Ki Tisa 5759

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Ki Tisa (Exodus 30:11-34:35 )

GOOD
MORNING!

Thirty days before each holiday we are directed by
the Sages to prepare for the holiday. We are now 30 days and closing
on Passover! The seders are Wednesday night, March 31st and Thursday
night, April 1st. In order to transform what may have become an
overly ritualized family reunion into a fountainhead of insight and
inspiration, I cannot recommend highly enough, The Passover Survival
Kit. It's for people with a lot more than four questions. Available
at your local Jewish bookstore or call 877-758-3242. Also, check out
the Aish website on Passover -- www.aish.edu. Of course, it wouldn't
hurt to also save the next four weeks' copies of the Shabbat Shalom
to have at the Seder table ...

Q & A: WHAT IS PESACH (PASSOVER) AND HOW IS IT CELEBRATED?

Every Jewish holiday is an opportunity to work on a certain aspect
of personal growth. Succot is the time to work on Joy; Yom Kippur
the time to work on Teshuva, spiritual accounting; Shavuot is the
time to work on Kabbalat HaTorah, taking Torah seriously.

Passover is the holiday of Freedom -- spiritual freedom. For this
the Almighty brought us out of Egypt. So, what is the essence of
Freedom?

Is Freedom the ability to do what one desires unhampered and without
consequence? That is license, not freedom. James Bond had a
"license to kill," not the freedom to kill. Freedom means having
the ability to use your free will to grow and develop.

People think they are free when in reality they are often "slaves" to
the fads and fashion of their society. Slavery is non-thinking
action, rote behavior, following the impulse desires of the body.
Our job on Pesach is to come out of slavery into true freedom!

All of the commandments associated with Pesach enable us to relive
and experience the freedom our forefathers experienced in leaving the
land of Egypt in order to serve the Almighty.

During all eight days of Pesach we are forbidden to own chametz
(leavened bread -- i.e.., virtually any flour product not especially
produced for Pesach) or have it in our possession. Why the emphasis
on being chametz-free? Chametz represents arrogance ("puffing up").
The only thing that stands between you and G-d ... is you. To come
close to the Almighty, which is the ultimate pleasure in life and the
opportunity of every mitzvah and holiday, one must remove his own
personal arrogance. The external act brings the internal
appreciation; we remove chametz from our homes and we must likewise
work on the character trait of humility.

On the evening preceding Pesach there is a serious search of the home
for chametz. There is a custom to put 10 pieces of bread out so
there will be something to find during the search. (I believe this
is the source for the Easter Egg hunt amongst Christians). It is
done by the light of a candle or with a flashlight. It is a
memorable experience for the whole family!


Torah Portion of the Week

Ki Tisa

The Torah portion includes: instructions for taking a census (by each
person donating a half shekel); instructions to make the Washstand,
Anointing Oil, and The Incense for the Mishkan, the Portable
Sanctuary; appointing Bezalel and Oholiab to head up the architects
and craftsmen for the Mishkan; a special commandment forbidding the
building of the Mishkan on Shabbat (people might have thought that
they would be allowed to violate the Shabbat to do a mitzvah ...).

The Torah portion continues with the infamous story of the Golden
Calf. The people wrongly calculated that Moses was late in coming
down from Mt. Sinai and the people were already seeking a replacement
for him by making the Golden Calf (there is a big lesson in patience
for us here). Moses sees them dancing around the calf and in anger
breaks the Two Tablets; he then punishes the 3,000 wrongdoers (less
than .1% of the 3 million people), pleads to G-d not to wipe out the
people, requests to see the Divine Glory, and receives the second set
of Tablets of the Ten Commandments.

 

Dvar Torah
based on Growth Through Torah by
Rabbi Zelig Pliskin

The Torah states, "And the Almighty spoke to Moshe saying, 'Speak to
the Children of Israel saying, my Shabbat you shall keep, for it is a
sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may
know that I am the Almighty Who sanctifies you." (Exodus 31:12,13)
How is Shabbat ("Shabbos" in the Ashkenazic pronunciation) a sign of
the relationship between the Almighty and the Jewish people?

The Chofetz Chaim, Rabbi Yisroel Meir Kagan, the leading rabbi of his
generation until he passed on in 1933, gives two parables to
illustrate how Shabbat serves as a sign of the relationship between
the Jewish people and the Almighty. When two people are engaged to
be married they send each other gifts. Even if difficulties arise
between them, as long as they keep the gifts, then we know that they
still plan to get married. If they return the gifts, then we know
that the relationship between them is over. Similarly, as long as a
person observes Shabbat we see that he still has a relationship with
the Almighty. The Talmud (Shabbat 10b) describes the Shabbat as a
special gift the Almighty gave to the Jewish people. If a person, as
it were, returns this gift of Shabbat, it signifies difficulties with
the relationship.

The second parable: "When a person opens a new store, he puts a sign
outside that tells everyone what kind of store it is. A tailor will
have a symbol that shows he is a tailor; a shoemaker will have a
symbol that he is a shoemaker. Even if a person travels away for a
while, as long as his sign is still on the outside of the store,
everyone can expect him to eventually return. As soon as he takes
down his emblem from his store, we know that he no longer plans to
return."

"When you observe Shabbat," continues the Chofetz Chaim, "you testify
that the Almighty created the world in six days and rested on the
seventh. By keeping Shabbat you proclaim that you have this
awareness. A person who fails to keep Shabbat removes this sign.
This is the reason for the importance of Shabbat."

There is a common expression that as much as the Jewish people have
kept the Shabbat, the Shabbat has kept the Jewish people. Throughout
the ages Shabbat has been a focal point for the family and the
community. Shabbat should be high on your list for an investment in
the Jewish future of your family! For a good start, buy Friday
Night and Beyond by Lori Palatnik available at your local Jewish
bookstore or call 877-758-3242.

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