The Miracle Of Freedom Comes With Responsibility

There was no miracle in the house without blood on its posts. Maybe it's for this that we are all reminded that every person, in every generation, has to see itself as if they were going out of Mitsraim.
[Source photo:Photo by Tanner Yould on Unsplash ]

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Kehillat Ma’arav – The Westside Congregation in Santa Monica, CA, is seeking to fill

Avui en dia acostumem a veure Péssah com una festa única, que dura set o vuit dies, depenent d’on visquem. En realitat, però, celebrem dues coses ben diferents. I una de les explicacions la trobem a la cinquena alià de paraixat Bo.

Durant el Seder de Péssah una de les tradicions, alguns dirien obligacions –i alguns diríem que és una obligació fer-ho de forma constant–, és fer preguntes. Una de les preguntes típiques és la que fan els petits: i què és aquesta avodah, aquest servei, per tu? (Xemot, Èxode, 12:26). Avodah es tradueix com servei o feina, però en el sentit ritual o religiós.

Però a què es refereix, la pregunta sobre aquesta avodah? A la festa de Péssah? Doncs no. Es refereix al sacrifici de Péssah. Perquè no és el mateix. Hi ha el sacrifici de Péssah, i la festa de les matzot. I la pregunta original que apareix a la Torah, és sobre el sacrifici i sobre pintar les llindes de les portes amb la sang del sacrifici.

Sforno ens interpreta la pregunta: Què és aquest servei per tu? Ja que no és en un dia de convocatòria santa, com ho són els altres sacrificis, ni és durant el mateix temps que altres sacrificis, que es fan després de l’ofrena del matí i abans de l’ofrena del vespre. I com és que no n’hi ha prou amb un sol sacrifici per tot Israel, com és el cas amb la resta de sacrificis? (Ovadiah ben Jacob Sforno, Commentary on the Torah, traduït i comentat per Rabí Raphael Pelcovitz, p. 339)

Perquè el sacrifici de Péssah, l’original, es va fer el dia 14 de Nisan a la tarda, i cada casa i cada família va fer-lo (Xemot, Èxode 12:3-6). I llavors? Què és aquest sacrifici, aquesta avodah, aquest servei? És el sacrifici del Péssah del [nom de les quatre lletres] (vers 27). Aquest sacrifici es fa per marcar el futur “salt” del destructor “per sobre” de les cases dels Fills d’Israel durant la nit. I com que no està permès fer sacrificis durant la nit, cal fer-los en un moment anterior a la nit, és a dir cap al tard. I cadascú ha de portar el seu propi sacrifici, perquè el miracle de Péssah va succeir a cada un dels individus, i no a la comunitat com a tal (Ovadiah ben Jacob Sforno, pp. 339-340).

El vespre del 14 de Nissan se sacrifica el principal déu egipci, en forma d’ovella. I durant la següent nit se sacrificaran tots i cadascun dels primogènits a Mitsraïm. La llibertat va ser pagada a un preu molt alt, i no ens referim a la quantitat d’ovelles, sinó que només es va poder aconseguir després del sacrifici dels primogènits.

Per això, també, el miracle de la llibertat, de poder sortir de Mitsraïm, s’esdevé per a cada persona i no és una cosa comunal. Cada casa, cada família va haver de responsabilitzar-se, aconseguir un xai, sacrificar-lo i pintar les llindes. A la casa on no es van pintar les llindes, no hi va haver miracle. Potser per això se’ns recorda que cada persona, a cada generació, ha de veure’s a ella mateixa com si estigués sortint de Mitsraïm.

Aquesta iniciativa es torna a veure una setmana després, a la riba del Mar de les Canyes. Per poder sortir de Mitsraïm cal prendre primer la iniciativa i responsabilitzar-se. I se’n surt a títol individual.



Nowadays we usually see Pesach as a single holiday, which lasts seven or eight days, depending on where you live. In reality, we celebrate two different things. One explanation about why we find it in the fifth aliyah of parashat Bo.

One of the traditions during the Seder, some would say obligations –and some would say it is an obligation to do that constantly–, is to ask questions. One typical question is the one the young children do: what is this avodah, this service, to you? (Shemot, 12:26). Avodah translates as service or work, in a ritual or religious sense.

