Community Magazine April 2014

24 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE Imagine a wine store announces a special promotional event offering unlimited quantities of their finest wine to all customers who come on a certain day. Connoisseurs from all over the region flock to the store to stock up on this precious commodity. But when they arrive, only a small number are given wine – those who remembered to bring containers. The others missed their chance. On Pesach night, a tremendous amount of spiritual light descends from the heavens into our homes. But this will not help us if we do not bring with us “containers,” and we acquire these containers through our intensive Pesach preparations. As we prepare for Pesach, we are not just scrubbing, vacuuming, shopping and switching our utensils. We are preparing not just our homes, but ourselves, building within us the spiritual capacity to receive the bounty of blessing that showers down from the heavens into our dining rooms at the seder. This is why the four cups of wine feature so prominently at the seder. The cups represent not just joy and festivity, but also the “cups” that we bring with us to the seder for the purpose of receiving the bounty of blessing and sanctity that fills our homes at this special time. Many communities (though not the Syrian community) have the custom to read a special Haftarah on the Shabbat before Pesach, taken from the final chapter of the Prophets (Malachi 3). In this prophecy, Gd says to the Jewish people, “ Ki ani Hashem lo shaniti ve’atembene Yaakov lo chelitem ” (literally, “For I, Hashem, did not change, and you, the children of Yaakov, have not disappeared”). He bemoans the fact that although He “did not change,” and each year He brings us special holiness on Pesach, “ lo chelitem ” – we have not prepared the “ keli ,” the utensil, to receive that kedushah . Gd does His part, each and every year, but we, sadly, so often squander this precious opportunity. This Haftarah is read as a warning and admonition to seize this opportunity by acquiring the necessary “ keli ” by investing all we can in preparing for this extraordinary annual event. The famous rabbinic adage teaches, “ Lefum tza’ara agra – The reward is commensurate with the exertion.” We all know that preparing for Pesach entails a great deal of “ tza’ara ,” a lot of work and running around. It’s not easy to get all the work done, and it is even harder to get it done with joy and love. Hopefully, though, the ideas presented here will help us turn some of the groans into smiles, and turn the proverbial “Pesach blues” into an exciting experience. We must remember that Pesach preparations are difficult by design, because the more we put in, the more we receive. Perhaps we should try to think back to Rosh Hashanah, to the special feelings we had as we heard the sounding of the shofar , and then remember Rav Levi Yitzhak’s prayer. As powerful as those moments of shofar were, our Pesach preparations are even greater. And when Pesach finally comes and we sit down to the seder table, we can lift our cup with the satisfaction of knowing that we have brought our “utensils” with us, and we are prepared to receive the unique benefits of this sacred night.