Shabbat 7th Day Pesach
Rabbi’s Drosh
The seventh day of Pesach is the day when the people of Israel saw the greatest miracle of all - the splitting of the Red Sea - and they responded by singing the Song by the Sea. This miracle has become such an important reminder of Hashem’s protection of us that it has become a part of our daily morning service.
This final miracle brought true freedom to the Jewish people from their oppressors. The eighth day of Pesach is the last day of our festival of freedom. We farewell Pesach and look towards our next chag of Shavuot. The eighth day of Pesach is the peak of our joy of being a free nation, however in the midst of our joy, we are always reminded that this joy is not complete without our loved ones. Because of this the eighth day is also the day for Yizkor.
Yizkor means to remember and is a special memorial service for those who have departed. It contains a powerful Jewish concept; the idea that those of us who are alive can affect the souls of those who are no longer with us by our actions.
Judaism is a two-way street in this regard. We can elevate our loved-ones’ souls and our ancestors can also advocate on our behalf. We regularly pray in the names of our forefathers and mothers for this very reason.
Yizkor is however not just for the departed. Yizkor has the power to transform us as well. Many of you will have noticed that I often wish those with Yahrzeit “only wonderful memories“. The truth is that our grief for a loved-one never really goes away, but the hope is that over the time the merit and joy of their good deeds and the wonderful memories we have of them can give us comfort for the pain of their loss.
Every Yizkor service gives us a little more permission to let our grief sit a little further back and our wonderful memories to sit a little further forward in our minds and hearts.
Please join us for Yizkor this Sunday to honour the memories and elevate the souls of those who came before us and also, please G-d, to give our hearts and minds permission to let those wonderful memories come to the forefront.
Chag Same’ach and Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Friedler
The Friedlers’ Highlights
Kashering the Kitchens
It was time to get out the blow torch this week as we all worked hard to change over the AHC and Deli kitchens for Pesach.
For a full description of how we kasher different utensils please click the link below.
Selling to Chametz
Thank you to all of those who sent in their Chametz forms. I am happy to report that all of your Chametz (along with my whiskey) not belongs to Claudio for the duration of Pesach. Thank you Claudio!
Burning Chametz with Kadimah
A highlight for the Kadimah kids every year is burning our Chametz as we head into Pesach. This week we learned about the importance of clearing out our Chametz.
Thank you to Ian for keeping us all safe while we carry our this special mitzvah.
Talmud Siyum for the Fast of the First Born
There were some very grateful first-borns at our Siyum where we celebrated my completion of Talmud Tractate Pesachim to redeem the fast.
Seders, Seders, Seders
Thank you to all those involved in running and attending our community seders this Pesach - first night and B’nei Akiva’s second night celebrations. How wonderful to be able to gather together this year for the Festival of Freedom out of lockdown!
On and Offline Pesach Learning
We gathered in person and on Zoom to explore when the Exodus from Egypt really took place - day or night? To catch up on the full class, click on the link below.
Catching Up with the Klissers
It was amazing for us to hear about Hans’ passover message of freedom from when the Nazi’s occupied Holland when he was a young lad.
Kosher Kiwi Goes to Dubai!
Check out the Kosher Kiwi logo on this Arabic packaging from one of our new honey clients who is sending their New Zealand honey to the United Arab Emirates and will be catering to the new Kosher market there.