University Students earn TRANSFERABLE COLLEGE CREDITS at Great Prices! Sh orte n (12 Week) courses start May 5 Tuition stic: :edit H Dur (Oakland County Residents) Aegis `".:;r Now through May 2 Call (810) Knead To Create During The Holiday 5444990 Michigan Undergraduate Guest Applications are available from the student's university advisor. Shabbat Hol Hamoed: Exodus 33:12-34:26, Numbers 28:19-25; Ezekiel 37:1-14. OAKLAND COMMUNITY COLLEGE Royal Oak Campus Southfield Campus 9 MILE ROAD CO 0 ;: sus RABBI SHLOMO PORTER SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS N A A N SEVENTH I I I I 0 LINCOLN to 1-75 ear AR 1-696 J. L.- HUDSON DR. For a schedule of classes, call the Admissions Office • (810) 544-4990 For alternate length spring class schedules on other OCC campuses, call: • Auburn Hills Campus (810) 340-6572 • Highland Lakes Campus (810) 360-3069 • Orchard Ridge Campus (810) 471-7616 OCC is an equal opportunity institution y now, Jews all over the world have consumed large quantities of matzah and are beginning to dream about chametz and a good corned beef sandwich on rye. I've been thinking about why the Torah only forbids chametz for eight days. If chametz has prop- erties that negatively affect our souls, why isn't it forbidden year- long, like non-kosher food? For the answer, we have to un- derstand what chametz and matzah represent. There are 10 creative steps in the process of making bread. We need to plow, sow, harvest, thresh, winnow, se- lect, grind, sift, knead and bake. When bread — the creation of our hands — comes out of the oven, we feel a sense of pride and accomplishment. We are creators. In order for us to be conscious that both our talent and ingre- dients come from the Almighty, we make a bracha on bread — B HaMotzi Lechem Meen HaAretz, "Who Ci) L.L.J CI) U_I CC F- LU Get Results... Advertise in our new Entertainment Section! LU 44 Calf The Sales Department (810) 3547123 Ext. 209 THE JEWISH NEWS ator in the model of a matzah. For eight days we shape our lives and souls exactly the way the Almighty commands us. We are humble matzahs — Jews that come out of Egypt by the grace of HaShem. We will strive to listen to Torah and act accordingly. We eat our matzah in the amounts required, we lean to the left, we drink four cups of wine, and we follow each –\ instruction of the seder exactly. We are trying to be matzahs. We want HaShem to shape our lives, and we desire to create a lov- ing relationship with Him. But the Torah doesn't want us to be robotic matzahs coming off a conveyor belt. HaShem wants us to take the mitzvot and apply our own initiatives, to use our egos to make a better world built on the L\ foundation of Torah and mitzvot. Every Jew is required to use his or her Di- vinely given talents to build schools, yeshivot, create in- novative education- al institutions, and create tzedakah pro- jects that elevate the -\ wealth of the Jewish community to its spiritual purpose. That's why Passover is only eight days. After a cycle of being matzahs, next week we can be chametz — because our egos are shaped by true Jewish values. Chametz and matzah share two of the same Hebrew letters a 7712771 and a zadik. The only dif- ference is that matzah has a hay — a letter from HaShem's name, while chametz has a chet that rep- resents ego and self-fulfillment. Chametz is kosher all year round when that ego is used to cre- ate a world of love and goodness based on the matzah model. Re- member, every bit of chametz startedoff as matzah. Good Shabbat, good Yom Tov,) and try to be the best matzah you can be this week. Next week you can be a good rye bread. 111 We start the renewal in the model of matzah. brings bread out of the earth." Now that we are creators, let's look at two models of cre- ator-creation relationships. One is the matzah model, while the second is the chametz model. The matzah model is shaped by its maker and quickly baked. It is ex- actly how its creator made it. The chametz model has the same basic ingredients as matzah. No leavening is necessary to make chametz. Just let it sit alone for 18 minutes, it will begin to fer- ment and rise. Chametz has a little more pizazz and ego. It takes on a per- sonality of its own. It looks a lot like the original dough, but it has grown higher and fluffier. It also tastes a lot better. It looks at its creator as a beginning and a re- source. Every Passover we become the Jewish people. No matter what our affiliations, we remain Jews and part of our people. That inner identity was created, shaped and baked through the process of the Exodus from Egypt. Each year we start the renew- al of our relationship with our Cre- Rabbi Shlomo Porter is director of the Etz Chaim Centers for Jewish Studies in Park Heights and Owings Mills, Md. Publicity Deadlines The normal deadline for local news and publicity items is noon Thursday, eight days prior to is- sue date. The deadline for out- of-town obituaries is 10 a.m. Tuesday, three days prior to issue date.