Kedoshim
Ten Plagues. Escaping Egypt. The splitting of the sea. Manna falling from the sky . . . Sounds like the makings of a great fantasy movie. But this is what we recount every Passover at our Seder. We gather round, celebrate and tell of the unbelievable, the supernatural, the miraculous.
The word “seder” means “order.” Order? But everything about Passover seems the complete opposite of our regular order? And that is exactly the point.
Passover is the time to remember that the “order” we live in is not our true order. We live in exile. We are much more in Egypt than we would like to believe. Our order, the way things are supposed to be, is an order filled with the revelation of goodness and G‑dliness. Our order is an order of miracles.
May we merit this Passover to fully break out of our personal and universal constraints, and enter the time of Moshiach, the time of true freedom, our seder.
Sara Esther Crispe,
on behalf of the Chabad.org Editorial Team
How the Passover time machine allows us to experience the past—and the future
What does an authentic experience mean to you? What parts of your life are “plastic simulations”?
A fascinating lecture demonstrating how the changes we see in the world around us are signs of a maturing world—marching toward redemption.
All throught the night, whenever this clock sounded the hour, the guest leapt from his bed and danced for joy. “It’s quite an ordinary clock,” said the surprised innkeeper.
“Thank you for not revealing that I’m not Jewish,” Kola’s robust voice called out from the front of the car. I was stunned. It hadn’t crossed my mind to introduce my driver one way or another
One of the greatest treasures in our Torah inheritance is the instruction to free ourselves of anger and resentment . . .
The Talmud teaches that the mitzvah of loving your fellow Jew is the entirety of Torah. How could this mitzvah that’s between man and man encompass all of Torah that’s between man and G‑d?
No matter how much respect we give our parents, we can never repay them for their part in bringing us into this world . . .
Whenever a very difficult question arose, the “Holy Jew” would concentrate very deeply, often remaining steeped in his thoughts for half an hour or more, until the answer came to him . . .
On holiness, and love, and holiness in love, and holy love . . . the meaning of the mitzvah . . . and more . . .
We thus have three concepts: holiness, respect for parents and the Shabbat. These three ideas tell us something about the fundamental purpose and nature of the Jewish people . . .
Of all the ancient laws and customs of the Jews, one of the most mysterious is that of the law forbidding shaatnez.
Isn’t marriage between man and woman a violation of the laws of kilayim, which prohibit the intermixing of divergent species?
Is it possible to be a good Jew, do mitzvahs, study Torah and pray to G‑d without ever thinking too deeply about who He is and what’s my relationship with Him?
Did Pharaoh accompany his army when they went after the Israelites? If so, did he die with them?
Shimon the Righteous would say: The world stands on three things: Torah, the service of G‑d, and deeds of kindness.
Our sages teach that one who transgresses and just makes a false scale—without actually using it—is punished. Why such measures when no harm has yet been caused?
The mandate of the whole of Creation is stated almost immediately.
They translate it as “Let there be light.”
But it is better translated as, “It should be light.”
Meaning that all the world—even the darkness—should become a source of light and wisdom.
And that mandate He put in our hands.
