Vayikra: Worth the Sacrifice
Dear Friend,
Passover requires more advance preparation, more sheer physical labor, than any other holiday. In moments of exhaustion, I’ve often wondered why a Passover-preparing robot has not yet been invented.
But then I see the glow. Sometimes it appears just as I’m sitting down to the Seder with my family. Other times it shows up unexpectedly, while I’m stuffing yet another potato into my food processor. All my work has given the holiday a special radiance, a luminous quality that’s purely Passover. In a generation of instant gratification, Passover reminds me on a yearly basis that hard work always pays off.
Nowhere is this lesson more evident than in the process of baking matzah. The Torah commands us to guard our matzahs to prevent them from rising. To fulfill this commandment in the best way, shmurah matzah is made from wheat that has been watched from the time of harvest to ensure that it does not become moist. At the bakery, the dough is carefully mixed, rolled and baked by hand with the express intention that it be used at the Seder.
The hard work, concentration and love that go into hand-baked shmurah matzah are just some of the things that make it special. Go ahead and order some. You’ll be glad you did.
Sarah Ogince,
on behalf of the Chabad.org Editorial Team
Are you a goring bull, trampling on everyone and everything in its way? A meek, little lamb that timidly follows the crowd?
When given an opportunity to earn more dollars, few people will say, “Why bother? I can manage with the bare necessities.” Why would the spiritual quality of life be any less important?
The history of the Jewish people testifies to the presence of G‑d in their midst.
Sometimes viewed as a collection of arcane laws of animal sacrifices and ritual purity, Leviticus is very much valued in Judaism.
G-d tells Moses about the sacrifices brought on the altar in the Sanctuary, including the meal offering, peace offering, offering of atonement, guilt offering and ascending offering.
I held her arm and prepared for the shriek. It didn’t come. I was somewhere on the spectrum between pleasantly surprised and utterly shocked.
My children already know that if they so much as touch their heads I pounce on them, ready to inspect. But the louse itself is incredibly hard, if not impossible, to find.
G‑d’s home is to be created with work and sweat. He wants paintings—not prints. He doesn’t want it to be built off His inspiration alone. He wants us to reach deep within our souls and inspire ourselves.
Blood represents life, warmth and enthusiasm. These attributes are intended to be sanctified—sprinkled on the altar in the Holy Temple.
Jewish law even gives guidance as to how we should get dressed in the morning.
In the Talmud, Rabbi Eliezer says that the world was created in the autumn, in the month of Tishrei, while Rabbi Yehoshua says that the world was created in the spring, in the month of Nissan. What are the two different “creations,” and how do they correspond to body and soul?
How could there be light before there is anything at all? What would it illuminate, if nothing yet exists? Where would it radiate, if space is yet to be invented?
“Come with me to carry a bale of hay to a poor widow who has no straw upon which to lay her broken body . . .”
While the “Four Sons” differ from one another in their reactions to the Seder service, they have one thing in common: they are all present at the Seder service.
It is amazing how, in one heartbeat, a good day can turn tragic, or a bad day can turn miraculous.
For many, shmurah matzah has become the harbinger of the holiday.
Couple to jump-start Jewish learning in Mumbai community.
Perfect for Passover - crunchy fried chicken tenders, coated in almond meal and served with a delicious honey-lemon sauce.
Looking at your world from Above, all is good.
Looking at your world from within, things don’t always look so nice.
Until you connect your world below to the world above. Then the goodness flows downward without distortion.
How do you make that connection? By clinging tightly above.
By putting all your trust in G‑d.
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