| Passover 5761 - April 8, 2001 |
Telling Stories
Once upon a time, many years ago when we were little, we knew the importance
of the story. We appreciated how central the act of storytelling is to who and
what we are, to our job to make sense of our world and take it somewhere. Then
we got old, and tired, and lazy, saying to ourselves: "What is, is. It
means nothing; let it be."
Which is why we need lots and lots of kids at the seder.
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Tzav / Passover
The two meanings of "always", a seven-day initiation, out of Egypt, to see and to be seen, leaven and matzah, the Song at the Sea and a Messianic prophesy.
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Interview with Elijah
I know this sounds kind of strange, but remember, physicality originally was
just a way of tightly focusing in on Divine energy. Making abstract ideas more
"concrete"--so to speak. Only when the world descended and Adam had to leave
the garden, did physicality come into the conflict with spirituality we see now.
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My Pesach Story
a Letter from Jerusalem
The philosophical conclusion of quantum physics is that physical
reality is determined by a human observer. Halachah (Torah law) requires me to check every
corner of my home. Corrective observation. I move my desk and refrigerator and
look. I don’t look only for half-eaten pretzels. I look at how I lived my life this year and reconstruct it. Oy, my file cabinet. Worse, my inbox. Did I answer every message? How many times did I take offense when I
could have laughed?
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Shemurah
Sickle in hand, the elderly Reb Zalman, with his broad, regal beard and face
shining with joy, was swift and nimble as a lad. His shoes and white socks
floated above the ground like the feet of Naphtali on a divine mission...
Some of the Chassidim would cut the wheat, while others sang Chassidic
melodies which poured forth with a sublime sweetness and carried across the
countryside.
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Freedom, Faith and Nationhood
Exploring Passover
Musings on the meaning of freedom... Why the Exodus had to occur precisely at
midnight.... Who needs nations?.... The spiritual significance of roasted meat,
bitter herbs, and the missing fourth matzah... The pilfering of infinity... The
fifth son... The "Splitting of the Sea" on the cosmic level, and in the soul of man... Remembering the future...
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The Rebbe's 100th Year
Freedom, Faith and Nationhood
THE REBBE: 50 YEARS
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