The first of the three weeks of the national lockdown has nearly finished, and we hope this finds you all well and healthy.
We understand that the circumstances have imposed challenges and hardships on many of you and observing the news nationally and internationally, we believe that we are only at the beginning of a longer journey until we will reach the end of this pandemic. Rabbi Schell has uploaded a series of daily video messages on our YouTube channel, trying to answer some of the questions you might ask yourself in light of this crisis: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfFI7bvb1yKllEMFutUri4A/.
Clayton Donnelly, one of our congregants, who lives in Israel, hosts a webinar on coping with the crisis by regaining one’s strength this coming Sunday (5 April at 11h00). Please see the flyer attached hereto for details.
Pesach is only one week away. Together with our sister congregations in South Africa, we have prepared for you several documents and handouts to prepare and celebrate a meaningful Pesach at home. Please see our website http://betdavid.org.za/pesach-in-johannesburg/ for the service schedule and materials – we will keep the page updated. Please find Rabbi Schell’s guide for Pesach 2020 hereand a letter by the SAAPR-Rabbis to all congregants with additional thoughts and ideas for your Pesach here.
The SAAPR (SA Association of Progressive Rabbis) finished the second draft of the new progressive Pesach Haggadah for South Africa. We invite you to open it virtually on your computers and use it for your sederim: https://bit.ly/2wNRDlM . For our Bet David Pesach seder, we will use a shortened version of the Haggadah, Download from here.
Diane, our cheder teacher, has prepared a Chocolate Pesach Seder Haggadah (please send an email to get your copy). If you like to join with your children our ZOOM children’s seder on Sunday, 12 April @ 11h00, please register with Diane (admin2@betdavid.org.za).
Last, but not least, we invite all of you to join us again for our Shabbat services. All our services are being streamed on Youtube and on Facebook. For YouTube click here: http://tiny.cc/BD-YouTube and to follow on Facebook here: http://tiny.cc/BD-Facebook
Friday 03 April * Kabbalat Shabbat Service (18h00)
Saturday 04 April * Shabbat morning service (09h30)
Sunday 05 April Strengths Based Discussion Talk with Clayton Donnelly (11h00) Zoom Chat: http://tiny.cc/rxoamz
Wednesday 08 April Erev Pesach Festival Service (18h00) followed by our Pesach Seder (18h30) streamed via our Bet David Facebook page Download our Pesach Haggadah from here
Thursday 09 April Festival Morning Service streamed (09h30)
Friday 10 April * Kabbalat Shabbat Service (18h00)
Saturday 11 April * Shabbat morning service (09h30)
Sunday 12 April 2020 Children’s Pesach Seder via ZOOM (11h00) Please register with Diane MC admin2@betdavid.org.za
All Pesach services will be streamed via Facebook only.
Wishing you all Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach
Rabbi Adrian Schell, Bet David Management and Staff
Based on the famous four questions we ask during the Pesach seder, Ma nishtanah ha-laylah hazeh mikol ha-leilot? – Why is this night of Passover different from all other nights of the year?, we, your rabbis, have asked ourselves in the past few weeks, if and how our Pesach seder will be different this year, compared to all the sederim we had in the past.
With the lockdown in South Africa, we can say, it will be different, very different, but not less meaningful for us and you. Perhaps, because we are able to look at Pesach from a very different perspective this year, we might even find new meaning in the words and rituals that guided so many generations before us in times of joy and challenges.
With the guidelines below, we want to help you to celebrate Pesach in your homes. We invite you to hold your own Pesach seder at home or to join one of us for the sederim we stream from our homes to yours.
Chag Sameach
Prepare for Pesach:
This day shall be to you one of remembrance: you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Eternal throughout the ages; you shall celebrate it as an institution for all time. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread; on the very first day you shall remove leaven from your houses, for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day to the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. …. You shall observe the [Feast of] Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your ranks out of the land of Egypt; you shall observe this day throughout the ages as an institution for all time. In the first month, from the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. No leaven shall be found in your houses for seven days. For whoever eats what is leavened, that person— whether a stranger or a citizen of the country—shall be cut off from the community of Israel. You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your settlements you shall eat unleavened bread. —Exodus 12:14–20
The above verses from the Torah establish the holiday of Passover and command that we should eat matzah and refrain from eating chametz, leavened bread, for seven days. The Rabbis define chametz as five grains—wheat, barley, spelt, rye, and oats[1]—that are exposed to water for more than eighteen minutes.
