. some composure the young man begins to tell his story: “I had trouble falling asleep at night; but when I finally “I just arrived from South on my way to the North. did, I had a dream that two rabbis brought me the flat I never planned on stopping in this city. I merely had to crackers for the holiday. That’s why when you two rabbis switch trains at the local station. When I went over to the arrived at my door, I thought I was hallucinating. I poked ticket-counter to buy a ticket to continue my journey, I and prodded you to make sure you were real!” discovered that my wallet had been stolen. I sat down on We were overwhelmed and moved by Joseph’s tale. We a rock and began to feel extremely depressed. Suddenly, a spent several hours speaking and listening to a man all but young backpacker came over to me and in a strong French forgotten by society. Tears of joy streamed down Joseph’s accent asked me where I came from. When I told him that face as we helped him don tefillin and say a prayer. I was from Israel he told me that he too was Jewish and he Before taking our leave, we gave him all the Jewish handed me a very generous sum of money. He then told reading material we had, including the booklet pub- me to go into the city and stay at at an inn until I could get lished by Chabad of Wisconsin, entitled “The Rebbe: An money from my parents to continue my travels. I followed Appreciation,” which contains several articles about the his advice, came to town and rented a room. Alone in my Lubavitcher Rebbe as well as pictures of the Rebbe. room, I suddenly felt overwhelmingly lonely. I lay down on Joseph walked us down the hall to the stairs, thanked us the bed, looked towards the ceiling and began to “talk” to from the depths of his heart and bade us farewell. G-d. • • • “I said, ‘G-d, what’s happening? What’s going to be? What A year later, I returned to Darwin. I was looking for- am I doing here?’ ward to meeting all the Jews whom we had encountered “I am not sure you understand how bizarre this conver- the previous year, but none more so than Joseph. The Jews sation was,” the young man says to Gabi. “I grew up on a of Darwin, after hearing about Joseph’s plight from the secular ; I never had any connection whatsoever students, helped Joseph and improved his lot. with G-d. As I entered the old man’s apartment, we embraced, “Yet somehow I realized that tonight is the first night then sat down to talk. As Joseph spoke of the community’s of Pesach and my monologue with G-d continued: ‘G-d, help, I noticed that the apartment’s walls were covered I know that our connection is not what it should be, but with pictures of the Rebbe, neatly cut out from the bro- G-d, if you really love me, give me a sign. Don’t leave me chure, “The Rebbe: An Appreciation.” alone tonight. Let me celebrate the holiday of Pesach with I casually remarked upon the pictures on the wall, other Jews. assuming Joseph had simply found “I concluded my monologue, entered the shower and them to be nice pictures with switched on the water. Suddenly I heard knocking at the which to decorate his apart- door. At first, I thought it was my imagination; but when ment. But Joseph turned the banging continued, I switched off the water, wrapped to me with a tone that myself with a towel and went to open the door. was anything but casu- “Upon opening the door I saw you standing at the bottom al, “You don’t remem- of the staircase; and when I asked you who sent you, you ber the dream? The told me quite simply: ‘G-d’....” man in these pictures is the man who sent you boys to me!”

Special Passover presentation at www.chabadwi.org/Pesach 31 What’s Happening at Lubavitch of Wisconsin Milwaukee Jewish Parenting Conference 2009

32 Check out our weekly online magazine at www. chabadwi.org “Thanks for your hard work! It is so great to learn new skills. I feel blessed to be in a community that is raising children in a positive way. Our children are so fortunate.” – D.C. “He was amazing and right on point! Bring Michael back for a more in-depth workshop.” –A. “Would have been great to hear Mr. Brandwein an entire day!” –S.M. “I feel my husband and I will be better parents and people and so will our children by implementing Brandwein’s practices” –A. “Could have been longer because he was so good, but it left you wanting more.” –T.S. “You can’t please everybody, but this one must have come very close….” –A. “Engaging, helpful, and hit home!” –A. “Practical and easily remembered responses to problematic behavior.” –E.B. “He was fabulous! I could listen to him all day!” –S.B. “He hit home on a lot of topics and kept me entertained.” –S.B. “This was a great morning. I got some very practical tips that I will use at home.” –T.A. “This guy was phenomenal. Absolute right combination of lecture and participation; content was unbelievably salient and helpful for vast majority of parents.” –J.A. “I’ve observed 100’s of speakers, both of the keynote lectures were superb!” –M.M. “Inspiring and appropriate to our situation with my daughter. I look forward to using the techniques I learned.” –M.S. I enjoyed most everyone’s honesty about their parenting ups and downs – A.G. “I loved the opportunity to connect with other parents!” –C.H. “Excellent, good ideas, good information!” – J.P.

