A Message from Rabbi Klein
Dear Members,
The Jewish calendar is filled with many holidays and
their connected rituals. Having just
celebrated a very joyous and raucous Purim, our eyes are now set on the truly
great holiday of Passover.
Hopefully, there is no need for me to recount in this
space the reason and rituals that make this holiday so very important to the
Jewish people. But I do want to make
note of the restriction of the Biblical mandate that no leavened product should
be found in our dwellings during the time of Passover, nor should we consume
any leavened product during this holiday.
The rabbis of old make the connection between leavened
foods, especially dough that rises as it is baked, and the swelling of a
person’s pride. Just as food that
contains Chametz rises, so does the ego of a person
who falsely believes that they are better than anyone else.
According to the Book of Proverbs, arrogance and pride
are abhorrent to God. And the sages of
the Talmud also make a correlation between the leavened Chametz
that is forbidden during Passover and the instruction not to allow us to become
swollen with pride and arrogance.
It is taught that the Pharaoh, who refused
to let the Children of Israel leave, suffered such a great defeat because of
his arrogance, and therefore, we should avoid similar behaviors.
However, that excellent advice is ignored all too
often.
Sadly, in the headlines of the last few weeks, a very
prominent politician suffered a crashing downfall, perhaps fueled by his own arroganceand false pride.
True, we are all not prominent players on the world’s
stage, but we all can suffer humiliation and defeat when we allow our egos to
become swollen, just as dough swells from the leavening process.
Indeed, there are many lessons to be learned from the
great holiday of Passover. Not allowing
our pride to swell so that it blocks our ability to clearly see the right path
is truly one of them.
As we consume our matzah
during Passover, let us try to remember that matzah
is flat and thin, yet it only takes a little more than 18 minutes in the oven
to change that flat product into one that is all puffed up.
And it only takes a little bit of false pride and
arrogance to change us from a person filled with kindness and integrity, into
one who no longer treats others with respect and compassion.
I truly wish all of our dear members and friends a
very happy Passover.
B”shalom,
Rabbi Michael Klein
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Ahavat Achim,
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