Rabbi Shimon Duran (1361-1444) and his commentary to Pirqe about

Rabbi Shimon ben Tsemah Duran , also known as the “RASHBETS” was born in 1361 in Majorca, Spain. In his youth he studied with the famous Rabbi Efraim Vidal, the head of the Yeshiba of Majorca. Besides his profound studies in Tora, and following the classic educational method of Spanish Jews, he acquired a thorough knowledge of mathematics, astronomy, philosophy and particularly medicine. In Majorca, Rabbi Duran practiced as a physician and a surgeon in the city of Palma.

The Jewish community of Majorca was prosperous, and before the massacres of 1391 the Jewish community there consisted of more than 1,000 families. In 1391 the anti-Jewish riots sweeping Spain also reached Majorca. In the city of Palma the riots broke out on July 10. The mob broke down the gates of the Jewish quarter (known in Spanish as the “Call” =Qahal) and massacred scores of Jews, pillaging, and stealing their possessions. Many Jews were forced to accept baptism in order to save their lives. Other Jews were tortured to death for not accepting baptism, among them Rabbi Duran’s old teacher, Rabbi Vidal. Those who “converted” were subjects to the scrutiny of the Inquisition who persecuted them. If a “converso” was found practicing Judaism (“judaizando”) he will be burned alive. The descendants of Majorcan conversos kept Judaism in secret for centuries. Until the close of the 15th century, 346 trials of the Inquisition were held in Majorca and 257 “conversos” (popularly known as “marranos”) were condemn to death by fire. By 1771 the Inquisition had sent a total of 594 “conversos” to the stake. The Majorcan “conversos” are known by a specific name “chuetas” (see here).

Back to rabbi Duran, in September 1391 he escaped to Algiers, in North Africa. In Algiers Rabbi Shimon was unable to earn his livelihood from his medical profession, since the native population resorted to “healers” rather than to professional doctors. Reluctantly, he was forced to accept a salaried office of rabbi. Rabbi Shimon Duran joined the Bet Din of the famous rabbi Isaac bar Sheshet, (RIBASH). These two Rabbis and later on Rabbi Duran’s son, Rabbi Shimon Duran (RASHBASH) established the foundation for the “Sephardic” customs and traditions of Algerian and most North African Jews. After the death of rabbi Isaac bar Sheshat (1408) Rabbi Duran was appointed as the Rabbi of Algiers. His Halakhic decisions were a guide to later posqim who frequently quote them, including rabbi Yosef caro in the Bet Yosef/Shulhan ‘arukh.

BOOKS

Rabbi Shimon Duran wrote 14 books.

His most famous work is undoubtedly the responsa known as TASHBETS, a collection of 802 Halakhic questions an answers.

His other books are less known. So, they deserve perhaps more attention.

Rabbi Duran wrote many books on the area of ideas and beliefs. He wrote a monumental book called Magen Abot, “In defense of our fathers”. This book comprises four tractates, which sometimes were published as independent works.

In the first tractate, חלק א׳ ממעל, Rabbi Duran deals with subjects related to theology. God’s existence, unity, incorporeality, etc. This tractate was written mainly against the backdrop of the philosophical Aristotelian thinking prevalent in his days, akin to what today would be considered “secular thinking”.

In the second tractate חלק שוסינו he explains the concept of Tora Min HaShamayim, i.e., the divine origin of our Tora, prophecy, the oral Tora, etc.

The third tractate, חלק יעקב, is mainly about the Jewish beliefs of the immortality of the soul and resurrection.

In these three tractates he systemically follows and defends the 13 principles of faith established by Maimonides. Also, within these books, Rabbi Duran wrote a long chapter where he critically compares Judaism with Christianity and Islam. He clarified that he wrote this chapter to give ammunition to the Jews who were constantly persecuted by missioners, from both religions, trying to convince them to leave their faith. This book, which is not only apologetic but highly critical of those faiths, was censured for centuries and was published as an independent booklet in Livorno, Italy, 1785 under the name “Qeshet uMagen”(bow andarrows, to attack, a shield, to defend)

The fourth part of Magen Abot is a comnatery on Pirqe Abot, and it mainly deals with Jewish ethics.

Since we are in the days of the Omer, and it is customary to study Pirqe Abot in the coming days I will be writing mainly about this Mishna. Ihis year, BH, I will base my commentaries on Magen Abot, the book written on the subject by Rabbi Duran.

I will be using a new edition of this book which was graciously sent to me by the author, rabbi Eliyahu Zini, from Haifa, who published this new edition in 2014 ( see here ).

To download the book Qeshet uMagen click here

PESAH: What to do today and tomorrow?

THURSDAY APRIL 2nd

One of the biblical prohibitions of Pesah is owning Hamets: to keep Hamets in our possession during Pesah. To avoid this, before Pesah we clean our houses and other premisses (car, office, etc.) and remove all Hamets food that can be found there. Then tonight, when the first stars come out (in NY, 7.45pm), we make the Bediqat Hamets, i.e., the last inspection for any Hamets food that could have remained in our property after cleaning. How do we do the Bediqat Hamets? With the help of a candle or a flashlight, we look everywhere in our house where we could have brought, eaten or stored foods. We must check especially in the kitchen, in all areas of food storage, like the pantry, refrigerator, freezer and all other places where food is usually kept. In the bediqat Hamets we are looking particularly for Hamets food: cookies, crackers, bread, pasta, frozen foods, protein drinks, cereals, and alcoholic beverages made from grain (beer, whiskey, most vodkas, etc).

After the bediqa we keep in a safe place the Hamets that we will be eliminating in the morning, and in a different place, the Hamets that we will consume tomorrow morning.