Special Passover presentation at www.chabadwi.org/Pesach 33 Hillel Academy

34 Check out our weekly online magazine at www. chabadwi.org Friendship Circle Teen Volunteers Event

Jewish Beginnings

Special Passover presentation at www.chabadwi.org/Pesach 35 Adult Friendship Circle

Madison Women’s Circle

36 Check out our weekly online magazine at www. chabadwi.org UW-Madison

Special Passover presentation at www.chabadwi.org/Pesach 37 Candl e l ighting ti m es Blessing M ilwaukee Madison Kenosha Green Bay La Crosse Passover April 8 Eve of Passover / 1st Seder 1&2* 7:07 7:13 7:06 7:09 7:21 April 9 Eve of 2nd Day -2nd Seder 1&2** 8:12 8:18 8:11 8:14 8:26 April 10 Eve of Shabbat 3*** 7:10 7:16 7:09 7:12 7:24 Blessings & April 14 Eve of 7th Day 1* 7:14 7:20 7:13 7:17 7:29 April 15 Eve of 8th Day of Passover 1** 8:20 8:26 8:19 8:23 8:35 Schedules *If lighting after sunset, light only from a pre-existing flame. **Do not light before the times TUESDAY, APRIL 7, AFTER NIGHT FALL - SEARCH FOR CHOMETZ indicated. Light only from a pre- Before beginning the search, the following blessing is recited: existing flame. ***Do not light 4. BA-RUCH A-TOH ADO-NOI E-LO-HEI-NU ME-LECH HA-OLAM ASHER KID-ESHO-NU after sunset. BE-MITZVO-SOV VETZI-VONU AL BE-UR CHO-METZ Blessed are You, Lord our G-d, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded A pre-existing flame is a us concerning the removal of chometz. flame that has been burning After concluding the search the following declaration is stated: continuously since the onset of 5. ALL LEAVEN AND ANYTHING LEAVENED THAT IS IN MY POSSESSION, WHICH I HAVE NEITHER SEEN NOR the festival such as a pilot light, REMOVED, AND ABOUT WHICH I AM UNAWARE, SHALL BE CONSIDERED NULLIFIED AND OWNERLESS AS THE gas or candle flame. DUST OF THE EARTH. Candle lighting WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8 - EATING, SELLING AND BURNING CHOMETZ Milwaukee Madison Kenosha Green Bay La Crosse blessings FINISH EATING CHOMETZ BEFORE 10:42am 10:48am 10:42am 10:42am 10:55am 1. BA-RUCH A-TOH SELL CHOMETZ BEFORE AND BURN BY 11:47am 11:53am 11:47am 11:47am 12:01pm ADO-NOI E-LO-HEI-NU Have the Authorization Certificate (see page __) reach us no later than Wednesday at 10 am. ME-LECH HA-OLAM ASHER KID-E-SHO-NU As the Chometz is burning, the following declaration is stated: BE-MITZ-VO-SOV VETZI- 6. ALL LEAVEN AND ANYTHING LEAVENED THAT IS IN MY POSSESSION, WHETHER I HAVE SEEN IT OR NOT, VO-NU LE-HAD-LIK NER SHALL BE CONSIDERED NULLIFIED AND OWNERLESS AS THE DUST OF THE EARTH SHEL YOM TOV Blessed are You, Lord our WED, APR 8 – THIS YEAR’S SPECIAL: BIRKAS HACHAMAH. (See page 7 for details). G-d, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8 - IN THE AFTERNOON, BEFORE CANDLE LIGHTING - ERUV TAVSHILIN His commandments, and The head of the household takes a matzah, and a nice portion of cooked food, such as fish, meat, or a hard-boiled commanded us to kindle the Yom Tov light. egg, and says: 7. BA-RUCH A-TOH ADO-NOI E-LO-HAI-NU ME-LECH HA-OLAM ASHER KID-E-SHONU BE-MITZ-VO-SOV VETZI- 2. BA-RUCH A-TOH VO-NU AL MITZ-VAS EI-RUV. ADO-NOI E-LO-HEI-NU Blessed are You, Lord our G-d, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded ME-LECH HA-OLAM SHE- us to make an eruv. HECHI-YO-NU VE-KI-YE- He then declares: MO-NU VE-HIGI-O-NU 8. By means of this Eruv it shall be permissible for us to bake, cook, put away a dish to preserve its heat, LIZ-MAN HA-ZEH. kindle a light (from a