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esach is a holiday of intense
preparations. For many house-
holds, the preparations often
begin weeks in advance of the holiday,
preparing for an engaging and mean-
ingful seder night.
All of these preparations culminate
at the seder in the telling of the jour-
ney from slavery to freedom. However,
I would suggest that the seder is not
the sole purpose of these intense
preparations.
the Torah reading for Shabbat Hol
The Torah reading tells of the inter-
HaMoed Sukkot is exactly the same
action between Moses and God fol-
reading. These two holidays are by
lowing the sin of the Golden
far the most intense from a
Calf. God agrees to Moses’
preparation standpoint.
request that God’s presence
Pesach reminds us of our
continue to dwell among the
beginning while Sukkot tells
people. Moses, famously, asks
us where we want to be.
to see God’s face, but Moses
(Sukkot will be, according
will only be shown God’s
to tradition, the first holiday
back. The commandment to
celebrated in the Messianic
observe the three pilgrimage
Age). The journey from
Rabbi Robert
festivals follows.
Pesach
to Sukkot symboli-
Gamer
The pinnacle of this reading
cally represents the Jewish
is, of course, the interaction
calendar year. Our days are
between God and Moses.
to be spent preparing for an
Moses stations himself in a
encounter with God.
cleft in the rock, and God’s presence
Can we get to that point? When
passes by revealing, as it were, where
Moses stood before the burning bush,
God was. This encounter, we will later he was not ready to encounter God.
read, leaves Moses with a radiance.
The Torah tells us (Exodus 3:6) Moses
The particular readings for holidays was so afraid at that first encounter
with God that “Moses hid his face.”
are never just chance; they were care-
Now, only about 18 months after,
fully chosen by the sages to convey
Moses is changed. After the plagues,
meaning. So what does this reading
the Exodus from Egypt and the revela-
mean for us? We have to delve a bit
tion at Sinai, he is ready to encounter
deeper than a surface reading.
God. What is revealed is, essentially,
The Or Hachayim, Rabbi Chayim
being able to sense and recognize
ben Moshe ibn, who lived in Morocco
where God was in the world.
in the first half of the 1700s, has a
The preparations for Pesach (and
beautiful comment on the encounter
Sukkot) teach us that the amount
between Moses and God. He com-
of time and effort we put into our
ments on the verse that immediately
seder or our sukkah will reflect in the
precedes our Torah reading and sets
experience we will have. Yet the Torah
the stage for the dialogue between
reading reminds us that this prepara-
God and Moses. The phrase he com-
tion is really to set the stage for some-
ments on is “face to face;” he says,
thing much greater — to try to experi-
“The message of this verse is that the
intimacy between Moses and God was ence God in our lives.
We each have the ability to delve
in direct proportion to the prepara-
into our spirituality, to find meaning
tion Moses made to welcome God’s
in our lives, to connect to a deeper
presence. This teaches each of us that
meaning to our existence, to try and
the attainment of sanctity is in direct
encounter where God was, and is, in
proportion to the efforts we make to
our lives. •
attain it.”
The preparations for Pesach are a
Robert Gamer is rabbi at Congregation Beth
means to allow us to encounter God’s
Shalom in Oak Park.
presence in our lives. Interestingly,

Food truck food is not
Kosher and
available for purchase
.

Shabbat Hol
HaMoed Pesach:
Exodus 33:12-34:26;
Numbers 28:19-25;
Ezekiel 37:1-14.

Sunday, May 7, 2017

CelebrateISRAEL

Bouncies, Trackless Train, Popcorn, Cotton Candy, Face
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Community-wide Event Hosted by Temple Shir Shalom

8:00am: 5K Family Fun Run Starts (registration required)
12:00pm: Open to the Public
12:00pm to 4:00pm: Carnival games and rides open to the public
12:30pm: Kosher Lunch (no charge)
1:30pm: Walk Starts

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Mort Meisner Associates
Congregation Beth Ahm
Congregation Shir Tikvah
Fran Bell
Michigan Friends of the
Israel Defense Forces
Greater Detroit Chapter of
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Hillel Day School
Volunteers for Israel
Holocaust Memorial Center
Zekelman Family Campus
StandWithUs Michigan

jbrooksdesign inc.
Jewish Community Relations
Council/AJC
National Council of Jewish
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Temple Israel
Zionist Organization of
America – Michigan
Region
Adat Shalom Synagogue
Chaldean American Chamber
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Hillel of Metro Detroit
Jewish Community Center of
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MJS Packaging
Art Fishman
Akiva Hebrew Day School
Jewish Federation of Metro
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Republicans
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*as of 3-30-17

Please visit our website to learn more and register for the Run or Walk.

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jn

April 13 • 2017

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