In a regular year, the entire household is thoroughly cleaned from any products that may contain chametz and often all dishes, pots, and utensils are switched to sets reserved for Passover use. While we usually recommend that all food products containing chametz are used up before the holiday or given to charity, we do not do so this year. Please do not throw any food away. If you have enough food at home for the coming days and weeks, do not go shopping only because you need “Kosher le Pesach” products. We consider that staying at home and by that, potentially saving lives, is of a higher priority.
Depending on how you decide to observe the Kosher for Passover rules, we suggest the following steps to prepare Pesach at home:
Put bread into your freezer or any other place you can store it for the week of Pesach
Oats, Rusks and such should be stored away with other products, not Kosher for Passover and not needed during the 7 days, into one cupboard of your kitchen and sealed (clear tape helps to not open the cupboard accidently.
Even though you might follow the traditional Ashkenazi custom of not eating kitniyot (corn, rice, beans and lentils) on Pesach, we recommend making an exception for this year. Kitniyot are acceptable food, also during Pesach[2].
Have a Pesach-Putz, meaning a cleaning for Pesach. The key is that spring cleaning is not Passover cleaning. You only need to remove actual edible chametz residue, not dust, and only from places where you could have conceivably put chametz in the first place.
If you use your regular dishes and cutlery, just rinse them an additional time before you use them during Peach. Please don’t use plastic – not because of corona, but because of the environment.
Print your Pesach hagadah (sent to you by email)
What supplies do I need?
Here’s what you’ll need for the Seder:
Matzah
One is obligated to avoid chametz throughout Passover, but the obligation to eat matzah is limited to fulfilling the rituals of the first/second night seder alone. If you’re alone, three matzahs for the seder will cover you just fine. You should factor in an additional two matzahs per additional participant, as well as some extra for snacking during the meal. You can also make your own Matzah:
Every individual needs to drink four cups of wine or grape juice. If you have small shot glasses at home, a single bottle should just be enough for the seder.
Maror(bitter herbs, typically romaine lettuce and grated horseradish)
Each person needs to have two portions of maror (one eaten alone and one as part of the korech sandwich), each one at least a teaspoon. Preparing two teaspoons per person will have you covered.
Vegetable for dipping (karpas)
Many use celery, radish, or parsley as karpas, but you can also use carrots, onions or potatoes.
Zeroa or “shank bone” The zeroa is not eaten at the Seder. Some use a forearm of a lamb, or else a neck bone, leg of a chicken or an actual shank-bone. Whichever you use, it should be well-roasted. Not only vegetarians have started to substitute it with red beet
Charoset There are many recipes available in the internet, but here is one link to give you an idea:
One hardboiled egg per Seder plate is fine. Some have the custom for all participants to eat an egg during the meal. If this is the case, prepare one for every participant.
Orange
A newer addition to seder plates, originated by Suzannah Heschel, the orange represents our need to be inclusive of all who feel marginalised within the Jewish community. One orange per Seder plate is fine. Some have the custom for all participants to eat one orange during the meal. If this is the case, have one for every participant.
The seder plate shows the symbols talked about in the story of Passover as told in the Haggadah. If you don’t have a Seder Plate at home, use a regular plate.
Three matzot
There are two explanations for this: matzah is the food of poor slaves or there was no time for our bread to rise in our hurried escape from Egypt. Three matzot are covered with a cloth and placed under or next to the seder plate.
Salt water
We dip the greens in salt water. This represents the tears of the Israelites, whose sons were taken from them by the Pharaoh. You may need minimum one bowl so all can easily dip.
Cup of Elijah
A large cup filled with wine is placed in the centre of the table for Elijah.
Cup of Miriam
A modern custom is to fill a cup with water and place it next to the cup of Elijah. Miriam, the prophetess, has many connections to water. She watched over her baby brother Moses as he floated in a reed basket in the Nile and led the women in song after the miracle of the splitting of the sea. A well is said to have followed the Israelites as they travelled through the desert because of Miriam’s faith.
Pillows
Reclining while eating was a sign of freedom in the ancient world. The Haggadah tells us to recline when we drink the four cups of wine, eat matzah, the Hillel sandwich and the afikomen. Pillows make reclining easier!
