Tag Archives: chametz

[PCJE Dvar Torah] Tzav: The Burnt Offering by Joseph Shamash

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In last week’s Parsha, the first 5 Chapters of the book of Vayikra described the variety of sacrificial practices that were addressed to the Children of Israel (Burnt, Flour, Peace, Sin and Guilt Offerings). This week, in parshat Tzav we continue with more details and regulations that are directed to the priests, namely Aaron and his sons but in a slightly different order (Burnt, Flour, Sin, Guilt, Peace). Peace falls two spots from 3rd to last place!

burnt offeringFor our purposes, we’re gonna focus on the first sacrifice, the Olah (burnt-offering):

“And God spoke to Moshe saying, Command Aaron and his sons saying: This is the law of the olah; it is the olah which shall burn upon the altar all night until the morning, and the fire of the altar shall burn in it. And the kohen shall wear his linen garment, and he shall wear linen trousers upon his flesh, and he shall take up the ashes which the fire has consumed with the olah upon the altar, and he shall place them beside the altar. And he shall remove his garments and wear other garments, and he shall remove the ashes outside of the camp, to a place that is pure. And the fire upon the altar shall Continue reading →

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Week 31: The Incoming Tide

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Long story short, I was accepted to be a Pardes Fellow next year, charged to be a leader in the community and run the blog while getting paid a generous stipend. Of course this is what I wanted to do, but the question keeping me up at night was whether or not it is what I should do. The deadline for deciding is when we come back from break, but I was determined to make my decision by Pesach so I could actually enjoy my holiday. This combined with anxiety over buying, cleaning, preparing for Pesach, cast two long shadows of anxiety over the start of the first full week of Pesach break. Sunday and Monday, as I weighed my options what are you just sitting around for, you can barely walk in your room without getting chametz all over your socks! You really think you’re going to feel like doing it all in one day! You’re not going to be prepared at all in the back of my mind, I longed for the seder Friday night, when I would be free of all this worry.

Sitting in my room, alone with the pros and cons of whether or not to stay next year and Continue reading →

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ויקרא

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It is always hard exegetically to transition from Bereishit and Shmot to Vayikra (from Genesis and Exodus to Leviticus).  However tough it might be to draw a message from repeated details about building the Mishkan (Tabernacle), it is nothing compared to the density of chapter after chapter detailing how much blood – from non-human animals the priest slaughtered – from which finger should be sprayed on which corner of the altar to atone for your sins.  Given that, there are a few solitary details in the parsha that deserve some attention.  One of them is that, even though the importance placed on sacrifice in ancient Judaism is a common bond it shared with other religions, the parsha does try to make clear that there are specifically Jewish ways of sacrificing.  No chametz (leavened bread) or honey may be part of our ritual sacrifices to atone for sins (2:11).  Some of the commentaries, citing rabbinic understanding, state that this is decreed purely to separate Israelite sacrifice from other religious traditions.  Further, in a fascinating series of passages in the Gemarah, the rabbis assert that Hashem had to wean the Israelites off of the need to perform sacrifices.  Taken together with this parsha, that implies that differentiating Israelite sacrifice by excluding honey and bread is the first step towards eventually serving Hashem in the purer form of prayer.

Sacrifice, at first

Moving towards davenning

To begin: no bread

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[Alumni Guest Post] Hametz Prayers

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Below is a guest post from 2 Pardes alumni:

Rabbi Jon Kelsen & Dena Weiss are both alumni of the Pardes kollel program. Jon teaches at the Drisha Institute, and Dena teaches at Yeshivat Hadar. Together in chevruta, Jon & Dena wrote two prayers, in anticipation of bedikat / biur hametz this year.

Here is their explanation. (read that first)

Here are their personal prayers:

Hineni

I am present, in body and mind, to fulfill the positive commandment of  “On the first day, you shall dispose of hametz from your homes.”

As I prepare to destroy all the leavened food in my possession, so I commit to removing all  objects and aspects of  my life which share distinct features with hametz:
clothing I do not wear which might clothe another,
tzedakah I am withholding which might sustain another;
love I have not shown which might inspire another.
I also prepare to challenge my traits of procrastination, selfishness and narrow perspective, arrogance, and fear.

הנני מוכן ומזומן

הנני מוכן ומזומן לקיים מצוות עשה כמו שכתוב בתורה “אך ביום הראשון תשביתו שאור מבתיכם.”

וכמו שאני מוכן להשבית כל מחמצת שברשותי, כן אני מוכן להשבית שאר דברים שברשותי שיש בהם מעין תערובת חמץ:

בגדים שאינני לובש היכולים להלביש ערומים,

צדקה שקפצתי בידי היכולה להקים דלים,

אהבת חינם של חננתי.

ואף אני מוכן להתמודד עם יצרי הרעים שבכל מחבואות מחשבותי ,שאור שבעיסה:

החמצה, אנוכיות, מוחין דקטנות, גאווה, ופחד.

Yehi Ratzon

God, should it please You, help me to grow from the experience of discovering and destroying the hametz from my home and office, my closet and my desk, my heart and my mind. I recognize that I have not done so completely. Regard my efforts as achievements. Help me to turn my mistakes into lessons and to continue this process of purification throughout the coming year.
This year we are here, next year may we be in Eretz Yisrael. This year we are slaves, next year may we be free.

יהי רצון

יהי רצון מלפניך ה’ אלוקינו ואלוקי אבותינו, שתעזרני ללמוד לעלות ולהתקדש על ידי עבודת בדיקת וביעור החמץ:

הן מביתי הן ממשרדי,

הן מארוני הן משולחני,

הן מליבי הן משכלי.

מתודה אני לפניך שלא סיימתי את מלאכת הקודש בתמימות.

צרף יגיעתי להשגתי, מחשבתי למעשי.

הפוך שגגות לזכויות, ירידות לעליות, ותזכני למשוך שפעת הקדושה והטהרה  של מצווה זו.

השתא הכא, לשנה הבאה באראע דישראל . השתא עבדי, לשנה הבאה בני חורין.

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