Jewish Reconstructionist Federation

Rabbi Alan Lew, a leader in the budding Jewish meditation movement, will be visiting Ann Arbor from April 4-6, 2008. All are invited to partake in this weekend of pre-Passover spiritual preparation. The weekend will include several talks, text study, and experiential components to take place at several Jewish venues around Ann Arbor, MI.Alan Lew 2/08

Erev Shabbat will begin with a Shabbat Dinner at 6 pm, followed by Shabbat Services including a sermon by Rabbi Lew. On Shabbat morning services will be based on a traditional model but will include considerably less text, and considerably more chanting and silence. Saturday afternoon themes of discussion will be “The Four Cups of Freedom; Four Aspects of Spiritual Liberation,” and “Leave-Taking; The Biblical Pre-Requisite to Spiritual Liberation.” The afternoon program will conclude at Beth Israel Congregation with a seudah sh’lisheet (third meal).

Sunday morning will be devoted to a meditation workshop based on his most recent book, Be Still And Get Going. "It will be an examination of Yetziat Mitzraim (the Exodus from Egypt)," says Lew, "the seminal moment of Biblical leave-taking, and the extraordinary Five-Step program for transformation that we find there."

Vote for RachelOur own Rachel Robbins, currently working at JRF as an administrative assistant, has entered Public Radio Talent Quest with her story of finding wheat free matzah.

It's a fun, funny and insightful story.

To listen and vote, you will need to
1. Register at: http://www.publicradioquest.com

2. Go to this link and listen and vote for me: http://www.publicradioquest.com/node/2096

Go Rachel. You are awesome!

View the video.

Fun 25-second video showing a technique for picking up a piece of bread as part of the search for leaven (chametz or cho’metz in Yiddish pronunciation) that takes place on the night before the first seder.

The Mishna in Pesachim 1:1 instructs that a house be searched by the light of a candle on the 14th of Nisan. The Mishnah seems to discourage obsessive cleaning as it instructs, "No place to which hametz has not been brought need be inspected."

Shabbat UnpluggedHappy Passover Everyone!

Two new recordings are now available in the resources section of this site. The first is for Hassal Siddur Pesach, the concluding prayer of the Hagaddah. The second is a recording of the Kiddush (prayer sanctifying the beginning of the holiday). Enjoy!

• Hassal Siddur Pesach
• Passover Kiddush

Rabbi Leah Richman: Spiritual Leader of Oheb Zedeck Synagogue in Pottstown, PA.The Song of Songs, sometimes called or The Song of Solomon, is one of the five scrolls read on various holidays throughout the year. It is designated as the scroll we read for the holiday of Pesach. The entire book is a series of love songs in poetic form.

This book is unique in the books of the Bible in that not only does it not mention G-d, it also doesn't deal with religious themes explicitly. While the book of Esther also fails to mention G-d, the spirit of nationalism and the Jewish people pervades that book in a way which is lacking here.

Image from Searching the Leaven: by Shai Gluskin. See the leaven searching video.Read the article.

In this article I argue that the tension between law and rebellion, between status quo and the desire to bring redemption now, is played out richly and artfully in the liturgy of the Passover Seder.

Specific references to the text are explained in this light.

Read the article.

Study the symbols of the Passover seder plate with Reconstructionist Rabbinical College President Rabbi Dan Ehrenkrantz. A 30-minute audio file and companion PDF text are downloadable from the RRC's web site.

Kosher for Passover Coke: by Mark H. AnbinderThis week's portion is Tzav and it falls on Shabbat Hagadol (The Big Shabbath), when it is traditional to talk about Pesah (Passover), rather than the parashat hashavua (the portion of the week). In this case, however, the week's reading relates to the coming hag (holiday), although not necessarily in an obvious way. The title is taken from the imperative form of the Hebrew verb, 'to command,' which has the same root as the noun for command, mitzvah, and is the first distinguishing word in the parashah.

Play the Video. There is a Jewish ritual of searching out any remaining bits of bread on the night before the first night of Passover (Pesach). This video is a series of stills put to an iPhoto slideshow with music. The images were photographed without flash in almost total darkness as my children did the search with their grandparents.

Audio track is by RebbeSoul and is used with permission.

• Article: Next Year In Jerusalem?
  By Leslie Brenner, Rabbi Jeffrey Schein
  An article and dicussion questions reflecting on possible interpretations of the phrase that ends the Passover seder: "L'shanah haba'ah biyerushalayim -- Next Year in Jerusalem."
  