Then we say the first kal Jamira, the formula by which we renounce to our possession of any Hamets that belongs to us and we have not found

KAL HAMIRA DEIKA BIRSHUTI, DELA HAZITEH VEDELA BI’ARTEH, LIBTIL VELEHEVE HAFQER KE’AFRA DEAR’A.

“All Hamets or yeast that belongs to me, that I have not seen or removed, should be considered owner-less as the dust of the earth”

FRIDAY APRIL 3

Ta’anit Bejorot

On the eve of Pesah, it was established as a custom (minhag) that all the firstborn men should fast, as a recognition of the protection of HaShem, when during the last plague, all the firstborn of Egypt died and the Jewish firstborn were saved. However, since this is not a mandatory fasting (it was not enacted by the Torah or the rabbis of the Gemara) we usually avoid this fast by participating of a festive religious ceremony. For example, Berit Mila or Pidyon. But because these events cannot be anticipated, it is customary in most communities to organize a Siyum Masekhet, the conclusion of a tractate of the Talmud, which is considered a festive event with sufficient merit to avoid this fast. By participating in this fast the firstborn may eat during Pesah eve normally.

Bi’ur Hamets (Disposing of Hamets)

In the morning, we can only eat Hamets until the fourth hour of the day (in NY about until 10 am). Once we finished eating Hamets, we collect the remains of Hamets from this morning, together with the rest of Hamets we left yesterday, and proceed to eliminate it (remove it). This can be done by feeding the Hamets to the birds, to fish, or throwing it in a public garbage, or selling it to a non-Jew. Many have the custom to burn the left overs because Hamets symbolizes arrogance and by burning it we demonstrate that our souls are clean and purified from pride.

After the removal of Hamets, we proceed to their final nullification (= declaring the Hamets ownerless). And once again we recite the statement of “Bitul Hamets” but more detailed:

KAL HAMIRA DEIKA BIRSHUTI, DEHAZITEH VEDELA HAZITEH, DEBIARTEH VEDELA BIARTEH, LIBTIL VELEHEVE HAFQER KE’AFRA DEAR’A.

“All Hamets or yeast that belongs to me, which I saw or which I did not see, which I have removed or which I have not yet removed, should be considered ownerless as the dust of the earth”

The elimination/removal of the Hamets, in any of its forms, and the renunciation to the Hamets, must be done before the fifth hour of the day. In New York this is about 11 in the morning.

From that time on, one cannot consume, sell or make any nullification of Hamets.

Akhilat Matsa

On the eve of Pesah we should not eat Matsa. We reserve the taste of Matsa for the ideal time: the Seder night. We can eat Matsa ‘ashira, also known as egg Matsa. Tomorrow, in general, we should eat only until noon, to save our appetite for the Matsa and food we will eat at the Seder.

Pesah, Matsa, Maror

According to Rabban Gamliel, there are 3 concepts that should be mentioned in the Pesah Seder to meet the minimum requirement to transmit to our children the story of Pesah. These three concepts are: Pesah, Matsa and Maror.

Before explaining these ideas, one by one, see how they interrelate. Pesah is what HaShem did for us. Matsa is what we ‘am Israel did to deserve our freedom. And Maror is what the Egyptians did ti us. Thus, these 3 concepts signal to the role of the three main characters of the story of Pesah. Let us begin from the later.

MAROR

Yesterday we explained “Maror”, the way the Egyptians mistreated us, demonized us and made us suffer (see here). Rabban Gamliel says we should not deprive our children of this painful information. That somehow they must become aware of our suffering and know that our destiny as the chosen people involves exposure to the demonization and persecution of peoples. Why is so important for our children to become aware of our suffering? The Torah teaches us to positively channel the memory of the suffering of our fathers in Egypt. How? By not letting other people to suffer. Caring for those who have less. Remembering that we should not oppress the weak or those who work for us, Jews or Gentiles. Why? ki gerim heytem be-erets Mitzrayim, “because you were slaves in Egypt,” we know, firsthand, the pains of the abused. And we “honor” the memory of our suffering, by preventing others from suffering.

MATSA

Matsa represents what we Jews did to deserve our freedom. On the 10th of Nisan HaShem commanded the Yehudim to take a sheep and keep it. Remember that the Egyptians worshiped many animals, because for them the animals embody the powers of their gods. The crocodile or hippo, for example, were worshiped as sacred gods because they were believed to embody power and violence against enemies. The sheep, especially male-sheeps known as “rams”, embodied virility and the power of procreation. Now, the Jews were faced with a great challenge: they had to take one of those sheeps and keep it until further notice. Which was extremely dangerous vis-a-vis the Egyptians (as dangerous as it would be today to capture and sacrifice a cow in India). But there was something even more difficult, and more meritorious. The people of Israel had to demonstrate that they were FREE from the idol-worship culture. Keep in mind that the Jews lived immersed in that culture for ten generations, exposed to all kinds of superstitions and fetishism, typical of the ‘Aboda zara (idolatry) society. Now, on the 14 Nisan, God commanded the Yehudim to sacrifice the “ram”, expose its blood on the doors, grill it and eat it. Can you begin to imagine the tremendous psychological difficulty of taking by force, kill and eat an animal that your masters worship?. Slaves naturally fear their masters to death. Imagine how much more they should have feared the “masters of their masters,” the animals that their masters considered gods! HaShem wanted the Yehudim to “deserve” their freedom, demonstrating that they were mentally free of idolatry and superstitions. They had to understand that the Egyptian gods were false, mere products of human imagination. The Jews did not hesitate and they did as HaShem thru Moshe told them. They showed that they were psychologically prepared to leave Egypt and leave behind the idols. And they did all this in one night. Faster than what takes the dough to ferment into bread, the Jews we were able to unmask idolatry, leave it behind and deliver themselves into the hands of Bore Olam. The prophet Yrmiyhau remembered this great merit, as he said in the name of HaShem, “I remember your merit of young, your love [to Me]: when you followed me into the desert, a dry land [with no food, and no water] “(Jeremiah 2: 2).