pre-existing flame), and prepare on Yom Tov everything we need for Shabbos. Blessed are You, Lord our G-d, King of the universe, The food from the Eruv should be put aside to be eaten on Shabbos. The best time to eat it is on Shabbos afternoon. who has granted us life, sus- WEDNESDAY EVE, THURSDAY & FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 9 AND 10 - YOM TOV tained us, and enabled us to (See candle lighting times & blessings - above, left). On Thursday Eve we begin the “” (See p. 39) reach this occasion FRIDAY EVE AND SATURDAY, APRIL 10 AND 11 - SHABBAT 3. BA-RUCH A-TOH (see candle lighting times and blessings for Friday Eve - above, left column). ADO-NOI E-LO-HEI-NU ME-LECH HA-OLAM SATURDAY, APRIL 11, AFTER NIGHTFALL - SHABBAT ENDS ASHER KID-E-SHO-NU Milwaukee Madison Kenosha Green Bay La Crosse 8:16pm 8:22pm 8:15pm 8:18pm 8:30 pm BE-MITZ-VO-SOV VETZI- VO-NU LE-HAD-LIK SUNDAY, MONDAY & TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 13 AND 14 - INTERMEDIATE DAYS NER SHEL SHA-BBOS KO-DESH. TUESDAY EVE, WEDNESDAY, & THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 15 AND 16 - LAST DAYS OF YOM TOV Blessed are You, Lord our (See candle lighting times and blessings - above, left column). G-d, King of the universe, THURSDAY, APRIL 16 - YIZKOR who has sanctified us with His commandments, and Yizkor is recited during morning service. (Consult your synagogue for times.) commanded us to kindle the THURSDAY, APRIL 16 - PASSOVER ENDS AT NIGHTFALL light of the holy Shabbat. Milwaukee Madison Kenosha Green Bay La Crosse 8:22pm 8:28pm 8:21pm 8:25pm 8:37pm 38 Today is… MAY O n each of the following 13 “... thirty-five days, which is five weeks of the Omer.” Schedule of the 17 “... nine days, which is one week evenings, Say: and two days of the Omer.” 14 “... thirty-six days, which is five Counting of Today is… weeks and one day of the Omer.” 18 “... ten days, which is one week and 1 “... twenty-three days, which is 15 “... thirty-seven days, which is five the Omer 2009 three days of the Omer.” three weeks and two days of the weeks and two days of the Omer.” Beginning with the second night 19 “... eleven days, which is one week Omer.” 16 “... thirty-eight days, which is five of Passover, and for the following and four days of the Omer.” 2 “... twenty-four days, which is three weeks and three days of the Omer.” forty-eight days, culminating on the 20 “... twelve days, which is one week weeks and three days of the Omer.” 17 “... thirty-nine days, which is five and five days of the Omer.” 3 “... twenty-five days, which is three eve before the festival of , the weeks and four days of the Omer.” Omer is counted. It is best to count 21 “... thirteen days, which is one week weeks and four days of the Omer.” 18 “... forty days, which is five weeks and six days of the Omer.” 4 “... twenty-six days, which is three the Omer at nightfall. However, one and five days of the Omer.” 22 “... fourteen days, which is two weeks and five days of the Omer.” may count at any time throughout the 19 “... forty-one days, which is five weeks of the Omer.” 5 “... twenty-seven days, which is night. If one forgets to count at night, weeks and six days of the Omer.” 23 “... fifteen days, which is two weeks three weeks and six days of the he should count during the day without and one day of the Omer.” Omer.” 20 “... forty-two days, which is six the blessing, but continue to count weeks of the Omer.” 24 “... sixteen