But what, then, is all about that question? It’s about the Pesach sacrifice because there is the Pesach sacrifice and the holiday of the Matzot afterwards. And the original question in the Torah is about the sacrifice and painting the doorposts with the blood from the sacrifice.

Sforno interprets the question: What is this service to you? As it is not a day of holy convocation, as are other sacrifices, nor is it in the time frame of other sacrifices, which are brought after the morning daily sacrifice and before the evening daily sacrifice. Also, why shouldn’t one offering suffice for all Israel, as is the case with other communal sacrifices? (Ovadiah ben Jacob Sforno, Commentary on the Torah, traduït i comentat per Rabí Raphael Pelcovitz, p. 339).

Because the Pesach sacrifice, the original one, was on the 14th of Nisan in the afternoon, and every house and every family did it (Shemot, 12:3-6). And then what? What is this sacrifice, this avodah? It is the sacrifice of God’s Pesach (line 27), and it’s to mark the future passing over on the following midnight. And since we can’t sacrifice at night, we must offer it at a time which continues into the following night. This meaning in the evening. And each one must bring this sacrifice, for the miracle occurred with each individual as such, not to the community as a whole (Ovadiah ben Jacob Sforno, pp. 339-340).

In the afternoon of the fourteenth of Nisan the Egyptian god, in the form of a lamb, is sacrificed. And in the following night, all the firstborns in Mitsraim will also die. Freedom came at at the highest price, and that’s not about the number of lambs. It was only at hand after the sacrificing of the firstborn.

Maybe it’s for this that the miracle of getting out of Mitsraim happens to each person and it’s not a community event, as Sforno says. Each house and every family hat to take responsibility and get a lamb, sacrifice it and paint the doorposts. There was no miracle in the house without blood on its posts. Maybe it’s for this that we are all reminded that every person, in every generation, has to see itself as if they were going out of Mitsraim.

We will see this same personal responsibility a week after walking out, at the shore of the sea of reeds. Just before the parting of the sea. To be able to go out of Mitsraim we have to take responsibility. And we walk out by ourselves.

Resources

Mourner’s Kaddish (Kaddish Yatom), traditionally said by mourners––that is, those who have lost a parent during the previous eleven months or a child, sibling, or spuce during the last thirty days––and by those observing the anniversary of the death of those close relatives. (In many contemporary communities, the full congregation says it in support of the mourners, and in memory of the six million Jews who perished during the Holocaust, assuming that at least one died on any given day.) The mourners Kaddish omits lines 7 and 8 of the Full Kaddish that asks God to answer our prayers, because presumably, God did not grant the mourner’s prayers that the relative recover and live).
אבל: יִתְגַּדַּל וְיִתְקַדַּשׁ שְׁמֵהּ רַבָּא
[קהל: אמן] בְּעָלְמָא דִּי בְרָא כִרְעוּתֵהּ וְיַמְלִיךְ מַלְכוּתֵהּ בְּחַיֵּיכון וּבְיומֵיכון וּבְחַיֵּי דְכָל בֵּית יִשרָאֵל בַּעֲגָלָא וּבִזְמַן קָרִיב, וְאִמְרוּ אָמֵן: [קהל: אמן] קהל ואבל: יְהֵא שְׁמֵהּ רַבָּא מְבָרַךְ לְעָלַם וּלְעָלְמֵי עָלְמַיָּא אבל: יִתְבָּרַךְ וְיִשְׁתַּבַּח וְיִתְפָּאַר וְיִתְרומַם וְיִתְנַשּא וְיִתְהַדָּר וְיִתְעַלֶּה וְיִתְהַלָּל שְׁמֵהּ דְּקֻדְשָׁא. בְּרִיךְ הוּא. [קהל: בריך הוא:] לְעֵלָּא מִן כָּל בִּרְכָתָא בעשי”ת: לְעֵלָּא לְעֵלָּא מִכָּל וְשִׁירָתָא תֻּשְׁבְּחָתָא וְנֶחֱמָתָא דַּאֲמִירָן בְּעָלְמָא. וְאִמְרוּ אָמֵן: [קהל: אמן] יְהֵא שְׁלָמָא רַבָּא מִן שְׁמַיָּא וְחַיִּים עָלֵינוּ וְעַל כָּל יִשרָאֵל. וְאִמְרוּ אָמֵן: [קהל: אמן] עושה שָׁלום בִּמְרומָיו הוּא יַעֲשה שָׁלום עָלֵינוּ וְעַל כָּל יִשרָאֵל וְאִמְרוּ אָמֵן: [קהל: אמן]

