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It’s hard not to think about Moses when we think of Passover. Even if we want to forget, advertisements for Cecil B. Demille’s great production, The Ten Commandments, frequent our TV screens as constant reminders this time of year. And yet, as we sat down for our seders and read through the Haggadah which recounts the great miracles that G-d performed for us, we realize that there is one name that is conspicuously missing, the name of Moses. He is mentioned only once in the entire book. Why? It is meant to teach us something very important: rescue comes only from G-d Himself. All else, i.e., humans, money, vaccines and even Moses, are mere intermediaries serving His will, no matter what role they play in our lives. There is one G-d and thus we must stop deifying everything and everyone else: “The L‑rd took us out of Egypt," not through an angel, not through a seraph and not through a messenger. The Holy One, blessed be He, did it in His glory by Himself!”
You see Passover, which is just around the corner, is not only about
cutting bread from the menu or getting rid of the last possible crumbs from our
fridge. It is also a divinely sanctified time for us to take an
introspective look at ourselves, to clean up our spiritual crumbs, to flatten
our egos and to acknowledge the role that G-d plays in our lives. G-d did
not just create the world and walk away. He’s a personal G-d; One that went
down into Egypt Himself to deliver us from slavery. What are you doing with
your freedom? Do you prove yourself worthy?
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We can think of our relationship to G-d like
a computer link. If you click on a link and it does not open, then all the
advertising that leads to that link, and all the beautiful pictures that lead
to that link, and all the hoopla that leads to that link, well they're
basically meaningless and useless. When our lives are just surface but they
don't link to the greater good, when they don't link to the content-- G-d and
His Torah-- then all we are is surface, 2D creations that take up time and
space. To live a life in all the dimensions, 3D, we must link to the Source, to
the spirit that animates us. Passover is a perfect time to relink the surface
of our life with the purpose of our life by reconnecting directly with He who
created the entire program.
When we link to the Source, i.e. G-d, then
nothing that happens in our lives can defeat us or keep us down. The first
principle of the 13 Principles of Faith (the fundamental
truths of Judaism and its very foundations) affirms that G-d is the creator
and conductor of all that was, is and will be. One has only to repeat this to
oneself as a mantra in times of hardship (and joy) to understand that nothing
happens unless G-d wants it to, unless He signs off on it. Once we accept that
and internalize it, we realize that we are not alone. He is with us always.
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Many of us may
feel down and defeated these days. The world is a mess. Many people’s lives have
been upended because of Covid, economics, the war in Ukraine or other. Whatever our
personal reason, so many feel broken and despaired. But in this week’s parasha,
Shemini, we learn a very important lesson. On the eighth
day, following the seven days of inauguration, Aaron and his
sons begin to officiate as kohanim (priests) in the Tabernacle. But what happened for the seven days
before? On those days Moses erected the tabernacle and then disassembled it
everyday. Isn’t that weird? Once it’s up logic would suggest to just leave it
up. But that seven-day process of building and disassembling and rebuilding was to teach us
something very important. In our own lives, sometimes everything we build,
indeed with all our heart and might falls apart either piece by piece or in one
big blast. Sometimes we just have to take it apart ourselves. But from Moses we
learn we must be rebuild, we can rebuild, it is in us to rebuild, G-d wants us
to rebuild. But we pause and question: What are we building?
Our problem is that
we are always trying to rebuild what we used to be, our honor, our physical
form or appearance, our wealth, etc. But if G-d saw it fit to pulverize us, it
is certain we were in need of rebuilding and restructuring. G-d knows you can
do better, be better and rebuild on holy ground. Hardships are not meant to
break us but rather to make us. We must not spend out days crying and bemoaning
the past for G-d rests His spirit where there is joy. Even prophets could
receive no prophecy while mourning or when sad. We must rebuild with joy and
integrity, that is in our hands; the results are in G-d’s.
They say a
righteous person falls seven times and gets up eight times. What makes him
righteous is that he gets up! So we too must stop kvetching, reign in our mourning, get up,
walk, run and soar for He above is indeed the wind beneath our wings. The link is not broken, we have just to reconnect to the Source and keep going. Shabbat Shalom
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