days, which is two weeks 6 “... twenty-eight days, which is four with a blessing on the subsequent and two days of the Omer.” weeks of the Omer.” 21 “... forty-three days, which is six weeks and one day of the Omer.” nights. If however, one forgets to count 25 “... seventeen days, which is two 7 “... twenty-nine days, which is four during the day as well, from there on weeks and three days of the Omer.” weeks and one day of the Omer.” 22 “... forty-four days, which is six weeks and two days of the Omer.” he counts the rest of the nights without 26 “... eighteen days, which is two 8 “... thirty days, which is four weeks a blessing. weeks and four days of the Omer.” and two days of the Omer.” 23 “... forty-five days, which is six weeks and three days of the Omer.” 27 “... nineteen days, which is two 9 “... thirty-one days, which is four The following is the blessing to be weeks and five days of the Omer.” weeks and three days of the Omer.” 24 “... forty-six days, which is six weeks and four days of the Omer.” said every night followed by the 28 “... twenty days, which is two 10 “... thirty-two days, which is four appropriate count for that day: weeks and six days of the Omer.” weeks and four days of the Omer.” 25 “... forty-seven days, which is six weeks and five days of the Omer.” BA-RUCH A-TOH A-DO-NOI 29 “... twenty-one days, which is three 11 “... thirty-three days, which is four weeks of the Omer.” weeks and five days of the Omer.” 26 “... forty-eight days, which is six E-LO-HEI-NU ME-LECH HA-O- weeks and six days of the Omer.” LAM A-SHER KID-E-SHO-NU 30 “... twenty-two days, which is three 12 “... thirty-four days, which is four BE-MITZ-VO-SOV VET-ZI-VO-NU weeks and one day of the Omer.” weeks and six days of the Omer.” 27 “... forty-nine days, which is seven weeks of the Omer.” AL SE-FI-RAS HA-O-MER Blessed are You, Lord our G-d, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with Return this form early, as responsibility cannot be accepted for forms received at Lubavitch House after His commandments and commanded us April 7, 2009. You may fax it to us at (414) 962-1740 or e-mail to [email protected]. concerning the counting of the Omer. CERTIFICATE AUTHORIZING THE SALE OF CHOMETZ Please print neatly or type, as illegible forms cannot be processed.

APRIL O n each of the following I (We)* evenings, Say: Hereby authorize Rabbi Yisroel Shmotkin to dispose of all chometz that may be in my (our) possession wherever it Today is… may be at home, at my (our) place of business, or elsewhere in accordance with the requirements of Jewish Law as incorporated in the special contract for the sale of chometz. 9 “…one day of the Omer.” 10 “… two days of the Omer.” Residence Address 11 “… three days of the Omer.” Apt. No. City/State/Zip 12 “... four days of the Omer.” 13 “... five days of the Omer.” Business Address 14 “... six days of the Omer.” Suite No. City/State/Zip 15 “... seven days, which is one week of the Omer.” Signature(s) Date 16 ”... eight days, which is one week Certificates must be received at Lubavitch House by April 7, 2009, 10:00 AM. and one day of the Omer.” * Husband and Wife, specify names. Must be signed by head of household and preferably by all .

39 Lu b a v i t c h o f Wi s c o n s i n Non Profit Org. 3109 North Lake Drive U.S. Postage Milwaukee, WI 53211 (414) 961-6100 PAID Milwaukee, WI Permit no. 2432 Address Service Requested

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