PESAH

In English Pesah is called “Passover”, which means that when HaShem was killing the Egyptians firstborns, He “skipped” passed-over the houses of the Yehudim and did not affect them. This is the classic interpretation of the word Pesah.

However, according to Rab Menashe Ben Israel and many others, the idea of Pesah is a little different, yet often unknown. Rabbi Israel Ben explains that the word “Pesah” or “pasah” should be understood as “protected” (hayis, as Targum Onkelos translates). When HaShem unleashed the tenth plague, the death of the firstborn, which the Tora calls “mashchit” (destroyer, pest) this plague would have affected “naturally”, all the firstborn of Egypt, Gentiles and Jews indiscriminately. HaShem, however, “protected” the houses of the Yehudim (“pasah”) and did not allow the deadly plague affect the Jewish firstborn (to understand this reading, carefully read the pasuq in Shemot 12:13 and 12:23 or see this). Pesah, then, is the holiday in which we celebrate the constant, direct and “supernatural” protection HaShem grants the people of Israel. This “selective protection” (hashgaha peratit) which began the night of 15 Nisan, suggestively called in the Tora lel Shimurim (the night of protection), is the Divine Protection that watches over Am Israel throughout its history until today. As it happened that night in Egypt, God protects Israel in “miraculous” ways. The existence of Israel defies statistics or the most logical predictions. The Jewish people, the most persecuted and harassed human group in the history of mankind, should not exist “statically”, and yet, exists! Moreover, how is it that the State of Israel–the only country in the world whose existence is delegitimized and credibly threatened, the only country completely surrounded by neighbors (and neighbors of neighbors) who seek its destruction, and have plenty international support for it, and 100 times more population and territory–still exists! The truth is that Am Israel, the people, the state, exists “miraculously”, only because HaShem, today as in those days, continues to protect us

PESAJ: Algunos pensamientos para la noche del Seder

Como explicamos ayer, nuestra misión en la noche del Seder es “enseñar” la Hagadá a nuestros hijos, familiares e invitados, no sólo “leerla” frente a ellos. Para enseñar la Hagadá, entre otras cosas, debemos hacerla presente y relevante, también para aquellos que no están familiarizados con la historia judía. Debemos demostrar que la historia que la Hagadá cuenta no es parte de un pasado olvidado sino sorprendentemente contemporánea. Como si la historia, o la historia judía, se repite después de miles de años, también el día de hoy, literalmente. Con esta idea en mente vamos a analizar un pasaje de la Hagadá. Este párrafo, de cuatro palabras, describe la estrategia que los egipcios utilizaron para esclavizarnos sin ninguna oposición interna.

El pasuq dice: “VAYARE’U OTANU HAMITSRIM VAYA’ANUNU” (Deut. 26: 6). La palabra clave para entender este versículo es la primera palabra “VAYARE’U” …. Por lo general se traduce así “los egipcios nos hicieron mal a nosotros”, en el sentido de “nos trataron con crueldad”. Pero como el lector sabrá esta palabra, VAYARE’U se puede leer también (o principalmente) en Hif’il, la construcción verbal transitiva. Y cuando se lee de esta manera el pasuq dice: “Y los egipcios nos hicieron malos a nosotros”, en otras palabras, “nos hacian ver mal”, o en una sola palabra: nos “demonizaron”. Como mi hijo Ya’aqob escribe en. su comentario a la Hagadá, el Faraón era “un dictador que señalaba al pueblo de Israel como una entidad irracionalmente mala, culpable de todas las desgracias que afectaban a los ciudadanos egipcios. La propaganda del Faraón era absurda. Básicamente, le decía a su pueblo:.. “Este pueblo de Israel, es muy astuto, tenemos que ser más astutos de lo que son, sino, cuando nos ataquen, los Israelitas se unirán a nuestros enemigos por pura malicia . Su objetivo en unirse a nuestros enemigos será hacernos daño, nada más. De hecho, después de que nos ataquen, van a escaparse de Egipto! “. Los judíos son malos, repetía una y otra vez este precursor de Goebbels. Y de esta manera culpaba sistemáticamente a los judíos de todas las desgracias posibles. El faraón tuvo éxito en erradicar la impresión positiva que Yosef había dejado en Egipto hace unos pocos años. Sin Yosef los egipcios habrían perecido en la peor hambruna que los haya afectado en su historia. En ese momento, reconocieron a Yosef “nos has salvado la vida!” Pero las contribuciones judías a la sociedad se pueden olvidar tan rápidamente como el tiempo que le toma a un mensaje de odio irracional llegar a los oídos de los ciudadanos en un sistema dictatorial. “

Este fenómeno, demonización> antisemitismo, fue iniciado por el Faraón, pero se repitió innumerables veces. En 1492 la reina Isabel de España expulsó a los mismos judíos que habían hecho tan exitosa a España, y que incluso habían ayudado a la reina en su guerra contra los árabes. Antes de expulsarnos, los judíos fuimos demonizados en España y en toda Europa, no sólo como “deicidas” (asesinos de un dios) sino también como envenenadores de pozos, usureros, y asesinos de niños cristianos con fines rituales, es decir, para hornear con su sangre las matzot de Pésaj….