וְזֹ֖את הַתּוֹרָ֑ה אֲשֶׁר־שָׂ֣ם מֹשֶׁ֔ה לִפְנֵ֖י בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ תּוֹרָ֥ה צִוָּה־לָ֖נוּ מֹשֶׁ֑ה מוֹרָשָׁ֖ה קְהִלַּ֥ת יַעֲקֹֽב׃ הָאֵל֮ תָּמִ֢ים דַּ֫רְכּ֥וֹ אִמְרַֽת־יְהֹוָ֥ה צְרוּפָ֑ה מָגֵ֥ן ה֝֗וּא לְכֹ֤ל ׀ הַחֹסִ֬ים בּֽוֹ׃

Before reading the Torah:
הַשֵּׁם עִמָּכֶם.
יְבָרֶכְךָ הַשֵּׁם.
 

 .בָּרְכוּ אֶת יְהֹוָה הַמְּבֹרָךְ
.בָּרוּךְ יְהֹוָה הַמְּבֹרָךְ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד
.בָּרוּךְ יְהֹוָה הַמְּבֹרָךְ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהֹוָה, אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר בָּחַר בָּנוּ מִכָּל הָעַמִּים וְנָתַן לָנוּ אֶת תּוֹרָתוֹ. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהֹוָה, נוֹתֵן הַתּוֹרָה:
 אמן.

After reading the Torah:

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהֹוָה, אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר נָתַן לָנוּ אֶת תּוֹרָתוֹ תּוֹרַת אֱמֶת, וְחַיֵּי עוֹלָם נָטַע בְּתוֹכֵנוּ. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהֹוָה, נוֹתֵן הַתּוֹרָה:
אמן.

Beracha recited before the reading of the Haftara:

Mi Sheberach, the Jewish prayer for healing, is one of the most meaningful prayers in Judaism. It is a public prayer or blessing for an individual or group, most often recited in synagogue when the Torah is being read. 

He who blessed our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses and Aaron, David and Solomon, may he heal ___ who is ill. May the Holy One, blessed be he, have mercy and speedily restore him to perfect health, both spiritual and physical; and let us say, Amen.

מִי שֶׁבֵּרַךְ אֲבוֹתֵֽינוּ, אַבְרָהָם יִצְחָק וְיַעֲקֹב, משֶׁה וְאַהֲרֹן, דָּוִד וּשְׁלֹמֹה, הוּא יְבָרֵךְ וִירַפֵּא אֶת הַחוֹלֶה ___. הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא יִמָּלֵא רַחֲמִים עָלָיו לְהַחֲלִימוֹ וּלְרַפֹּאתוֹ, לְהַחֲזִיקוֹ וּלְהַחֲיוֹתוֹ, וְיִשְׁלַח לוֹ מְהֵרָה רְפוּאָה שְׁלֵמָה, רְפוּאַת הַנֶּֽפֶשׁ וּרְפוּאַת הַגּוּף; וְנֹאמַר אָמֵן.

Tefilat HaDerech (Hebrew: תפילת הדרך), also known as the Traveler’s Prayer or Wayfarer’s Prayer in English, is a prayer for safe travel recited by Jews when traveling by air, sea, or long car trips. It is recited at the start of every journey, preferably standing, but this is not required. It is frequently inscribed on hamsas, which may also include the Shema or Birkat HaBayit prayer.

