Ostracon with Song of Songs text in Coptic, 400 CE, Thebes Egypt. In the Metropolitan Museum of Art אָמַר רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא…שֶׁאֵין כָּל הָעוֹלָם כֻּלּוֹ כְדַאי כַּיּוֹם שֶׁנִּתַּן בּוֹ שִׁיר הַשִּׁירִים לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, שֶׁכָּל הַכְּתוּבִים קֹדֶשׁ, וְשִׁיר הַשִּׁירִים קֹדֶשׁ קָדָשִׁים. [Rabbi Akiba said:] The whole world is not as worthy as the day on which the SongContinue reading “Shabbat Hol HaMo’ed Pesakh 5783: Song of Songs”
Tag Archives: Pesakh
Shabbat Pesakh ‘ח – Remember
The weeklong Festival of Pesakh (with an 8th Diaspora day) is a powerful way to start a year. Beginning with the metaphor of becoming, as our ancestors experience what the rabbis called the “birth pangs” of Egyptian suffering and then transitioning through the “birth canal” of the parted waters of the Sea, we find ourselvesContinue reading “Shabbat Pesakh ‘ח – Remember”
Shabbat HaGadol: It Matters Now, Too
This Shabbat is called Shabbat HaGadol, the “great Shabbat,” possibly echoing the content of the special Haftarah chanted on this day, which speaks of a “great and terrible day” which is coming. הִנֵּ֤ה אָֽנֹכִי֙ שֹׁלֵ֣חַ לָכֶ֔ם אֵ֖ת אֵלִיָּ֣ה הַנָּבִ֑יא לִפְנֵ֗י בּ֚וֹא י֣וֹם ה’ הַגָּד֖וֹל וְהַנּוֹרָֽא׃ Here, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before theContinue reading “Shabbat HaGadol: It Matters Now, Too”
Shabbat Parah: Being Seen (Trans Visibility Shabbat)
This Shabbat we mark another of the special Shabbatot that count down (up, rather) to Pesakh: this Shabbat which is Shemini in our regular cycle of readings is also Shabbat Parah, named for a red heifer. Each of the special readings added during this time brings our attention to an important aspect of the Festival ofContinue reading “Shabbat Parah: Being Seen (Trans Visibility Shabbat)”
Shabbat Tzav: how to Keep that Fire Burning
This evening as Shabbat begins, the holiday of Purim finally ends, with the extra day called Shushan Purim, the Purim celebrated one day later by those who live in cities that were walled at the time of the Purim story, which takes place in ancient Persia (during the First Exile, 586-520 BCE, when the Jewish refugeesContinue reading “Shabbat Tzav: how to Keep that Fire Burning”
Shabbat and Pesakh and more, oh my!
Hag sameakh! Today and tomorrow are hagim, holy days that end our Pesakh Festival. Jewish offices are closed today and tomorrow, and Passover ends tomorrow evening at sundown with the end of Shabbat. On this Shabbat, the Shemini or 8th day of the holiday, we depart from our usual Torah parashat hashavua (reading of the week) and readContinue reading “Shabbat and Pesakh and more, oh my!”
Shabbat HaGadol: It’s the Details
This Shabbat is Shabbat haGadol, the “Great Shabbat” which is the last before Pesakh. It is traditional on this Shabbat to spend time reminding ourselves and each other of two things, that neither may take precedence over the other: the meaning, and the details. it’s quite typical in this time of ours to downgrade theContinue reading “Shabbat HaGadol: It’s the Details”
Shabbat VaYakhel-Pekudey/Shabbat Parah: Holy Tents and Sacred Cows
This week I am privileged to share an erev Shabbat thought with you from Eretz Yisrael, the Land of Israel. Soon a group of Shir Tikvah congregational family and friends will arrive and I look forward to greeting them soon at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. I’ve come a few days early to seeContinue reading “Shabbat VaYakhel-Pekudey/Shabbat Parah: Holy Tents and Sacred Cows”
Shabbat HaGadol: Being Commanded isn’t Enough, and Neither is Being Free
The days before and after Shabbat haGadol, “the Great Shabbat,” are meant to be a time of excitement and joy, of running around to find the best ingredients and the nicest symbolic foods for our Seder. It’s a time to clean house, to bring out the Pesakh plates and the “good” utensils in honor ofContinue reading “Shabbat HaGadol: Being Commanded isn’t Enough, and Neither is Being Free”
The Most Important Mitzvah
It’s a Portland kind of question: What do you do for Passover when you’re gluten free? In order to answer this question it’s best to first consider a more fundamental question: What is the Most Important Mitzvah of Pesakh? There are several mitzvot that all might be considered primary: 1. have a Seder and tellContinue reading “The Most Important Mitzvah”
Torah for the 21st Century by Rabbi Ariel Stone 