Hoy en día, esta demonización se aplica sistemáticamente al Estado de Israel, que es el “judío” entre las naciones de la tierra. Israel es vilipendiado, atacado y acusado falsamente de todos los males imaginarios. El auge del antisemitismo en el mundo no es, como usualmente se suele racionalizar, la consecuencia de las demoniacas acciones del Estado de Israel, por el contrario, el antisemitismo es la causa de la sistemática denominación de Israel .
Irónicamente, no hay institución en el mundo donde el antisemitismo se practique más abiertamente que en las Naciones Unidas. Hasta 2013, Israel ha sido condenado en 45 resoluciones por el Consejo de Derechos Humanos de las Naciones Unidas. Desde su creación en 2006, este Consejo ha promulgado más resoluciones condenando a Israel, que al resto del mundo combinado! Hace dos semanas, por ejemplo, la Comisión de las Naciones Unidas que protege la Condición de la Mujer emitió un informe condenando a un solo país por su maltrato a la mujer – Israel! Y lo más preocupante es que el mundo no se opone enfáticamente esta ridícula falsa propaganda antisemita. Es más, el mundo parece aceptar como algo normal y tolerable la demonización de Israel.

Tengo un ejemplo muy preocupante de las noticias de hoy. Mientras las negociaciones entre las superpotencias e Irán progresan hacia la firma de un acuerdo sobre el armamento nuclear de Iran, hay un elemento en las negociaciones que se ha ignorado por completo, y que a nadie pareciera preocuparle, ni siquiera al “mejor amigo de Israel “, los EE.UU. Irán ha dicho repetidas veces que tiene la intención “de borrar a Israel del mapa”. Esta declaración, que si fuera dicha contra cualquier otro país se consideraría una declaración de guerra, nunca fue parte de las negociaciones. En otras palabras ¿Por qué los Estados Unidos o Francia o Alemania no exigen que Irán se desdiga de esta amenaza contra Israel como parte de las negociaciones? Si Iran se desdijera abierta y públicamente de estas declaraciones beligerantes contra Israel sus afirmaciones de que está desarrollando energía nuclear con fines pacíficos sería mucho más creíbles, y viceversa? ¿Por qué no se le exige a Irán este simple gesto antes de suspender las sanciones económicas contra él?

Mientras estaba pensando en esta idea, me llego un correo electrónico de “Times of Israel” con algunas noticias muy fresca. A medida que la “hora” límite para firmar un acuerdo con Irán se acerca más y más , el jefe de la milicia iraní fue citado hoy diciendo que para Irán “Destruir Israel es un principio “no negociable “. Vamos a ver cómo reaccionarán las superpotencias a estas intolerables declaraciones … aunque yo dudo mucho que hagan algo …

Y mientras la historia se repite, este viernes a la noche, cuando leamos la Hagadá, nos convenceremos una vez más que “VEHI SHE’AMDA LAABOTENU VELANU”, que más allá de lo que suceda con nuestros amigos y enemigos, el pueblo de Israel nunca estará solo. HaShem siempre estará a nuestro lado, protegiendonos.

PESAH: Some thoughts for the night of the Seder

As we explained yesterday, our mission at the Pesah Seder is to TEACH the Hagada to our children, family members and guest, not just to READ it in front of them. To teach the Hagada means, among other things, to make it alive and relevant also for those who are not familiar with Jewish history. We must show that the story of the Hagada is not part of a forgotten past, but shockingly contemporary. As if history, or Jewish history, repeats itself after thousands of years. With this idea in mind let us analyze one passage of the Hagada. This paragraph, four words, describes the strategy the Egyptians used to get us enslaved without any inside opposition.

The pasuq says: “VAYARE’U OTANU HAMITSRYIM VAY’ANUNU” (Deut. 26:6). The key word to understand this verse is the very first word “VAYARE’U”… . It is usually translated as “the Egyptians did bad to us”, in the sense of treated us bad. But you will notice that this word is in the Hif’il, a transitive verbal construction. When understood in this way this word means: “And the Egyptians did US bad” , in other words, “they made us look bad”, or in just one word” They “demonized” us. As my son Ya’aqob writes in his commentary to the Hagada, Pharaoh “a dictator singles out the People of Israel as an irrationally evil entity, who is to blame for all the misfortunes of this dictator’s subjects. The propaganda of Pharaoh is nonsensical. Basically, he tells his people: “The other, this People of Israel, is very cunning. We must be more cunning than they are. If not, then if and when we are attacked, the Israelites will join our enemies out of sheer malice. Their goal in joining our enemies will be to harm us, nothing more. In fact, after they attack us, they will leave the land! “. The Jews are bad. They are irrationally bad. This is the only way it makes sense to systematically blame the Jews for all possible misfortunes. Thus, Pharaoh succeeded in eradicating the positive impression Joseph had left on Egypt just a few years ago. Without Joseph, Egyptians would have perished in the worst famine to have ever affected them. At the time, they acknowledged it: “you have saved our lives!”-they admitted to Joseph. But Jewish contributions to society can be forgotten as swiftly as the time it takes for an irrational message of hatred to reach the ears of subjects in a dictatorial system. ”
This phenomena, demonization > antisemitism, was started by Pharaoh but it repeated itself numberless times. In 1492 Queen Isabel from Spain, expelled the same Jews who had made Spain so successful and who had even helped the Christian queen in her war against the Arabs. Before doing that the Jews were demonized in Spain an across Europe, not just as “deicides” killers of a god, but also as poisoners of wells, usurers, and murders of Christian boys for ritual purposes, i.e., to bake the Matzot.

