Thursday, March 25, 2010

Radical Vegetable Therapy

LAST CHANCE TO SELL CHOMETZ - PESACH TIMES - see below
 
Question of the Week:
 

What is the meaning behind the Karpas - the vegetable dipped in salt water at the beginning of the Seder? There seems to be no explanation to it at all, we just eat it!

Answer:

The Karpas is perhaps the most enigmatic part of the Seder. But its message is the most vital one for the entire Pesach experience. It comes right at the beginning of the evening, for without it you can't even start the Seder.

The Haggadah instructs us to take a vegetable, dip it in salt water, make the blessing "Blessed are You G-d...Creator of the fruit of the ground," and eat it.

Any vegetable can be used for Karpas, as long as it fits the following two criteria:

1.    It must be a "fruit of the ground", as opposed to fruit of the tree.

2.    It must not a bitter herb, such as the those eaten later on at the Seder for Maror

If we understand the inner meaning of these two requirements, we will grasp the secret of the Karpas.

A tree is a plant that remains standing year after year. You pick this year's fruits, and next year the very same tree bears new fruit, on the same old branches that grow from the same old trunk.

Not so with vegetables. When you pick potatoes, celery or onions, that stalk is gone forever. The next vegetable will have to grow from the ground, another entirely new stalk has to grow from the roots. This year's potatoes are a completely new plant, they didn't grow on the same stalk as last year's. The old has gone and made way for the new.    

Karpas must be a fruit of the ground, because it sets the tone for the entire Seder night. Pesach is all about new beginnings, taking the first step toward spiritual freedom, experiencing the exodus of the soul from the slavery of bad habits.  To achieve this freedom the human, like the fruit of the ground, needs to renew and rejuvenate, to grow, develop, refresh and reinvent itself from the ground up.

Indeed, the very first man was named Adam because he too was created from the dust of the ground - Adamah. And so the Karpas' message of renewal is more than just a nice concept, it is an integral part of being human. We too have the power of self-reinvention. We are not stuck in the self of our past. We are not bound by our previous mistakes or past failures. We can start again. We just need a bit of vegetable therapy.

This does not mean being callous or dismissive of our past mistakes. We must take responsibility for them and be truly regretful. We may even shed a tear for our wrongdoings, represented by the salt water. That's fine. Tears are healthy, when they are an expression of sincere emotion. But now, at the opening of the Seder, is not the time to focus too much on our difficult past. We will do that later, when we eat the Maror. But we can't eat bitter herbs for Karpas. If we want to renew ourselves, we need to start with being open and positive, not bitter and resentful.

And so we sit at the Seder, read the same Haggadah, sing the same songs and eat the same Matzah. But before all that we eat the Karpas, to remind us that while things may seem the same they actually aren't. Tonight you are opening a fresh chapter, turning a new page. It is a new you reading the Haggadah from today's perspective, not last year's.  So let the story of freedom speak to you this year with freshness and originality, like never before. Let the Seder night be the launching pad for a new you.

Good Shabbos and a happy, kosher and uplifting Pesach,
Rabbi Moss

For more info about Pesach see www.passover.net

 

To subscribe email rabbimoss@nefesh.com.au

SELL YOUR CHOMETZ

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In order to avoid owning any products that aren't Kosher for Pesach, we sell our non-Pesach food for the duration of the festival. To arrange this, please fill in your name (signature not required) and all addresses (work/holiday home included) on the form below and email to rabbimoss@nefesh.com.au by Sunday March 28.
 
I, the undersigned, fully empower and permit Rabbi Moss to act in my place and stead, and on my behalf to sell all Chometz possessed by me, knowingly or unknowingly as defined by the Torah and Rabbinic Law (e.g. Chometz, possible Chometz, and all kinds of Chometz mixtures).  Also Chometz that tends to harden and adhere to the inside surfaces of pans, pots, or cooking utensils, the utensils themselves, and all kinds of live animals and pets that have been eating Chometz and mixtures thereof.  This includes all above mentioned Chometz that will come into my possession from now until Erev Pesach. He is also empowered to lease all places wherein Chometz owned by me may be found, particularly at the address/es listed below and elsewhere.
 
Rabbi Moss has full right to appoint any agent or substitute in his stead and said substitute shall have full right to sell and lease as provided herein.  He also has the full power and right to act as he deems fit and proper in accordance with all the details of the Bill of Sale used in the transaction to sell all my Chometz, Chometz mixtures, etc., as provided herein.  This power is in conformity with all Torah, Rabbinic and Civil laws.

Name:
Address(es):

NEFESH SERVICES - 54 Roscoe St Bondi Beach 
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Friday
Mincha 6:10pm
6:30pm - 7:15pm Shabbos Service with kids program followed by Kiddush sponsored by Moshe David in honour of his father's yorzheit, and special lechaim for the birth of Tali Maya Ereira, sponsored by her parents Ben and Fran
 
Saturday
9am Class on Weekly Parsha
10am -12:15pm Morning Service, guest speaker Rabbi Michoel Gourarie, followed by Kiddush in honour of the Bar Mitzvah of Jason Spyrides
 
Early Mincha 6:15pm folllowed by Seuda Shlishis in honour of the wedding of Armand Borovik and Kim Blumenthal, Maariv 7:36pm
 
Sunday
8am Shachris
 
 
 

PESACH AT NEFESH

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Monday March 29 Yomtov

(candlelighting 6:38pm)

Firstborn sons must hear a siyum

Finish eating chometz by 11:02am

Finish burning chometz by 12:01pm

Mincha 6:50pm followed by Torah thoughts, Pesach Evening Service 7:25 - 7:45pm

 

Tuesday March 30 Yomtov

(candlelighting after 7:32pm)

Morning Service 10:00am, Mincha 6:50pm followed by Torah thoughts, Pesach Evening Service 7:25 - 7:45pm 

Wednesday March 31 Yomtov

Morning Service 10:00am, Mincha 6:50pm followed by Maariv, Yomtov ends 7:30pm

 

Thursday, Friday, Sunday April 1-3 Chol Hamoed

Shachris 8am (no Tefillin)

 

Shabbos Chol Hamoed April 2

(candlelighting 6:33pm)

Friday Mincha 6:10pm, Shabbos Service 6:30-7:15pm

Saturday Morning service 10am - 12:30pm, Mincha 6:25pm followed by Maariv, Shabbos ends 7:26pm

 

NOTE: DAYLIGHT SAVING ENDS SATURDAY NIGHT

 

Sunday April 3 Yomtov Shvii Shel Pesach

(candlelighting 5:30pm)

Mincha 5:40pm, Maariv 6:10pm

 

Monday April 4 Yomtov Shvii/Acharon shel Pesach

(candlelighting after 6:24pm)

Morning Service 10am - 12:30pm, Mincha 5:40pm, Maariv 6:20pm

 

Tuesday April 5 Yomtov Acharon shel Pesach

Morning Service 10am, Yizkor 11:30am

Mincha 5:15pm followed by Moshiach Seudah for men in shul

Moshiach Seudah for women 5:15pm at 128 Wellington St Bondi

Yomtov ends 6:22pm (wait at least half an hour before accessing sold chometz)

 
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