  
• Audio Interview: Passover: The Holiday
  By Rabbi Jacob Staub, Rabbi Shawn Zevit
  Rabbis Jacob Staub and Shawn Zevit discuss the basis for the holiday of Passover, how it developed over the centuries to become the most celebrated Jewish festival today, the major themes that the exodus and Passover convey to us from a Reconstructionist perspective. An episode of Heart, Mind and Spirit, the first regularly scheduled Reconstructionist radio show in the history of the movement.
  
  
• Audio Interview: Passover: The Seder
  By Rabbi Richard Hirsh, Rabbi Joy Levitt, Rabbi Shawn Zevit
  An overview of the structure, development and religious meanings of the haggadah and the Passover seder with Rabbis Joy Levitt and Richard Hirsh. Includes a special behind-the-scenes look at the new Reconstructionist Haggadah A Night of Questions and accompanying music CD. An episode of Heart, Mind and Spirit, the first regularly scheduled Reconstructionist radio show in the history of the movement.
  
  
• Class Activity: Hebrew Slaves And Israeli Foreign Workers
  By Rabbi Amy Klein
  Torah text and newspaper articles draw connections between contemporary Israeli foreign workers and ancient Hebrew slaves. Includes discussion questions and links to Israeli human rights organizations' websites.
  
  
• Class Activity: Make Your Own Haggadah And Seder Plate!
  By Rabbi Amy Klein
  Encourages kids to get creative and make their own guide to the Passover seder.
  
  
• Dvar Torah: Circles and Cycles
  By Rabbi Steven Pik-Nathan
  Last month we celebrated Purim with joy and abandon. This week we rejoice in freedom and redemption with a mixture of celebration and serious contemplation. As we sat at the seder table this past week ...
  
  
• Dvar Torah: Family at the Root of Passover Commandments
  By Aaron Seidman
  How can we explain why some people observe Passover so strictly even when they don't observe much else? Aaron Seidman argues that it is the home-based family nature of the holiday that creates the commandment that people are more willing to follow.
  
  
• Dvar Torah: The Miracle of Freedom
  By Rabbi Emanuel S. Goldsmith
  Pesah occurs in the spring which "has always been suggestive of the beginning and the survival of the Jewish people. ... As the springtide of nature fills each creature with joy and hope, so Israel'...
  
  
• Dvar Torah: The Tension Between Law and Redemption on Passover
  By Rabbi Shai Gluskin
  Rabbi Gluskin argues that the tension between law and rebellion, between status quo and the desire to bring redemption now, is played out richly and artfully in the liturgy of the Passover Seder. Specific references to the text are explained in this light.
  
  
• Lesson Plan: Aytz Hayim We: Song of Songs Lesson
  By Rabbi Erin Hirsh, Rabbi Jeffrey Schein
  Lesson Two from the Aytz Hayim We: Song of Songs adult education curriculum. The full curriculum is available for purchase from the JRF Press. This lesson helps participants get "on the same page" and then set off on an exploratory journey that includes midrash, secular writings, expository analysis of the text and lots of questions.
  
  
• Music: Hassal Siddur Pesach
  By JRF
  Melody for the penultimate prayer in the Passover Haggadah, Hebrew text, transliteration, translation, and mp3 are provided.
  
  
• Music: Kiddush for Passover
  By Shabbat Unplugged
  Recording of the kiddush sanctification prayer said at the beginning of major holiday.
  
  
• Program Description: Tzedakah And The Jewish Holidays: Giving For Social Change
  By Rabbi Shawn Zevit
  Ideas for giving opportunities throughout the Jewish year. Connects each Jewish holiday to the concept of tzedakah and recommends a relevant type of benficiary to support.
  
  
• Recipe: Multicultural Haroset Recipes
  By Rabbi Amy Klein
  Three haroset recipes from Ashkenazic, Morrocan and Egyptian traditions.
  
  
• Ritual: Passover Reading on Darfur Genocide
  By Rabbi Michael Strassfeld
  Written for the April 30, 2006 rally to stop the genocide in Darfur, this prayer is a riff on the Passover song, "Who Knows One?" Each verse delineates another horror taking place in Sudan. Our knowledge of these facts cannot be denied. Action is the only alternative.
  
  
• RT Article: Exodus in Our Time
  By Sheri Linder
  Sheri Linder's re-figuring of the Exodus from Egypt is for children, "especially for those who will begin their journeys soon."