Afikomen
Afikomen is the Greek word for dessert. Near the beginning of the seder, the middle of the three matzot is broken and only one part is returned to the plate. The other half is designated as the afikomen, the last thing to be eaten at the meal. There is the tradition of hiding the afikomen during the meal and to ask children to search for it. It is a wonderful tradition, whether that takes the form of a real hiding of the afikomen or an internet wordsearch or a Where’s Waldo?-style picture or a Wikipedia hunt.
Hand-washing stations
In emulation of the ancient priests, ritual hand washing is performed twice during the evening. This may be done at the kitchen sink or with a bowl and pitcher placed near the table.
Eating Chametz during Pesach
We understand that the circumstances may not allow each and everyone to prepare for Pesach as one would do in a regular year. And while we recommend to not eat chametz in the week of Passover, it might be unavoidable to each and every one of you.
While we want to underline that the situation of today is in no way comparable to the curse that our mothers and fathers had to endure during the Shoah, we included the following prayer which can be recited before eating chametz, written or at least dictated by Rabbi Aharon Bernard Davids, leader of the Dutch community of Rotterdam in Holland, for their communities who had been interned first in the Westerbork Holland transit camp and then sent to Bergen Belsen concentration camp[3]:
Before eating Chametz say the following with intent & devotion:
Our Father in Heaven, it is revealed and known to You that it is our desire to fulfil Your will and to celebrate the festival of Passover by eating Matzah and by observing the prohibition of Chametz. But, on this our hearts are pained, that the captivity which prevents us, and we find ourselves in danger of our lives.
We are hereby prepared and ready to fulfil Your commandment “And you shall live by them” and not die by them, and to be careful with the warning of “Guard yourself and guard your life very much.” Therefore, our prayer to You is that You keep us alive, and sustain us, and redeem us speedily, so that we may observe Your laws and fulfil Your will and serve You with a full heart. Amen.
Let all who are hungry come and eat
Last but not least: No seder is complete without honouring the holiday’s essential command: “Let all who are hungry come and eat.”. We understand that we cannot open our doors this year, as we did in the past years, however, we encourage everyone to donate to organisations that are doing vital and lifesaving work amid the crisis – only a fingertip away. Please consider the feeding scheme of your Shul, the local Chevrah Kadisha, Keren be Kavod in Israel, or the initiative of President Ramaphosa:
For today I’d like to share with you a text, my colleague Rabbi Steven Moskovitz wrote. It echos in a wonderful Jewish way the words of President Ramaphosa from last night’s address, where the President – once again – asked all of us to stay at home. It might not be you, who will benefit from this the most, but you might safe your neighbours life.
The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go …, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. As longs as this exists, and it certainly always will, I know that then there will always be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be. And I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles.
Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/3720.Anne_Frank
Good – https://velveteenrabbi.blogs.com/blog/2017/06/good.html
Grant, O God, that we lie down in peace, and raise us up, our Guardian, to life renewed. Spread over us the shelter of Your peace. Guide us with Your good counsel; for Your Name’s sake, be our help. Shield and shelter us beneath the shadow of Your wings. Defend us against enemies, illness, war, famine and sorrow. Distance us from wrongdoing. For You, God, watch over us and deliver us. For You, God, are gracious and merciful. Guard our going and coming, to life and to peace evermore.
We are writing to you at a
time when health is a serious concern, not only in faraway countries, but also
now here in South Africa. We are reading and following the same guidelines that
you are and will follow them as precautions and best practices for staying
healthy.
At Bet David, the bathroom
and washing facilities are cleaned regularly and staff members handling food
have been reminded to follow essential rules of hygiene. Breaking with our
minhag, we will cut the challot before doing HaMotzi and hand out
challah in a basket or bowl instead of passing the challot around. We thank you
in advance for understanding if we make some temporary changes, also in the
ways that we are used to interacting with one another: elbow bumps instead of
handshakes, hands on own hearts instead of connecting up for blessings, etc.
In addition, we are
writing to say that your synagogue and your rabbi are here for you.
Our prayers will continue to
be directed to those around the world who are experiencing illness, as well as
those who are caring for them. We will hold those who are anxious in our
hearts, as well as the many worldwide who have been isolated from others in
quarantine for extended periods of time. And our hearts go out to those who are
grieving the loss of loved ones.
