Bulletin THE BETH TFILOH
Celebrating the Joy of Judaism, Embracing all Jews. PESACH 5780/2020
To Our Beloved Congregants, We know that this is a time filled with anxiety and uncertainty. These are times when traditionally people look to their religious institutions for guidance and direction. Please know that although we cannot see each other in person, we are still here for you – we are always here for you. This month, instead of the usual Beth Tfiloh Congregation bulletin, we are providing you with some thoughts about Pesach to help you prepare for what is sure to be an unusual holiday this year. Additionally, we want to keep our community connected virtually throughout these extraordinary circumstances. Here are some resources for our BT community: n
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OVID-19 Updates: View all coronavirus-related shul C updates at bethtfiloh.com/hotline eth Tfiloh Email Updates: BT Touchpoints is a daily B (Monday-Friday) email to keep in touch with our community…without touching! Get updates about online
classes and virtual services, plus ideas, articles, and things we’re reading and thinking about — from coronavirus to Pesach preparations. If you do not currently get Beth Tfiloh emails, sign up now to stay connected at bethtfiloh.com/emailme. n
ind Pesach Resources Online. Download more resources F to enhance your Seder and sell your chametz online at bethtfiloh.com/pesach.
As we sit down to our much smaller Seders this year, please remember that we are thinking about you. We miss you. We wish you all a very peaceful and meaningful Pesach. Sincerely, Rabbi Mitchell Wohlberg Rabbi Chai Posner Hazzan Avi Albrecht Rabbi Dr. Eli Yoggev Rabbi Chaim Wecker
PESACH… IT AIN’T WHAT IT USED TO BE! By Rabbi Mitchell Wohlberg I can’t wait for Pesach … next year! For all of us, this year’s Pesach just “ain’t what it used to be!” The Seder – the central Jewish family event of the year – is going to be missing some members of the family. Attendance will be limited and so will the social interaction that makes the family Seder a memorable event. But some good can come of this. Maybe the challenge of this year will make us appreciate the Seder even more next year! Maybe those who are missed this year will be cherished even more next year. The Pesach Seder provides us with memories. I still remember the first Seder when I was old enough that my brothers allowed me the honor of hiding the Afikomen. I was so excited at how smart I was in having chosen a safe hiding place … a hiding place I knew my father would never discover. My brothers were nervous, fearing that I, being so young, had not chosen a safe place. While my father was busy searching, my brothers insisted that I tell them where I had hidden it. I refused. And then came their threat of death! So I
spilled the beans. And when I told them, they were horrified! “Daddy’s going to kill you when he finds out. You dope!” My father didn’t find it and then, terrified, I took him to the Afikomen’s hiding place, with my brothers following in hot pursuit. We walked down to the cellar and over to a locked closet where my mother put away all her chametz. I opened the door and there, in the breadbox, was the cherished Afikomen. Knowing my father’s temper and knowing his strict adherence to Jewish law, my brothers and my mother waited breathlessly for his reaction. But incredibly, the anticipated rage never came. Rather, a benign smile came across my father’s face. And then the poignant words: “Well, this year we won’t be able to use this matzah for the Afikomen. But that’s alright. There was another year when I did not have matzah for the Afikomen.” And he related to us how, when he was a child, his father passed away at the age of 34, when my father was only 4 years old. The family was left with no source of income. His mother – my grandmother – of blessed memory, was unable to take care of her children and go to work at the same time. So what happened, unfortunately, was a rather common practice in our Eastern European days. My father, his brothers and sister, were placed in different homes to be taken care of. continued on p.4