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Published:
March 17, 2013
Why Bitter Herbs
Why do we need to be reminded that slavery is bitter?
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Visitor Comments: 6
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About the Author
Mrs. Lori Palatnik
Lori Palatnik is a writer and Jewish educator who has appeared on television and radio, and is the author of "Friday Night and Beyond: The Shabbat Experience Step-By-Step," "Remember My Soul - What to do in Memory of a Loved One," and co-author of "Gossip: 10 Pathways to Eliminate It From Your Life and Transform Your Soul." She is a much sought-after international speaker, having lectured in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, U.K., Central America, South America, South Africa and Israel, including featured talks at Yale, Brown and Penn. She lives in the Washington D.C. area, with her husband, Rabbi Yaakov Palatnik. Lori is the Founder of The Jewish Women's Renaissance Project, an international initiative that brings over 1,000 women to Israel each year from ten different countries on highly subsidized programs to inspire them with the beauty and wisdom of their heritage. She is the busy mother of five children, ages 24 to 14; and her son, Zev, just finished serving as a sharpshooter in the IDF. Her weekly video blog, "Lori Almost Live" is a popular feature on aish.com, viewed by over 50,000 people each month.
Follow Lori on Twitter, @LoriAlmostLive
(5) Anonymous, April 10, 2013 1:09 AM
Wonderful message
I don't often find myself saying it was better back when. It was just different and I was different in the past. As I grow older I find meaning in things I never even noticed before. There are always challenges and tough times, but hopefully with age comes the wisdom to deal with today's challenges in a better way than we did in the past.
(4) Jeff, March 23, 2013 6:30 PM
I found this message to be very inspiring,we do tend to think back at past hardships and tell ourselves that it wasnt so bad. Hence the bitter herbs!
(3) ruth housman, March 19, 2013 4:40 PM
Bittersweet
It's an old "saw". We cannot have the one, without, the other, and even today, in seeing the anguish, the terrible brutality in this world, it would be hard to embrace what is bitter without knowing we must do what we can to change this. On another plane, we have Divine Providence, a knowledge that we were "led" and to be led, in this way, to be able to talk about these deep ongoing metaphoric truths, requires the bad parts of the story, along with the good. We could not feel the climb, reach the spires of inspiration without this. But it cannot ever condone, can it, the suffering we experience. And so we are caught, and what we can do, is make the world better, brighter, more loving, and that's the Burnt Manuscript, what's within the ORDER of the commandments themselves. Mitva and Matza are related words. I see it. I hear it. I know it.
(2) Anonymous, March 19, 2013 3:07 PM
I don't know...
I certainly understand your message, but I'm not sure. For me, those good old days *were* good. I had a lot of fun, I had a general feeling of well-being and optimism. Now, it doesn't look so bright. I'm fulfilling some of my dreams, and I'm grateful for that, but I can't call the life "before" bitter. I've commented before that Lori has a pretty nice life, bli ayin hara, that some of us don't have. She isn't struggling to make ends meet, she has a family that's close and loving, not estranged, etc. We didn't all get such a good deal. I'd imagine that many people look back to their "before" days and remember them well, not bitter.
Lori, March 20, 2013 6:02 PM
Everyone has their challenges.
Please do not assume that I do not have amy challenges, because believe me, I do, whether it be relationships, finances or health. I am a person like you, just my challenges are different than yours. My rebbetzin taught me "that there are no problems, only opportunities for growth," and that is how I choose to live my life-- to not only face my challenges, but somehow embrace them.