R E A D E R A P A S S O V E R Our Mission: To enrich and grow the Cincinnati Jewish community by creating an environment of Torah study and providing access to our spiritual heritage. AM–11PM DAILY LEARNING CENTER, OPEN & ACTIVE 5:30 EARLY MORNING KOLLEL FOR LAYMEN “sarah’s place” women’s outreach center • israel trips Father & son learning • teen programming COLLEGE CAMPUS CLASSES & SHABBATONS skill-building programs • inspirational seminars ffice study groups one-on-one study partners • home & o habbat hospitality holiday workshops • s SIDDUR (PRAYER BOOK) CLINICS The Festival of Our Freedom, Vols. I & II A Passover Reader Contents The Festival of Our are 5 Preface available in PDF format at 6 The Yeast in the Dough Rabbi David Spetner Vol. II FREEDOM 9 Passover Kiddush, All Year Long? Rabbi Yitzchok Preis Original Essays by the Staff of the Cincinnati Community Kollel 13 Time Capsules, Eternal Messages, & Passover http://kollel.shul.net/Resources/Pubs/pubs.htmRabbi Chaim Barry 16 Darkness, Light, & the Passover Seder A Meditation on Rabbi Yitzchok Hutner’s Pachad Yitzchok Rabbi Abraham Braunstein 19 “Thank Dog” Rabbi Eli Polsky There 24 Free at Last Alter B. Raubvogel you can also find our Annual Reports 26 How is This Night Different? Rabbi Cobi Robinson and 29 The Seder and theother Self-Help Workshop Holiday Readers. Rabbi Yitzie Stern The Festival of Our Vol. Cincinnati Community Kollel III Cincinnati, Ohio 45237-4222 2241 Losantiville Avenue, [email protected] Freedom 513 631-1118 • Original Essays by the Staff of the Cincinnati Community Kollel Contents Preface 5 Preface FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE, THE JEWS ARE ALWAYS IN THE NEWS. This is not merely a phenomenon of the 24-hour news cycle. It has always been that way, ever since Abraham challenged the 6 Rabbi Meir Minster We, the Connected Son “Establishment” of antiquity. However, as a nation, the Jews’ first and most newsworthy event was the Exodus from Egypt and the 9 Human Calculus Rabbi David Spetner formation of what would forever be G-d’s people. No group on Earth has, with such consistency, celebrated and attempted to relive their birth as a nation, on an annual basis. 12 What About Moses? Rabbi Yitzchok Preis At the Cincinnati Community Kollel, it is our mission to help connect Jews to our spiritual heritage. In the pages that follow, 15 Provisional Redemption Rabbi Aharon Daniel members of the Kollel’s staff offer you a chance to more deeply connect to the depth of the upcoming holiday. These essays are 19 Who Knows Eleven? Rabbi Chaim Heinemann designed to educate, inspire, and enhance your Passover holiday. Enjoy! 21 Living the Story Rabbi Dovid Heinemann Rabbi Meir Minster Rabbi David Spetner 24 A Lesson About Faith Rabbi Isaac Kahn 28 The Plague of the Firstborn In Three Acts Rabbi Eli Polsky 32 These Three Things Alter B. Raubvogel 37 Exodus Past, Exodus Future Rabbi Dani Schon © 2012 / 5772 Cincinnati Community Kollel The Festival of Our Freedom, Volume III 5 Rabbi Meir Minster And different they are. To the wicked son we stress the verse’s dark implication: “‘G-d acted on my behalf’—had he been there he would not have been redeemed.” To the non-questioning son we use the same words as a conversation starter: “You should open [the We, the discussion] for him …” We then cite the start of the verse, “and you should tell your son on that day, saying …” Among the explanations offered by the Kli Yakar is the idea that Connected Son the one who does not ask may be abstaining because of total disinterest, from a complete dismissal of what is going on at the Seder. This would, indeed, be worse than the wicked son’s confrontational question. Of THE FAMILIAR “FOUR SONS” MENTIONED IN THE HAGADDAH WOULD SEEM course, his lack of questioning may merely be the result of not having to be a clear study of contrasts. The “wise” son, the “wicked” son, the the tools or the focus to delve into what he really would like to be “simple” son and the son who “does not know how to ask” each appear connected to. We need to know where he is coming from, and to do to represent a very distinct attitude towards the unfolding discussion so we start the conversation and test his reaction. Does he understand that sets the tone of the Seder. that his disinterest may exclude him? Does he want to connect? First impressions, however, are often mistaken. Listening to The words of this verse serve, then, as a diagnostic. They will draw their words, as the first three of these sons ask their questions, and out those that seem disinterested and hopefully