Monthly Archives: 15 Nisan 5770 (March 30, 2010)

Pesach Day 1 5770 Why I Became A Convert: A Kitniyah By Any Other Name According to the Torah, the one basic rule regarding Passover is “Thou shalt eat matzah…for seven days.”  In mathematical terms, the corollary of this rule is “Thou shalt NOT eat chametz…”  It sounds so simple.  If so, why do people complain so much about it!?!  I don’t understand what all the fuss is about, especially when we have so many new products on the market that are attempting to make our meals more palatable for one week during the course of each year.  Never before have we seen so many breakfast cereals made out of matzah meal and dressed up in various shapes and flavors.  We even have Kosher l’Pesach pasta!  As I cruise down the aisles, looking at the fancy labels, I wonder what happened to “Tradition, Tradition!,” as Tevya the Milkman would cry out! Times have indeed changed.  Not only have the foods changed, but also the rules by which we choose what to eat on Passover are changing radically from one year to the next – or so it seems, or so it ought to be.  As I write my sermon the … Continue reading →

The TBA office will be closed for Passover Monday March 29, Tuesday March 30, Wednesday April 1, Monday April 5 and Tuesday April 6 in observance of the Passover holiday. In case of emergency please contact Deb Vozella 978-578-7017. Happy Passover!

On Friday evening, April 2nd at 6:30 pm, we will be having our next family Shabbat service.  It is in celebration of Shayna Garber our Grade 2 and Grade 4 hebrew teachers ’s engagement.  Services will be followed by a dessert oneg – come enjoy some Passover treats.

I received the following note from a dear colleague of mine from Rabbinical school that I felt needed to be passed on to others as we prepare ourselves for our seders.  I wish everyone in the congregation a Happy and Kosher Holiday…   Dear Friends, On the first night of Passover, there is a tradition to read the Song of Songs at the Seder. Most people know the Song of Songs as a love story between a man and a woman. The rabbis interpreted the book as a love story between the people of Israel and God. What does love have to do with freedom? It was God’s love that encouraged us to leave the oppressed place we call Egypt. It was God’s love that carried us through the desert protecting us at every dangerous turn. It was God’s love that provided physical and spiritual nourishment throughout the journey. When we are in relationship with God and with each other, we are free. When we cut ourselves off from God’s love, we are back in the  the narrow place of slavery that constricts our hearts.. On Passover we are free to love one another. Why not begin your Passover Seder with verses from the Song of Songs? … Continue reading →

Sermon for Jessie’s Bat Mitzvah 5770 The Meaning of the Four Children Jessie, the d’var torah that you delivered earlier opened our eyes to the significance of Passover in your home and how traditions are passed down from one generation to another.  For many of us, we are in the midst of our preparations for this one holiday that challenges us in many ways to work with the customs of the past as they relate to the Haggadah, and infuse in them our own traditions that make this holiday so meaningful for us and how we understand what it means to be free. Jessie, I would like to share a secret with you.  Even though I am not enamored with all of the household preparations that go into making the house ready for Passover, turning over the dishes and the pots and pans and the cabinets that are filled with non-Passover stuff despite a moratorium on buying new groceries beginning with Purim…  I love Passover!  I love the fact that we can study the various parts of the Haggadah, and every year see something new in it that wasn’t there last year.  Actually, it was there.  It just so happens … Continue reading →

Who Knows One? From RabbiDebra.com — Rabbi Debra Orenstein This rendition of Echad Mi Yode’ah, a favorite song from the Haggadah(Passover seder liturgy), is full of humor — and Kabbalistic wisdom. Everything changes (subtly at first; outrageously eventually) except One thing: One is God our Partner in the heavens and the earth. Who Knows One?  Originally conceived in this fashion by Rabbi Mitch Chefitz, with contributions from Solomon Mowshowitz, among others. 1. Who knows what One is? I know what One is. One is God our Partner in the heavens and the earth. 2. Who knows what two is? I know what two is. Two are the tablets of the law. One is God our Partner in the heavens and the earth. 3. Who knows what three is? I know what three is. Three are the patriarchs. Two loaves of Shabbat bread, One is God our Partner in the heavens and the earth. 4. Who knows what four is? I know what four is. Four are the matriarchs. Three services of the day, Two the trees in Eden, One is God our Partner in the heavens and the earth. 5. Who knows what five is? I know what five is. Five are the … Continue reading →