Today, this demonization is systematically applied to the State of Israel, the “Jew” among the nations. Israel is vilified, attacked and falsely accused of all imaginary evils. Antisemitism in the world is not, as it is usually claimed, the consequences of the “evils” of the state of Israel, antisemitism is the reason why Israel is systematically vilified.

There is no place in the world, no institution where antisemitism is most prominent than in the United nations. As of 2013, Israel had been condemned in 45 resolutions by United Nations Human Rights Council. Since its creation in 2006 the Council had resolved more resolutions condemning Israel than on the rest of the world combined! Two weeks ago, for example, the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women issued a report on March 20 condemning one country in particular for its mistreatment of women – Israel! And the most disturbing thing is that the world does not oppose emphatically this antisemitic false propaganda. The world seems to accept that Israel the demonization of Israel.

I have a very disturbing example from today’s news: As negotiations between the superpowers and Iran progress toward reaching a deal, there is one element in the negotiations that was entirely ignored, as no one seemed to have cared about, not even Israel’s “best friend”, the USA: Iran has said many times that they intend to wipe off Israel”. Why, then, this statement was never part of the negotiations? Why America or France or Germany does not demand from Iran to publicly deny this belligerent against the State of Israel, something that will make Iran’s promises about pursuing nuclear energy for peaceful purposes much more credible, and vice versa? As I was thinking about this idea, i got an email from “Times of Israel” with some very fresh news. As the deadline to reach a deal with Iran gets closer and closer by the hour, the Iranian militia chief was quoted today saying that for Iran “Destroying Israel is ‘nonnegotiable’ “.

Now, let us see how the superpowers would react to this statement… but do not bet your money on it…

In the meantime, Friday night, when we will read the Hagada, we will be saying VEHI SHE’AMDA LA-ABOTENU VELANU, that no matter what happens with our friends and foes, we will never be alone, HASHEM will always be on our side.

[VIDEO] Dinosaurs and the Bible

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyQwo6E59qQ

PESAH: How to have a successful Pesah Seder?

THE MISSION

This coming Friday night, April 3rd and Saturday night, April 4th, are probably the most important nights of the year. During those nights we will fulfill a very special Mitsva: והגדת לבנך , teaching our children the story of Pesah. Instilling in their minds and hearts the collective memories that will shape their personalities and strengthen their Jewish identity for the rest of their lives. But, how to do that? We have the Hagada, the book that relates the Exodus and the clear instructions of our rabbis: teach and talk to each child (or adult) at the level of his or her understanding. The rest is up to us.

PARADIGM SHIFT

I believe that the first thing to have to do to face efficiently this beautiful challenge is to shift our paradigm of the Hagada, redefine: what is our real role in the Pesah Seder? If I had to encapsulate the whole idea in one phrase I wold say this: in the Seder you are not READING the Hagada, you are TEACHING the Hagada. Once we know this we might be a little scared. Why? Because we live in an era of technology, sophisticated educational videos and smart boards. We, the parents, must compete against smartphones and ipads and teach children whose attention span is getting shorter and shorter. And, besides our children, we will most probably have other people, adults, participating in our Seder. So, what should we do to teach the Hagada to our heterogeneous “class”?

DIVIDE AND CONQUER

My first recommendation is that you divide the Hagada in a way that EVERYONE, family and guests, will participate. To do that you must write an email or a whatsapp TODAY to each member of your family and your guests and assign to each one of them one part of the Hagada.
Ask the adults, for example, to read a paragraph in Hebrew or in English, or to explain or comment one short text of the Hagada. For those who are going to read, scan and email them their text. For those who are going to comment, encourage them to search online, for example, in the following educational websites: www.torah.org, aish.com, ou.org, for material related to the Hagada. Ask them, for example, to explain one of these concepts: “Pesah”, “matsa”, “maror”, “why we drink 4 cups”, “why we eat reclined”, “why we eat haroset”, etc.

For the little ones, ask them to get ready to sing (and perhaps explain) “ma nishtana” , “abadim hayinu or “had gadya”. Ask them to draw certain parts of the Hagada and bring their drawings to the Seder, so they can explain their art.

MAKE IT RELEVANT

You have a very heterogeneous audience: children, small children, youngsters, and adults. The key, as we said, is to give participation to everyone. When you teach one of the ideas of the Hagada, make it relevant. Bring something from the Hagada that is very relevant today (actually, there is almost nothing in the Hagada not relevant for today!). Then, encourage each one of the adults in the table to express their opinion on the subject.

One example:

“rab ve’atsum mimenu” (Ex. 1:10). “Although they were only a small minority, the Egyptians feared that the Jews were too powerful , and decided to eliminate them”. The Jews in Egypt were very influential? How influential are the Jews, say, today in America, compared to their number? How influential is Israel, the Jew among the nations, in the world, compared to its size or population? For example: how many times have you read news about China or India (more than 2.6 billion people, between the two countries) in the front page of the New York Times, and how many times have you read about Israel (8 million people) in the front page of the same newspaper? Are we Jews too powerful? Not powerful enough? Is the “Jewish disproportional influence” in larger society an excuse to justify antisemitism? Is that a good thing to be so influential? Should we keep it all to ourselves?

( I will bring more examples of subjects for debateBH in the coming days)

MAKE IT FUN:
“Fun” is good for everyone: children and adults. Ask the funniest guys of the family to play some parts of the Hagada, for example, the Ten Plagues. Have someone (a more serious guy) explaining briefly each plague while the actors play the play. One person has to play Moshe (with his head covered with a Talit) and someone else Pharaoh (use your imagination…). Alternatively, ask the oldest child, say, 10, 11, 12 years old, to organize with the other children a 5 minutes dramatization of the 10 plagues or of the 4 sons.
Do not forget: WE WANT OUR CHILDREN TO STAY AWAKE. Make it visual. Get small plastic frogs, animal masks for deber, ping pong balls for hail, black plastic eyeglasses for darkness, etc.