In the “Blessing of Thanksgiving” (Birkat HaGomel), persons in four different categories should express gratitude to God for His compassion toward them:
One who has done one of the following: a) traveled across the ocean (by an international flight, etc.); b) traversed the desert; c) recovered from a very serious illness; d) been released from prison.
All other potentially fatal circumstances that one escapes, such as a wall crumbling on him, an ox goring him, thieves, auto accidents, etc., fall under the category of desert.

The reader recites:

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם הַגּוֹמֵל לְחַיָּבִים טוֹבוֹת שֶׁגְּמָלַנִי כָּל טוֹב.

 
The congregations responds:

מִי שֶׁגְמַלְךָ כֹּל טוֹב הוּא יִגְמַלְךָ כֹּל טוֹב סֶלָה.

NameSymbolSephardi
Sof passukב׃‎סוֹף פָּסֽוּק‎
Sof pasuk
Etnachtaב֑‎אַתְנָ֑ח‎
Atnaḥ
Segolב֒‎סְגוֹלְתָּא֒‎
Segolta
Shalsheletב֓‎שַׁלְשֶׁ֓לֶת‎
Šalšeleþ
Zakef katanב֔‎זָקֵף קָט֔וֹן‎
Záqéf Qáţown
Zakef gadolב֕‎זָקֵף גָּד֕וֹל‎
Záqéf Ggádowl
Tifchaב֖‎טַרְחָ֖א‎
Tarḥa
Riviaב֗‎רְבִ֗יע‎
Revia
Zarkaב֮‎זַרְקָא֮‎
Zarqa
Pashtaב֙‎קַדְמָא֙‎
Qadma
Shene pashtinב֨‎ב֙‎תְּרֵ֨י קַדְמִין֙‎
Tere qadmin
Yetivב֚‎יְ֚תִיב‎
Yetiv
Tevirב֛‎תְּבִ֛יר‎
Tviyr
Pazerב֡‎פָּזֶר גָּד֡וֹל‎
Pazer gadol
Qarne farahב֟‎קַרְנֵי פָרָ֟ה‎
Qarne farah
Telisha gedolaב֠‎תִּ֠רְצָה‎
Tirtzah
Gereshב֜‎גְּרִ֜ישׁ‎
Gerish
Gershayimב֞‎שְׁנֵי גְרִישִׁ֞ין‎
Shene gerishin
Munachב׀‎פָּסֵ֣ק׀‎
Paseq
Merchaב֥‎מַאֲרִ֥יךְ‎
Maarich
Munachב֣‎שׁוֹפָר הוֹלֵ֣ךְ‎
Shofar holech
Mahpachב֤‎‏(שׁוֹפָר) מְהֻפָּ֤ךְ‎
(Shofar) mehuppach
Dargaב֧‎דַּרְגָּ֧א‎
Ddarggá
Kadmaב֨‎אַזְלָ֨א or קַדְמָ֨א‎
Azla or Qadma[18]
Telisha ketanaב֩‎תַּלְשָׁא֩‎
Talsha
Mercha kefulaב֦‎תְּרֵי טַעֲמֵ֦י‎
Tere ta’ame
Yerach ben yomoב֪‎יֵרֶח בֶּן יוֹמ֪וֹ‎
Yeraḥ ben yomo

Spanish-Portuguese custom

זַרְקָא֮ מַקַּף־שׁוֹפָר־הוֹלֵ֣ךְ סְגוֹלְתָּא֒ פָּזֵר גָּד֡וֹל תַ֠לְשָׁא תִּ֩ילְשָׁא אַזְלָ֨א גֵּ֜רֵישׁ פָּסֵק  ׀  רָבִ֗יעַ שְׁנֵי־גֵרֵישִׁ֞ין דַּרְגָ֧א תְּבִ֛יר מַאֲרִ֥יךְ טַרְחָ֖א אַתְנָ֑ח שׁוֹפָר־מְהֻפָּ֤ךְ קַדְמָא֙ תְּרֵ֨י־קַדְמִין֙ זָקֵף־קָט֔וֹן זָקֵף־גָּד֕וֹל שַׁלְשֶׁ֓לֶת תְּרֵי־טַעֲמֵ֦י יְ֚תִיב סוֹף־פָּסֽוּק׃

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