Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld
April 19-20, 2024 • 12 Nissan 5784 • Metzora (Lev 13-15) and Shabbat HaGadol.
The goal of this email is to prep for Pesach at the Shabbat table.
Dedicated to Hinda Chana bas Sarah - may she continue to recover.
Dedicated to Hinda Chana bas Sarah - may she continue to recover.
Two big announcements this week.
First: we've given the JSLI home page a major makeover and it launched yesterday - please send me your feedback: https://jsli.org
The second announcement needs a bit of preliminary....
Last week I tried to wow you with something new and startling.
This week, the goal is to wow you with something old and startling.
To get to that, try asking this question at the table: Is the joy of Pesach in that it's basically the same Seder every year, or is the joy that there is something new every year?
How about a little of each?
For the first time in three years (this is Announcement #2), we have updated the JSLI Passover Kit. This year's kit includes PDFs of:
+ The Art of Amazement Haggadah - Leader's Edition
+ The Art of Amazement Haggadah - Freedom Edition
+ Seder Bingo ("MATZAH")
+ Seder Charades
+ 40 questions
+ 50 trivia questions (NEW)
+ Various games and activities for younger children
+ 9 videos for all ages
+ and so much more
Here's the download link for the docs part of the kit.
You'll need to enter a password: 613.
Here's the download link for the videos. Same password.
(In the past we made you pay for the kit - this year there is no charge but if you use it, kindly make a donation.)
Now that we got those announcements out of the way, how about another question for your table: What's your favorite part of the Seder?
Hard to choose, right?
One of my personal highlights is everyone singing together the song about the massive attack of 300 missiles and drones and not one hitting its target.
You know which part of the Haggadah I'm referring to?
I refer of course to "V'hee Sheh Amdah".
The point I'm trying to make is that it ain't nothing new.
(If you don't know the tune, there is still time to learn it - here's a recording.)
What about those who are still in captivity? What about those who will have an empty chair at their Seder? Yes, we will also think about them while we sing. That's what it means to be a Jew.
Wishing you a
Shabbat Shalom
and an HHH Pesach!!
PS... It's rare to meet a Jewish person who doesn't attend a seder. But they're out there - all kinds of Jews who would love to attend a Seder but don't have the wherewithal to make there own. If you have the wherewithal, how about finding one or two and inviting them? And if you're one of those Jews, how about letting it be known that you're available to be invited?
First: we've given the JSLI home page a major makeover and it launched yesterday - please send me your feedback: https://jsli.org
The second announcement needs a bit of preliminary....
Last week I tried to wow you with something new and startling.
This week, the goal is to wow you with something old and startling.
To get to that, try asking this question at the table: Is the joy of Pesach in that it's basically the same Seder every year, or is the joy that there is something new every year?
How about a little of each?
For the first time in three years (this is Announcement #2), we have updated the JSLI Passover Kit. This year's kit includes PDFs of:
+ The Art of Amazement Haggadah - Leader's Edition
+ The Art of Amazement Haggadah - Freedom Edition
+ Seder Bingo ("MATZAH")
+ Seder Charades
+ 40 questions
+ 50 trivia questions (NEW)
+ Various games and activities for younger children
+ 9 videos for all ages
+ and so much more
Here's the download link for the docs part of the kit.
You'll need to enter a password: 613.
Here's the download link for the videos. Same password.
(In the past we made you pay for the kit - this year there is no charge but if you use it, kindly make a donation.)
Now that we got those announcements out of the way, how about another question for your table: What's your favorite part of the Seder?
Hard to choose, right?
One of my personal highlights is everyone singing together the song about the massive attack of 300 missiles and drones and not one hitting its target.
You know which part of the Haggadah I'm referring to?
I refer of course to "V'hee Sheh Amdah".
V’hee sheh-am-da la’a-vo-taynu v’lanu
sheh lo echad bilvad amad aleinu l’chalotaynu
elah sheh’b’chol dor va-dor omdim aleinu l’chalotaynu
v’ha-Kadosh Baruch Hu matzi-leinu miyadam
v’ha-Kadosh Baruch Hu matzi-leinu miyadam
And it is this that has stood by our ancestors and for us.
For not only one has risen up against us to destroy us,
but in every generation they rise up to destroy us.
But the Holy One, Blessed be He, delivers us from their hands.
The point I'm trying to make is that it ain't nothing new.
(If you don't know the tune, there is still time to learn it - here's a recording.)
What about those who are still in captivity? What about those who will have an empty chair at their Seder? Yes, we will also think about them while we sing. That's what it means to be a Jew.
Wishing you a
Shabbat Shalom
and an HHH Pesach!!
PS... It's rare to meet a Jewish person who doesn't attend a seder. But they're out there - all kinds of Jews who would love to attend a Seder but don't have the wherewithal to make there own. If you have the wherewithal, how about finding one or two and inviting them? And if you're one of those Jews, how about letting it be known that you're available to be invited?
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