serve as the start of contemplating the Hagaddah’s responses to all of them, yields surpris- an engaging and connecting conversation. If not, they will confirm ing similarities and even some seeming redundancy. To really know that we are dealing with someone much like the wicked son. them, and to understand what makes them different, requires a more These two separate messages are beautifully hinted to in the words thoughtful and thorough look at these conversations. of the verse “You should tell your son.” The word “tell” (vehigad’tah) The effort is worthy of our time and interest. The commentators is the same word that the title of the Haggadah is derived from. It explain that these four sons are not meant to be understood as the can imply words that draw the listener in, like the words of Aggadah nucleus of some imaginary, dysfunctional family, rather they represent (the homiletic lessons of the Talmud). The same word can also have different elements of our own psyche. We are each of these sons at a connotation of harsh words, like a gid (sinew). Thus, these words some point in our lives and experiences. When we understand them, can take two different directions, and serve as the perfect response we better understand ourselves and we set the stage for our own to the son who does not ask. growth and development. To the wicked son, however, these words are meant to be harsh; Let us examine one overlapping element found in the responses we give him the full force of the verse’s rejection. We omit the verse’s to both the wicked son and to the son who does not know to ask. The opening words about starting a discussion, because he has made his Kli Yakar (Shemos 12:26) writes that he is not the first to ask that choice clear and he does not want to be a part of any of this. the verse cited in the answer to the wicked son, “It is because of this There is, however, even more here in this response. The Haggadah, that G-d acted on my behalf when I left Egypt,” (Exodus 13:8) is the in fact, uses this same verse a third time, in the very next section. very same verse that is cited to the son who does not know to ask. Why would the Haggadah use the same verse to convey the different One might think that [the requirement to talk about the Exodus] messages to these sons? already applies from the first of the month. The Torah therefore says, “on that day.” If [the story] can be told on that day, you might think you can tell it while it is still daylight. The Torah therefore says “Because of this…” Because of this can only be said when the Rabbi Meir Minster is Roah Kollel and Director of Torah Studies; he oversees the matzah and marror are lying before you. academic excellence of the Kollel’s staff scholars. 6 The Staff of the Cincinnati Community Kollel The Festival of Our Freedom, Volume III 7 Rabbi Meir Simcha of Dvinsk, in his work Meshech Chochmah Rabbi Dovid Spetner on Exodus 13:8, notes that the above verse, as interpreted by the Haggadah, does not mention the Passover offering together with the matzah and marror. From this he deduces that the verse is speaking specifically of a Seder being held in the Diaspora, where there would Human Calculus be no Passover offering—like our Seder today. Understood this way, the response is saying that G-d acted on our behalf because of our observance of the Seder during the hard times of exile, when G-d’s RABBI BEREL WEIN TELLS A STORY OF ONE PERSON’S VIEW OF THE JEWISH presence in the world is not so obvious and our special connection population. While on vacation he got into a conversation with an to Him is subject to doubt. intelligent, upper middle-class American gentile. Rabbi Wein asked As Rabbi Meir Simcha explains, to observe the Seder immediately him how many Jews he thought there were in the United States. The after the Exodus, when times are good and we clearly are the benefi- man said he would assume about 50 million, almost ten times the ciaries of G-d’s favor, does not show a real and enduring commitment actual amount! to His service. Our continued observance of the Seder, in the difficult The truth is that such a mistake should be of no surprise. Jews and trying times that we face today, is what demonstrates our bond. truly seem to be everywhere in the eyes of the average American. It is precisely these trying times which often distract us and leave Whether in government, the media, business, academia, medicine, us seemingly disinterested and lacking proper focus in our approach or entertainment, Jews play a role well in excess of their percentage to serving G-d.