by Rabbi Avi Weiss
Posted on May 25, 2016
The literal approach to the Haggadah’s four children is straightforward. On four different occasions, the Torah describes questions asked by children about Passover. Based on the language of the question, the author of the Haggadah labels each of them. One questioner is described as wise, the second rebellious, the third simple, and the fourth not even knowing how to ask.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on April 21, 2016
A major part of what makes the Seder evening so powerful is the way in which the symbolic mitzvot—reclining, dipping, drinking four cups of wine, eating the marror and the matzah—bring the Pesach story to life and how the story, in turn, gives depth and meaning to these mitzvot and rituals.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on April 1, 2016
Parashat Parah commemorates the process of purification that would precede the bringing of the korban Pesach. Appropriately, sometimes we read it at the end of Parashat Shmini, which describes how, after the completion of the dedication of the altar, the sacrifices would henceforth be desired and received in Heaven: “And there came a fire out from before the Lord, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces” (Vayikra 9:24).…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on April 1, 2015
The central mitzvah of the Seder night is sippur yitziyat Mitzrayim, telling the story of the exodus from Egypt. The simplest way to do this would be to open Shemot and read the narrative directly from the Torah. This experience would certainly be more engaging than reading the story in the Haggadah – there is greater detail in the Torah, the plot is more dramatic, and, as one of my students recently pointed out, there are the characters, the actors who make the story interesting.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on April 11, 2014
I would like to share the following thought for Pesach in memory of Rivka Haut, z”l, who passed away a little over a week ago. Rivka was, as a recent obituary put it, a fearless warrior, a warrior for the cause for justice for agunot and for creating a space for women within the Orthodox community.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on April 5, 2012
The seder is one of the most powerful religious experiences of the year, attracting a large percentage of unaffiliated and secular Jews: 70% of American Jews and 80% of secular Israeli Jews say they will attend a seder this year. Even for religious and observant Jews, the seder is a profound event, a night that, certainly as children but even for adults, we eagerly anticipate and whose memory we cherish.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on May 13, 2011
Mesechet Menachot (53) addressed the prohibition to make menachot out of chametz. Menachot, grain sacrifices, are usually made as matzah, unleavened bread. There are some, notably the shetei ha’lechem, the two loaves that are brought on Shavuot, which are chametz. Nevertheless, such chametz offerings are never burned on the altar, and the Torah explicitly prohibits this: “For all leaven and all honey you shall not offer up as a burnt offering to God” (Vayikra 3:11).…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on April 22, 2011
The Torah calls Passover the “Feast of Matzot” and it commands us both to eat matzot on the first night and to not eat chametz, or leavened bread, for the entire 7 day holiday. The Torah’s prohibitions regarding chametz seem inordinately severe: the punishment for eating it is greater than for eating most prohibited foods.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on April 8, 2011
I would like to share my reflections on a profound Sfat Emet on the topic of Pesach and personal identity. I found this piece to be particularly meaningful in the context of my comments on parshat Metzorah. Here is the text: כי זכירה היא נקודה פנימית שאין בה שכתה.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on March 19, 2010
While we rule that it is a mitzvah d’oraitta to eat matzah on the seder night, it is far from clear as far as the simple sense of the verses are concerned. It is interesting to see how Hazal interpreted the verses to come to this conclusion.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on March 12, 2010
There is good evidence that the practice of a pseudo-korban pesach existed – not on bringing it on Har HaBayit without a Beit HaMikdash, but outside of the environs of the Beit HaMikdash and Jerusalem. The Tosefta in Ohalot (3:9) tells of a burial that took place in Beit Dagan on erev Pesach.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on March 5, 2010
Parshat Parah, a special maftir read before pesach, is read to remind us of the period of purification that preceded the bringing of the korban Pesach on the 14th of Nissan. While for most of us, this is a reminder of a thousands-year-old practice that became obsolete with the destruction of the Temple, this is not true for all.…
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