Talk with us. Let us know how we, your Community, can help. Should
you be affected by the virus, or any other illness, let us know. The rabbi or
others of the community might not be allowed to visit you, but we are happy to
call you and/or have a little chat via skype.
Our main concern is you! For the moment, there is no risk in coming to shul and
to be part of the community. We hope to see many of you on Shabbat and Purim.
May our world be blessed with
healing – with refu’ah shleimah – at this time, and always!
Judaism from A to Z—”F: Free will (a different perspective)”
Since every human being is endowed with free will, even if a superior orders you to perform an evil act, Jewish law forbids you to follow the order. If you carry out the order, you cannot then blame the person who issued it, for you should not have listened to it. From the Jewish perspective, indeed from any religious perspective, God is on a higher plane than the person who gives the illegal order. One must follow the ethical commandments of the Torah and not an immoral one.
At the trials of the Nazi war criminals held after World War II, most Nazis offered the defence that they were only “following orders.” From the perspective of Jewish law, this was no defence. On October 29, 1956, the eve of Israel’s Sinai campaign against Egypt, the Israeli government feared a “fifth column,” and issued an order to Arabs living in Israel to remain inside their villages under curfew. At one Arab village, Kfar Kassem, some people went to work, apparently unaware that a curfew had been imposed. Israeli troops, encountering them, opened fire and killed forty-nine villagers. At their court-martial, the soldiers defended themselves with the claim that they were following military orders. The court rejected this defence and eight of the soldiers were convicted of murder. They should have known, the judges ruled, that it was immoral and forbidden to open fire on unarmed civilians. No “order” from a superior officer could justify what they had done.
Quite simply, according to Jewish law, if one is given an immoral order, one is obligated not to carry it out. If one does implement it, he or she is no less blameworthy than the person who ordered it. In the Talmud, this principle is known as “Ein shaliach le-dvar aveirah”. This expression means literally, “There is no messenger in a case of sin.” A messenger normally cannot be blamed for the contents of the message he delivers, no matter how ugly or infuriating it is. All blame should be directed at the one who sent the message. But if a messenger is sent to perform evil, he cannot defend himself by saying that he was only acting as someone else’s agent. Because “there is no messenger in a case of sin,” he bears full and personal responsibility for any evil he does.
If one could speak of biblical verses being vilified, then “an eye for an eye” would be the most vilified of verses in the Bible. It is commonly cited to “prove” the existence of an “Old Testament” ethic of vengefulness, in contrast with the supposedly higher ethic of forgiveness to be found in the “New Testament.”
However, the biblical standard of “an eye for an eye” stood in stark contrast to the legal standards prevailing in societies surrounding the ancient Hebrews. The Code of Hammurabi, a legal code hundreds of years older than the Torah, legislated retaliation even against innocent parties. Thus, if A constructed a building for B, and the building collapsed and killed B’s daughter, then A’s daughter was put to death (Law number 229). The biblical law of “an eye for an eye” restricted punishment solely to the perpetrator. Furthermore, unlike Hammurabi’s code, one who caused another’s death accidentally was never executed. “An eye for an eye” also served to limit vengeance; it did not permit “a life for an eye” or “two eyes for an eye.” The biblical principle was that punishment must be in line with the deed, not exceed it.
In the time of the Talmud, “an eye for an eye” was not carried out literally. Jewish tradition teaches that it was never practiced. The rabbis of the Talmud feared that the process of removing the perpetrator’s eye might kill him as well, and that, of course, would be forbidden (Bava Kamma 84a). “An eye for an eye” was therefore understood as requiring monetary compensation equivalent to the value of an eye. The same was applied to almost all the other punishments enumerated in the same biblical verse, “a tooth for a tooth, a wound for a wound.”
The only punishment in this set that was not converted to a monetary fine was capital punishment for murderers, “a life for a life.” The Torah believed that premeditated murder deserved the death penalty. However, Torah law also forbade remitting a murderer’s sentence with a monetary fine. Life and money, according to biblical ethics are incommensurate; one can never atone for murder by paying money. In this regard too Torah law differed from the laws of the neighbours of the ancient Jews which would sometimes fine those who had murdered people belonging to a lower social class and which made certain property crimes (for example, looting at a fire) capital offenses.
In Jewish law property crimes could never be punished by death and murderers could never be let off with payment of money, even if the family of the victim was willing to accept it (Numbers 35:31). Both in its insistence that evil must be punished and in its equal insistence on setting limits to that punishment, “an eye for an eye” is a basic principle of biblical justice.