Have games for the children, a Pesah treasure hunt or Pesah trivia, etc. Have 20 questions ready, and most importantly 20 (or more) small prizes to reward the children’s correct answers. Anytime the Seder is about to get out of control, or boring or you need everyone’s attention you can ask one of your questions (show the prize first!). Guaranteed to work..

THE SECRET

I believe that by now you don’t need me to tell you what the secret is, but this is it anyways: “Preparation. Preparation. Preparation.”

Do not improvise. Review the Hagada today. Divide the roles. Write the email. Excuse yourself for the short notice and send it.

RECOMMENDED SOURCES

To find great educational games for the Seder check online here and here .

Recommended Hagadot in English for adults, Rabbi Appisdorf and Rabbi Sacks. See Amazon.

For Hebrew Hagadot online (hundreds of them) see here.

For the advanced students I recommended THIS old but fantastic commentary of the Hagada written by Rabbi Don Ytshaq Abarbanel (1437-1508). Do not skip the introduction where the Rabbi tells his tragic personal story.

Gabriel Sassoon, a contemporary version of Iyob (Job)

A week ago, on Shabbat Parashat Vayiqra, Rosh Hodesh Nisan, a great tragedy befell the Jews of NY. A tragedy that because of its magnitude, resonated among the entire Jewish people. Seven children, from 5 to 16 years old, died in an unpredictable fire. Eliane (16), David (12), Rivkah (11), Yeshua (10), Moshe (8), Sara (6), and Yaakob (5) Sassoon , Zikhronam Librakha.

When we face tragedies, we try to find a reason–there is a human urge to explain them. Something or someone must make sense of the inexplicable. We tend to blame electrical devices or absent smoke alarms. In response to this tragedy, I was actually asked to write about the safety of hot-plates used on Shabbat. And I was about to do just that. But then, I had a deep conversation with my dear friend, rabbi Moshe Plutchock, who attended the historic levaya and listened to the words of the father of the children, Gabriel Sassoon, in New York. Rabbi Plutchock was so moved. He encouraged me to listen to the 15-minute speech of the man that had to eulogize his seven children [ This is a link to the speech]. As I was listening to the words of the grieving father, I felt I was listening to a contemporary version of Iyob. My perspective changed. And I thought that, although safety is important and deserves our full attention, Rabbi Plutchock was right: the grieving father’s words were demanding another type of immediate reaction.

Speaking to the more than one-thousand Jews who came to honor his children before they were taken to be buried in Israel, Rabbi Gabriel Sassoon said it all. People came to comfort the bereaved father, but he ended up comforting them all. Gabriel Sassoon is, by profession, a Jewish schoolteacher, and that day he taught more than one lesson, reminding the attendants that very often “people forget what is important in life…” After mentioning his seven children, one by one, name by name, tear by tear, he said to all his “pupils”: “We have to love our children… Please, everybody, love your children.” Simple. Right? But loving our children is so obvious that we tend to forget it. We procrastinate. We love them, but we forget to act upon it. Now, a man who is speaking from the unfathomable perspective of someone who had it all and then lost it all, reminded us of the real meaning of “what is important in life.” Upon hearing these words, I am sure every parent must have reflected upon his or her own beloved children. Each parent must have thought what I thought and felt: “I need to love them more. I need to be more patient, more attentive, more interested. I want to spend more time with my children.”

Rabbi Sassoon spoke not only as a father. He also spoke as a thinker. A Jewish thinker who, when facing a tragedy, does not look for its causes but for its lessons. In my discussion with Rabbi Plutchok, we agreed that it would have been so easy, so expected, so not uncommon, and seemingly so very “pious”, to portray his children as sacrifices that were taken to redeem the collective sins of the Jewish people, and then, turn to the audience and rebuke them about the numberless offenses we all commit. But Rabbi Sassoon refused to justify theodicy, i.e., understanding God’s benevolence in the face of evil. Instead, he accepted the terrible decree. In his own words, “he surrendered” to God’s infinite and unknowable will. “We don’t understand anything…”, he said. And he sounded so credible. “I surrender to God, [to the God who] I know is all good.”

Listening to rabbi Sassoon, I felt I was listening to a Iyob of our generation. Iyob also lost it all (although the comparison might not be very fair, because, unlike the Sassoon family, the Gemara asserts that Iyob may have been a literary character, and not a historical one). Iyob lost his fortune, his health, and worst of all, he lost all his sons and daughters in one single tragedy. Iyob’s friends came to comfort him. They were good people, pious believers who tried, with the best intentions, to justify the lethal “act of nature” (a storm) which took the lives of his beloved children. “You must have sinned. God, who controls nature, would have never punished the innocent,” they said. Iyob listened to his friends, but rejected their arguments and insisted on defending his innocence. At the end of the story, God reveals Himself to Iyob in a vision from within a storm, challenging Iyob’s belief that he understood the way nature works. Nature (“Creation”) has a somewhat visible, predictable and understandable mechanism, which pales in simplicity compared to the intricacies of God’s infinite ways in His administration of justice with mankind. Iyob, speechless, finally admits the limitation of his understanding. And through this showing of the limits of Iyob’s mind, God dissuades Iyob (and the reader) from expecting to comprehend how God’s justice functions. Left with no answers, Iyob humbly accepts God’s decrees: he “surrenders” and renounces the presumptuously futile endeavor of deciphering God’s mind.

