Celebration!13 – 22 Nissan, 5770 / March 28 – April 6, 2010 How to pAssover the soulful meaning, how to seder, history, customs, blessings, schedules and how to celebrate. physically free, but mentally enslaved – not being able to see or consider beyond himself and his present Celebration! Pesach 5770 / 2010 Some needs. Right at the outset of g-d’s message of freedom, 3 REBBe’s MessAGe he conveyed to the Jewish People that not only will Celebrate Your Freedom they be relieved of their back-breaking slave labor, 3 Join our seDer suffering and torture, but he immediately announced that he will grant them “a land flowing with milk and 4 FREEDoM, FAItH, AND PassoverThoughts honey” – a state of mind completely unimaginable NAtIoNHOOD to them at the time. 5 THe seDer Dear virgin Islands Jewry, • • • The practical how, what and the Freedom is the most valued aspect of the human race. For the Rebbe, Rabbi menachem m. Schneerson, meaning of items on the seder plate Slavery, the antithesis of freedom, on the other hand, oBm – whose birthday is on the 11th day of the 7 PASSOVER CHeCKLIst is the most abhorring idea of a free-thinking society. month of Nissan, four days before the holiday of But what’s wrong with slavery? Is it just because Passover – the idea of absolute personal freedom 8 SOULFuL seDer you are forced to do things against your will? Is it was one of the hallmarks of his leadership and Join us as we perform the Seder; as because you are subject to torture, or is it because you inspiration to his followers. In his personal conduct, our bodies and souls experience and are robbed of your inalienable rights? in his teachings, and his modus operandi, the Rebbe celebrate liberation and freedom today transcended all limitations. he encouraged others to And what’s so great about freedom? Is it because 13 personal FreeDoM you are free to do as you wish? or is it because you are broaden their horizons and to tap into the very core able to determine your own destiny? of their being to activate hidden reservoirs of energy. 18 A DrunkarD’s seDer All of these and more are true. Yet, there is another he encouraged all to go beyond themselves, beyond 21 MuLtI-GeNerAtIonal Four soNs aspect of the meaning of slavery and freedom which their current mindset, to grow and expand in the 22 CouNting oF tHe Omer is often overlooked. service of g-d as well as in all their personal affairs. ScheDuLe Slavery is not just a physical condition. Rather, and myself, and all of us in the Jewish community, owe what’s worse, it is a mental condition. As the saying the Rebbe a debt of gratitude for sharing with us this 23 FROM OUR MAILBoX sense of freedom. It is particularly during the Festival goes: You can take a slave out of slavery, but it’s a lot 24 STORY: A MAtZAH AND A DreAM harder to take slavery out of the slave. of Freedom – Passover – that the Rebbe’s spirit of Just as moses began relating g-d’s message to the freedom is so pertinent, to inspire us for the days fof 26 PHOTO GALLerY Jewish people regarding the exodus, he said, “Aaleh Passover and beyond. 30 PASSOVER sCHeDuLES AND eschem me’onee mitzrayim – I shall uplift you from • • • BLESSINGs In the haggadah we read, “In each and every the affliction of egypt”(exodus 3:17). The word onee 31 SALe oF CHoMETZ CERTIFICATE in hebrew, in addition to the translation of suffering generation one must see himself as if he himself or torture, also connotes poverty. left egypt.” Chassidic philosophy explains that we What’s wrong with bondage is the poverty. It robs must exit and leave behind our personal egypt – the constraints we put on ourselves – to achieve true Celebration! a person of their capacity to see, think, or consider Volume 4 #4 March, 2010 freedom. beyond their immediate needs. As is the nature of the Published 5 times a year by: poor and destitute, so desperately wanting of their As we prepare for Passover, let’s unshackle Chabad Lubavitch of the Virgin Islands immediate needs, they are controlled by and become ourselves from our status quo, each of us from our 6501 Red Hook Plaza, Suite 201 S. Thomas, VI 00802 subject to circumstances imposed upon them, as pettiness. Let’s broaden our horizons to explore Phone: 340-998-8889 a shaking and tossing ship helplessly directed by fields which, yesterday, we thought were beyond us. E-mail: [email protected] stormy waters. Lastly, let’s begin with doing at least one more good www.JewishVirginIslands.com Freedom, on the other hand, is the mindset of the deed. Let us continue growing in our commitment “rich,” allowing a person the ability and capacity of to a complete and full Jewish way of life, free of the vision beyond the present circumstances – being able constraints of habit and that which is caused by social Dedicated to the Rebbe, pressure. Let us experience true freedom. Rabbi Menachem M. to reach out to the stars and beyond. one may be Schneerson, OBM, physically imprisoned but all the while be personally Best wishes for a happy kosher Passover, whose boundless love and free. on the other hand, there can be one who is rabbi Asher and Henya Federman teachings are an endless source of inspiration and guidance. 