March 30, 2012 ~ 7 Nissan 5772
Dear Friends,
We are one week away from the holiday that celebrates the incredible – nearly unimaginable moment, when a nation of slaves transformed themselves into a free people.
The Chassidic Master, Rabbi Mordechai YosefLeiner of Ishbitza, imagines that the Red Sea itself is awed by the Israelites and their ability to change. In their honor, the Sea chooses to transform its very nature from a free flowing body of water into a solid wall – standing upright with respect to allow the Children of Israel to pass right on through where it once flowed.
“Why is this night different than all other nights?” The answer we give our children is that tonight we remember that people can change. That the impossible transformations might just be possible.
Slaves can go free. The hungry can be fed. Oppression can end. Addictions can be overcome. We can build a society where our doors are always open, where strangers are nourished, and where redemption is just around the corner.
At our Passover seders, we are planting the seeds in our children’s minds, that one day, they too can “split the sea” of today’s most difficult challenges.
Shabbat Shalom! See you in shul!
Rabbi Uri
