Author: Shlomo Bar-Ayal

The beginning of the Portion states “You Will Become Holy.” Then it explains how to become holy through our interactions with our fellow man.

The reason that the Jews had to put blood on their doorposts was to rid them of the slave mentality. The purpose was not only to free them but to build them up to be free people.

The Hagadah goes out if its way to show the unity of the Jewish people. That when some Jews are suffering then all Jews are suffering.

We are taught that, while we should be involved in the society around us, that we should remember that we are also separate. To protect ourselves we should maintain our own customs and traditions.

There were Jews who probably told to compromise with Pharaoh.. Moses knew that there was no compromise on the issue. It was a matter that Egyptian society was rotten to the core. There is no compromise with evil.

The Haggadah that we read on Passover is to remind us of the reason that God took us out of Egypt. That we should be a light unto the nations by our actions.

Yesterday we received the sad news of the passing of Tom Weiss. He was a fixture in our community for all the good deeds that he did with his sunny personality. May his memory be a blessing to us all.

This week we are reminded of the importance of Brit Milah. It is to tell us that the real defeat of our enemies is that we continue as Jews, from generation to generation.

The Torah commands us to celebrate life. While we honor the dead, we do not celebrate death. We have to remember that this is one of main differences with our current enemies. The celebrate death, not life.

There is no Hebrew word for tragedy. The reason is that in the view of the Torah our fates are not predetermined. We can change our lives by our actions.