2 Check out our weekly online magazine atwww.JewishVirginIslands.com to reach the heights of spiritual life. The Rebbe’s To believe this is to limit oneself, to fall captive to an illusion. Message Passover is thus an ongoing process of self-liberation. The festival and its practices are symbols of a struggle that is constantly renewed within a Jew, to create the Celebrates we celebrate YourPassover each year,Freedom we recall again freedom in which to live out his or her spiritual potential. that great event at the dawn of our history. Our This is one of the reasons why we are enjoined to remember people were liberated from Egyptian bondage in our liberation from Egypt in every generation and on every day. order to receive the Torah as free men and women. We must personally “go out from Egypt” every day, to escape ACommenting on the verse, “And these days shall be the limits, temptations and obstructions that our physical remembered and done” (Esther 9:28), our Sages reach that existence places in the way of our spiritual life. as those days are remembered, they are spiritually reenacted. The manifestation of our liberation from Egypt is the The Divine Benevolence that brought miracles in the past is liberation of our Divine soul from the constraints of its physical reawakened by our act of recollection. environment. And when it is achieved – with the help of G-d, Passover is the “Festival of our Liberation.” It celebrates a who freed us from Egypt, and through a life of Torah and historic event: the Exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt. mizvot – a great spiritual anguish is ended. The inner conflict However, our Sages teach us that in every generation, and on between what is physical and what is Divine in a Jew’s nature each and every day, we must see ourselves as though we have is transcended. Then we can enjoy real freedom, the sense of just been liberated from Egypt. serenity and harmony, which is the prelude to freedom and Freedom requires constant guarding. Each day, and every peace in the world at large. environment, carries its own equivalent of Egypt – a power to undermine the freedom of a Jew. Perhaps the biggest threat comes from within. The conviction that certain achievements Adapted from a letter written by the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem are beyond us, the complacent belief that one was not born M. Schneerson, OBM, 11th of Nissan, 5713. Our family invites you to join us for the Passover Seders... March 29th, 7:00pm at Villa Elegant Breeze in Water Point Don’t hesitate to call YOU are our family! If you need an arrangement for the second night please call us at 340.998.8889 or email us: [email protected]. Special Passover presentation at www.JewishVirginIslands.com/Pesach 3 FREEDOM, What is freedom and how is it achieved? What is “faith” and how FAITH, and does it contrast/complement the NATIONHOOD rational and experiential aspects of our lives? What makes a “people,” “Has such a great thing ever been?” and why should we need and/or proclaimed Moses forty years later, “Or desire to belong to one? has the like of it ever been heard? ... Has How do the various Passover G-d ever endeavored to come and take for observances – the Passover Himself a nation from the womb of a nation, offering, the prohibition against amidst trials, signs, wonders and battles … chometz (leaven), the three as G-d has done for you in Egypt before your matzahs and the four cups of eyes?” (Deuteronomy 4:32-34) wine, etc. – access and facilitate A nation from the womb of a nation. On our faith, freedom and identity as the 15th day of Nissan in the year 2448 from individual Jews and members of the creation (1313 BCE), a new entity, the People community of Israel? of Israel, was born, delivered by G-d “from These are the issues explored slavery into freedom, from darkness into a in this Passover guide. We have great light, from bondage into redemption.” attempted to translate these laws Seven days later, our rescue from Egypt and customs into “today’s language.” was complete when the sea split to allow We trust you will find it to be as us passage and drowned Pharaoh’s informative as it is enjoyable.