42
Friday, March 29, 1985
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
0 1:X XIMCCICCI
The producers and distributors of
TORAH PORTION
Shabbat Hagodol! Setting
The Tone For Passover
BY RABBI JAMES I. GORDON
Special to The Jewish News
are pleased to announce that this year, as in the past, under special
arrangements, we have produced and are marketing throughout
Michigan and Northern Ohio, the finest quality of
KOSHER FOR PASSOVER
noel,
CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
an= VANILLA ICE CREAM ,
Certified Kosher by Rabbi Jack•Goldman, Administrator of the Metropolitan
Kashruth Council of Michigan
We take this opportunity to extend to the entire Jewish community best wishes
for a Happy and Healthy Passover celebration.
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Crossing the Red Sea: As Passover draws near, the Torah explains the
concepts of freedom.
The Sabbath prior to Pesach is
called "Shabbat Hagodol" because
of the great miracle that occurred
on that day. In the year of the
Exodus from Egypt, the tenth of
Nissan occurred on the Sabbath.
It was on this day that the Al-
mighty commanded the children
of Israel to prepare a lamb for the
sacrifice on the 14th of the month.
This was an especially defiant
act on the part of the Children of
Israel. The lamb was deified as an
object of worship by the Egyp-
tians; and indeed, Aries (lamb)
was the Zodiacal sign of the very
month of Nissan. Yet, instead of
severe reprisals against this per-
fidious act, the Egyptians ac-
cepted it with meek resignation.
This miraculous occurrence
sets the tone for an understanding
of the message of freedom inher-
ent in the holiday ofPesach. There
are, in truth, two freedoms: physi-
cal freedom and spiritual
emanicipation. The author of the
Haggadah states it well when he
says, "He brought us forth from
servitude to freedom and from
darkness to light." The first is a
prerequisite to the second. Being
set free from Egypt was a prologue
to the ultimate recognition and
acceptance of God's law at Sinai.
All holidays feature some dis-
tinctive performance of a
mitzvah. Blowing a shofar, fast-
ing, sitting in a succah or taking a
lulov but Pesach in addition to
eating matzah and moror has an
additional mitzvah of Haggadah -
telling, narrating, speaking.
Rabban Gamliel used to say
"Whoever does not discuss three
things on Passover has not kept
his obligation (of the Seder) prop-
erly. They are: the Paschal Lamb,
the matzah, and the bitter herbs.
The Torah underscores several
times the utilization of narration
toward a deeper appreciation of
this important holiday. "And you
shall tell your son on that day say-
ing;" "When your child will ask
. . . and you shall say unto him;"
"In order that you may relate into
the ears of your children."
There is a basic lesson of pedag-
ogy associated with Passover.
Verbal theorizing must be com-
bined with concrete acts. The
Seder combines the two but the
idea of freedom began with the
miracle of Shabbat Hagodol. It
was an act of independence in
order to assert that physical free-
Tzav Shabbat
Hagadol:
Leviticus 6:1-8:36.
Malachi 3:4-24.
dom is not enough, the goal lies in
spiritual emancipation.
To develop a generation of chil-
dren spiritually alive and truly
free we must be cognizant of the
message that speaks not only
from "servitude to freedom" but
from "darkness to light."
Electric Firm
Fined For Bias
Amsterdam (JTA) — The
Amsterdam Higher District
Court has imposed a fine of 750
Guilders (about $200) on a local
electrical company for certifying
that two of its employees sent on a
project to Saudi Arabia were not
Jewish.
The case developed two years
ago when the firm, Flakt, stated,
in its application for Saudi visas,
that the employees' religion was
Christian and that they had no
relations with Israel.
A complaint of racial discrimi-
nation was lodged by the Center
for Information and Documenta-
tion on Israel (CIDI) under an
amendment to the criminal code
dating from 1981.
Visitation Hours
Cong. Shaarey Zedek Beth
Olam Cemetery will be open for
pre-Passover visitation Sunday,
from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.