Like Iyob, Gabriel Sassoon rejected man-made explanations for his tragedy. The most important part of his short but immensely powerful speech, in my opinion, was when he mentioned a story, perhaps a legend, from the time of Spanish Inquisition (ca. 1480). It was about a Jewish woman who tragically lost all her children. She told God: “I used to love all my children, and now they are gone. Now, my love is free for You, and I am going to love You as much as I can.” At this point of the speech, I expected Rabbi Sassoon to endorse this glorious, super-human, expression of piety. Instead, the bereaved father shocked all his listeners with a monumental manifestation of humbleness, courage and vulnerability. Referring to the story from the Inquisition he said emphatically: “I don’t agree with that at all. When you love your child, you are loving HaShem,” who gave your child as a gift to you. “The child’s smile, his giggle, his laughter, his successes, his dreams… that’s a reflection of HaShem. Loving your wife or your husband, is a reflection of HaShem. Loving a total stranger, is also a reflection of HaShem. Every relationship we have is a reflection of HaShem. It is a different aspect of the infinite, that we experience… I lost that now. I can’t experience that anymore”.

The book of Iyob ends with an unexpected twist. Iyob, the man who did not comprehend God’s justice but ended up surrendering his human understanding, is rewarded by God. But ironically, his friends, those who tried to explain and justify God’s justice, “the advocates of God”, were ordered to bring a Qorban Hattat, an expiatory sacrifice that one needs to bring to atone for an unintentional sin.

As we prepare for our first Shabbat after this tragedy, and as we all will be checking our hot plates and smoke alarms, let us also remember and draw inspiration from the words of Gabriel Sassoon. Let us honor Sassoon’s call to embrace and enjoy “the most important thing in our lives”. Focusing our energies in doing hesed for one another. Loving our spouse, loving our peers and the stranger. And those of us who are fortunate to have a child–let us realize that we have it all! Let us be grateful to HaShem, and understand that the privilege of having loved ones reflects HaShem’s love for us. We all are His children. The good things we do for each other mirror, and are a reflection of HaShem’s eternal love for us. When we love our children we are loving that which was given to us by HaShem with love. By doing this, by echoing and answering Gabriel Sassoon’s most urgent call, we will honor the memory of his precious children the way he wants it.

May HaShem bless those who have the strength to surrender to Him, in the most difficult times.

I pray to HaShem to bless Gabriel Sassoon’s wife, Gayle Sassoon, and their only surviving child, 15-year-old daughter, Siporah with strength and health.

SHABBAT SHALOM

PESAJ: ¿Vender o no vender el Jamets?

En nuestros días, en la mayoría de las comunidades judías, Ashkenazí y Sefaradí, se organiza un sistema de venta de Jamets por el cual los miembros de la comunidad asignan al rabino coo su representante legal para vender su Jamets. Este procedimiento es una indulgencia Halájica para evitar que la gente mantenga productos Jamets de alto valor (whisky, vodka, etc.) en su propiedad durante Pésaj. Obviamente, la validez de esta venta no debe ser cuestionada, ya que cada rabino conduce a su comunidad de acuerdo a lo que considera lo mejor para sus feligreses.

Personalmente, yo no vendo mis Jamets y aliento a los miembros de mi comunidad a hacer lo mismo.

¿Por qué? Poeque históricamente, los judíos sefaradim no practicaban la venta de Jamets. Simplemente se deshacían de su Jamets antes de Pésaj, en conformidad con la mitsva de “tashbitu”, como lo explicamos ayer.

El único caso excepcional en el que los rabinos sefaradíes autorizaban la venta de Jamets era el caso de una tienda de alimentos. En este caso, un comprador no-judío hacía un pago inicial por la mercancía Jamets y desde el momento que se realizaba el pago, la mercancía Jamets pertenecería por completo al comprador, y él era el único responsable por esos productos en caso de daños , robo, etc. Así, por ejemplo, si los productos Jamets eran robados durante Pésaj, el comprador tendría que pagar por ellos al vendedor después de Pésaj. El comprador también alquilaba la tienda donde se almacenaba la mercancía durante Pésaj y tenía en su posesión las llaves de la tienda, lo que le concedía un acceso total y sin restricciones a las instalaciones donde estaba el Jamets. El comprador no-judío tenía derecho a usar, consumir o incluso comerciar con la mercancía Jamets durante Pésaj. Luego, y si así lo deseaba, podía pagar el balance y mantener la mercancía para sí mismo.

Como se puede ver, aunque la intención era que el vendedor judío finalmente volviera a comprar sus productos Jamets después de Pésaj, la transacción de venta era real, legal y vinculante. Los rabinos no habrían aceptado una transacción de venta “cuestionable” o ficticia que no cumpliera con los requisitos legales de venta de acuerdo a la ley judía y de acuerdo a las leyes locales porque, obviamente, los Jajamim tomaban muy en serio la prohibición de poseer Jamets durante Pésaj.

Excepto para los propietarios de negocios de alimentos, en las comunidades sefaradíes, la gente común no vendía el Jamets. ¿Qué hacían entonces con todo el Jamets sobrante, en preparación para Pésaj?

1. En primer lugar, antes de Pésaj, la gente adquiría sólo los productos Jamets que eran necesarios hasta Pésaj, evitando acumular comida Jamets extra cerca de Pésaj.

2. En segundo lugar, lo que sobraba de Jamets, si estaba en buenas condiciones, se daba de regalo o caridad a una persona no-judía, o si esto no era posible, el Jamets debía ser eliminado, como lo explicamos ayer. Deshacerse del Jamets sobrante, tirándolo a los pájaros, peces o aun quemándolo el día anterior a Pésaj es una mitsva bíblica “tashbitu”, así que no se consideraría “desperdiciar o tirar comida” (בל תשחית).

