Preparing To Be A Free Nation
Thursday, May 16th, 2024The Torah refers to Passover as the holiday of Matzot. The reason is to teach us that leaving Egypt was the first step to becoming a nation. We had to learn what it means to be free. Share on Facebook
We Celebrate With Friends
Monday, April 3rd, 2023Any thanksgiving offering that we bring is too much for one person to consume. Yet it has to be consumed by the end of the day. This forces us to bring our friends to celebrate. This shows that the Pascal Sacrifice is also a Thanksgiving offering. Share on Facebook
We Are United by Passover
Friday, March 31st, 2023The Seder stresses the idea that there will always be those who wish to destroy us. That the defense against these threats is our unity. Share on Facebook
The Source of Evil
Thursday, March 30th, 2023In the Seder we are admonished to set the teeth of the wicked son on edge. The reason is that the source of his being wicked are the words that he abuses. Share on Facebook
Experience the Seder
Wednesday, March 29th, 2023The real message of the Passover Seder is that it is not an intellectual account of the story but an experiential one. We are meant to experience leaving Egypt. Share on Facebook
A New Beginning
Thursday, March 23rd, 2023The first commandment that the Jewish people received was to declare the 1st of Nisan to be the beginning of the Jewish year. Rosh Hashanah is the day that the 1st man was created. The 1st of Nisan is when the Jewish people became a people. Share on Facebook
Getting Egypt Out of the Jews
Friday, January 27th, 2023More important that getting the Jews out of Egypt was to get Egyptian culture out of the Jews. God wanted the Jews to be a moral and ethical people and to reject the immorality of Egypt. Share on Facebook
It Takes a Community
Monday, April 4th, 2022פרשת מצורע / ג’ בניסן תשפ”ב The main event in the celebration of Passover is the eating of the Pascal Sacrifice. This is a lamb and it is impossible to completely eat it unless you are with a group. The problem is that there can be nothing leftover. Thus the Torah is forcing us to […]
Getting Egypt Out of the Jews
Wednesday, March 30th, 2022פרשת תזריע / כ”ז באדר ב’ תשפ”ב In Parshat HaHodesh the first thing that the Torah states is the Korban Pesach (The Pascal Sacrifice). This was to get the Jews to look at Egyptian society as not only foreign but as dangerous to their spiritual well being as a nation. Share on Facebook
About the Author: Shlomo Bar-Ayal is an Israeli-American, or an American-Israeli (I could never get that right) who is unabashedly pro-Israel, pro-US and a great guy.
He has an open mind to opinions that he agrees with.
Besides blogging on whatever he feels like blogging about on any given day he enjoys learning Talmud, davening, being the candyman in his synagogue, smoking his tobacco pipe, giving tours at the Grand Lodge of New York, being involved in Freemasonry, and partaking in an adult beverage every now and then