Rabbi Adrian M Schell (Source: J. Telushkin: Jewish Literacy )
Diaspora identifies any place outside of the land of Israel where Jews live. The term derived from the Greek διασπείρω diaspeiro (“scatter”). The first diaspora began with the biblical exile to Babylon in the sixth century BCE. Even so the exile was followed by the return, under Ezra and Nehemiah, many Jews remained in Persia and Babylonia and a Jewish colony was soon established at Elephantine in Egypt, too. By the time of the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, Jews could already to be found throughout the Roman and Parthian empires. Despite deportations there was no general exile of “Palestinian Jews“ in 70, though Christian propagandists alleged one as “evidence” that Israel had been rejected by God.
By definition many Jews live in the ‘Diaspora’ today. Some refer to this still as ‘Exile’ (‘Galut’) but, if the possibility exists to go to Israel, and one does not take it, staying voluntarily in another country, one cannot really claim to be in exile any more. There are still unfortunately some Jews whose circumstances do not allow them to move freely, and these are still ‘captives’ to some extent. There are also many Israelis who have left the country to seek their living and luck elsewhere.
Those who emigrate to Israel are described as ‘making Aliyah’ — ‘going up to Israel’ — in the same way as one ‘goes up’ to the capital city of a country — and are ‘Olim’; those who leave long-term or permanently to live elsewhere are therefore sometimes described as ‘making Yeridah’ and are ‘Yordim’ — ‘those who go down’.
When the State of Israel was established in 1948, many Israelis expected Jewish communities in the Diaspora to relocate en-masse to their homeland in Israel. When they didn’t this posed a challenge to the Israeli-Diaspora relationship, but not all Jews are Zionists (and not all Zionists — those who believe that Israel is the homeland for all Jews — are Jewish. Some Christians share these values, often for theological reasons of their own! )
In his book, State of Israel, Diaspora, and Jewish Continuity: Essays on the “Ever-Dying People”, philosopher Simon Rawidowicz creates a wonderful bridge for both Jewish communities to support another: “Two that are One,” however, must not be understood as a one-sided obligation; each must mutually recognise the other. The Diaspora of Israel must build the State of Israel with all its strength, even more than it has in the past seventy years, and the State must recognize the Diaspora as of equal value, and an equally responsible co-builder and co-creator of all Jewish life.
Rabbi Adrian M Schell
(Source: Rabbi Walter Rothschild, Norman Solomon, Rabbi Josh Weinberg)
One of the most important prayers in Judaism and one of the very few that the Bible
commands us to recite, is never recited during synagogue services. That prayer is the birkat ha-mazon, grace after meal.
In Deuteronomy 8:10 we are commanded that, when we eat and are satisfied, we must bless the Eternal, our God. This commandment is simply fulfilled by reciting a birkat ha-mazon (blessing of the food) after each meal. Reciting birkat ha-mazon is commonly referred to as bentsching, from the Yiddish word meaning “to bless.”
Importantly, the grace after meals is recited in addition to the various brachot over food recited before our meals (e.g. Ha-Motzi). The most well known birkat ha-mazon consists of four blessings, three of which are dated back by our tradition to the time of Ezra and the Great Assembly (around 500-300 BCE) and a fourth which was added after the destruction of the Temple (70 CE). These blessings are:
· Birkat Hazan (the blessing for providing food), which thanks God for giving food to the world,
· Birkat Ha-Aretz (the blessing for the land), which thanks God for bringing us forth from the land of Egypt, for making God’s covenant with us, and for giving us the land of Israel as an inheritance,
· Birkat Yerushalayim (the blessing for Jerusalem), which prays for the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the coming of the messianic time; and
· Birkat Ha-Tov v’Ha-Maytiv (the blessing for being good and doing good). It emphasises the goodness of God’s work, that God is good and does good.
In addition to these four blessings, the full birkat ha-mazon incorporates many psalms and additional blessings for various special occasions (weddings, holidays, guests, etc.)
If you would like to hear the birkat ha-mazon sung and a download of a full version of the text, please click here: https://bit.ly/2UtWfXl (reformjudaim.org). You can also find there a shortened version, which is a wonderful way to start incorporating bentsching into your home rituals.