3. Si algún producto comestible Jamets queda en nuestras propiedades accidentalmente, entonces el bitul Jamets, la fórmula que pronunciamos renunciando a nuestra propiedad de cualquier Jamets que no hayamos visto y/o sacado de nuestras propiedades, previene la transgresión de poseer Jamets “accidentalmente” durante Pesaj.

Si uno sigue estos sencillos pasos, entonces no hay necesidad de “vender y comprar de nuevo” el Jamets.

Yo, obviamente, aliento especialmente a quienes siguen las tradiciones Sefardíes, a preservar el antiguo Minhag y no vender el Jamets dejándolo en la casa, sino deshacerse de él. (Para describir los problemas técnicos halájicos concernientes al procedimiento de Mejirat Jamets, ver aquí este articulo en hebreo del rab Eliyahu Zini, o ver aquí este texto que escribí en inglés, y que espero traducir al español BH mañana.

Recuerde que uno sólo tiene que deshacerse del Jamets que es comestible (apto para el consumo humano o animal). Uno no necesita vender las ollas o sartenes, o cualquier cosa que pueda contener Jamets “invisible” (jamets balú’a). Los utensilios Jamets deben ser guardados en un lugar cerrado durante Pésaj.

Como ya lo explicamos, las pastillas o píldoras médicas que se tragan con agua, los perfumes, cosméticos, artículos de limpieza o cualquier artículo no comestible, puede quedar en nuestra posesión durante Pésaj, independientemente de su composición.

Con respecto a productos comestibles: Uno puede mantener hasta después de Pésaj cualquier producto alimenticio que no contenga algún ingrediente o derivado de estos cinco granos: trigo, avena, cebada, centeno y espelta (FYI, todo producto que contenga gluten, una proteína que se encuentra en estos granos, es Jamets).

En caso de duda respecto a la composición de un producto alimenticio o si esta permitido mantenerlo durante Pésaj, consulte con el rabino de su comunidad.

Conclusión: la venta o no venta del Jamets, es en última instancia una indulgencia o rigurosidad halájica, una elección que debemos tomar en consulta con el rabino de nuestra comunidad

PESAH: Understanding the prohibition of owning Hamets during Pesah

בל יראה

בל ימצא

השבתת חמץ

One of the elements that makes the prohibition of Hamets so unique is that, unlike any other forbidden foods, it includes the ban of its possession. There are three Mitsvot in the Tora related to this prohibition:

1. bal yera-e, lit. your Hamets shall not be seen (Ex. 13:7);

2. bal-yimatse lit. your Hamets shall not be found in your premises (Ex. 12:19).

3. tashbitu, lit. you shall end your hamets Pesah eve (Ex. 12:15).

The Tora sheBe’al pe, the authoritative halakhic Jewish tradition, explains that the first two verses, the two prohibitions, should be considered as one single restriction: “owning” Hamets during Pesah. Maimonides consecrates almost a whole chapter in Hilkhot hamets uMatsa, chapter 4, to explain this concept: In halakha 2 he says: ” ….hamets belonging to a Jew …, even though it is buried, is located in another city, or is entrusted to a gentile, causes him to violate [the commandments]: “[hamets] shall not be seen” and “[hamets] shall not be found.”

We also have a third mitsva called tashbitu which is explained by the Tora shebe’al pe as: you shall end “the possession” of your hamets before Pesah begins.

In sum, there are two identical prohibitions (an exceptional case!) and one positive commandment, virtually for the same issue: owning hamets during Pesah.

Strictly speaking, (and following Maimonides opinion) these three miṣvot could be fulfilled at once just by performing one single act: the ‘bitul hamets’, the verbal declaration by which a person renounces to the ownership of any hamets that belongs to him, regardless of where that hames is located. By declaring the hamets ownerless, a person 1. fulfills the Mitsva of “ending the possession of his hamets” and, 2. is not transgressing the two prohibitions of the Tora, even though there might still be hamets within his premises.

But evidently this is not what we do for Pesah. The Rabbis explained that there might be some practical complications with just “declaring” our hamets ownerless, while keeping it at home. First, we might declare that we do not own anymore our hamets, but, if we posses something valuable, a box of whiskey bottles, for example, will we really mean wholeheartedly that we renounce to the possession of that hamets? Second, they said, hamets is the most common food (think about bread, crackers, pasta, etc.), so even if we declare our hamets ownerless but we keep the Hamets at home, we might eat hamets accidentally…

This is why our Rabbis instructed us to actually remove our hamets before Pesah begins. At the end of the process of removing our hamets (also known as “bi’ur hamets”) we also do the bitul hamets, as we will explain in the following lines.

There are four steps, then, that we should take to 1. Avoiding transgressing the two Biblical prohibitions of owning hamets, 2. Fulfilling the Mitsva of ending our possession of hamets before Pesah, 3. Following the guidelines of our Rabbis

(1) We should clean our houses, cars, offices and other properties before Pesah begins to identify and remove all hamets from them.

(2) We have to run a final search of all our properties to make sure that we have removed everything hamets from them (bediqat hamets).

(3) We have to physically dispose of or get rid of (be’ur) any hamets found in our properties before and during the Bediqa. We can give our Hamets as a gift to a non-Jew, if it is food in good condition; or if we have bread crumbs, for example, we can give it to the birds or to fish, or we can burn it or dispose of it.

(4) Then, after we get rid of our hamets we declare that whatever Hamets we may still own anywhere, which was not detected and/or removed by us, does not belong to us anymore, and from now on it is considered ownerless (hefqer) as the dust of the earth (bitul hamets).