Question of the Week:
I love the Seder, but one thing that irks me every year is the Tenth Plague - the Death of the Firstborn. I understand the Egyptians oppressed the Israelites and I have no sympathy for Pharaoh. But why did their children die? Couldn't that have been avoided?
Answer:
The slaying of the firstborn is central to the entire Pesach festival. Until we understand its inner meaning, we haven't grasped the full depth of the story of the exodus.
What actually killed the Egyptian firstborn? What was their cause of death? The Torah says that it was the Mashchis - a destructive force - that killed them. But what was this destructive force? And why did it kill the firstborns?
For a healthy person, there can be no greater joy than the birth of a child. Giving birth means bringing another soul into the world, continuing your family line and perpetuating life to the next generation.
This is true of every child born. But the firstborn has an additional power. The first child is the one who made you into a parent. This is a transformative moment. When you become a parent, you become a giver of life.
But the Egyptians hated life. They worshipped death. They gave offerings to their dead, worshiped a god of the underworld, and spent a huge amount of time and money on elaborate funeral rituals. This is seen in the pyramids, giant tombs built in honour of their death cult.
Those who don't value life don't value their children. Children are new life, and a death cult doesn't want life. They hate birth, and they hate their firstborn more than anyone else.
This is what killed the Egyptian firstborns: their parents' hidden hatred towards them. On that night before the exodus, when G-d revealed His awesome love for His children, the children of Israel, the lack of love of the Egyptians for their children came to the surface.
Have you ever seen a child that is starving for love? They are dead inside. One night in Egypt, the inside came out, and those poor children had nothing to nourish them. They didn't die from lack of oxygen or food, they died from lack of love. That is theMashchis, the destructive force that ravaged the Egyptian houses that night.
On that very same night, the first Pesach, the Israelites gathered in their homes with their families. While the Egyptians were being confronted with their own ugly hatred for life, the Israelites were celebrating life with the children that they loved. It was on that night that the Jewish people were born, a family nation who loves life, and will do anything for their children.
And so on the same night every year, on Pesach night, we relive that moment. We give our children all of our attention, we lovingly listen to them ask the Ma Nishtana, we do all we can to engage them in the Seder. We embrace each child, both the wise and the wicked. We tell them the story of G-d's boundless love for us, His children.
At the Seder, we spill wine in sympathy for those Egyptian children, and all the children in the world who are starving for love. We show our own children that they mean everything to us, that we love them just for being. And we pray for the day that every child be loved and every life be treasured, as is fitting for a child of G-d.
Good Shabbos,
Rabbi Moss
Source: Sefer haZmanim, R' Yaakov of Izhbitz-Radzin
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SERVICES AT NEFESH
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SHABBOS SERVICES
Friday, 27 March 2015 | 7 Nissan 5775
Earliest Candle Lighting 5:44pm
Candle Lighting 6:40pm
Mincha 6:15pm
Friday night Shabbos Service 6:30-7:15pm
*WITH NEW KIDS PROGRAM BY BATYA MOSS*
followed by Kiddush sponsored by Martine Springer in memory of her late great uncle Eddie Zavod, who passed away last week - Long Life.
Shabbos Day, 28 March 2015 | 8 Nissan 5775
Parshas Tzav | Shabbos Hagadol
The Chassidic Parshah Class 9:00am
Shabbos Service 10:00 am-12:15pm
Bar Mitzvah of Ariel Pacanowski
Children's Program 11:00 am
Followed by Kiddush in honour of the Bar Mitzvah of Ariel Pacanowski - Mazal Tov!
CRASH COURSE IN LAWS OF PESACH 5:30pm
Mincha 6:35pm and Aufruf of Dylan Shatter
Followed by Seuda Shlishis in honour of the Aufruf and wedding of Dylan Shatter and Gaby Franks -Mazal Tov
Shabbos ends and Maariv 7:33pm
WEEKDAY SERVICES
Shacharis
Sunday 8:00am
Monday-Thursday 7:00am
Friday (Public Holiday) 8:00am with Siyum for Firstborns
Latest Shema this week 10:02am
MAZAL TOV TO
Nathan & Simonique Pacanowski on Ariel's Bar Mitzvah this Shabbos
Michael & Marlene Franks on Gaby Franks and Dylan Shatter's wedding on Thursday
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO
Natalie Cromer for 7 Nissan/27 March
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO
Elana Castle & Grant Smuts for 8 Nissan/ 28 March
David & Joanna Landau for 9 Nissan/ 29 March
LONG LIFE TO THE FOLLOWING WHO HAVE YORZEITS THIS WEEK
Jaqueline Eliovson for her late mother, Bessie Behrman, Basha bat Yaacov, on 7 Nissan/ 27 March
David Bermeister for his late father Zeev ben David on 9 Nissan/ 29 March
Gail Simpson for her late mother Freda Kloss, Fruma Hannah bat Avraham on 9 Nissan/ 29 March
Judi Berman and Martine Springer for their late mother Ellen Schuftan, Leah bat Yehuda on 11 Nissan/ 31 March
Leslie Tanchum for his late brother Nathan Tanchum, Natan Nota ben Bentzion on 12 Nissan/ 1 April
Adam Pisk for his late grandfather Erich Pisk, Yitzchak ben Shmuel Ha'Levi on 13 Nissan/ 2 April
PESACH AT NEFESH
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EREV PESACH
Friday, 3 April 2015 | 14 Nissan
Shacharis 8:00 am
Followed by Siyum for Fast of the Firstborn
Eat Chometz until 11:02 am
Burn and sell before 12:00 pm
Earliest Candle Lighting 5:36 pm
Candle Lighting 6:30 pm
Mincha 6:15 pm
Pesach/Shabbos Evening Service 6:30-7:15 pm
PESACH, DAY 1
Shabbos, 4 April 2015 | 15 Nissan
Pesach Morning Service 10:00 am - 12:45 pm
Children's Program 11:00 am
Priestly Blessing 12:30 pm
Mincha followed by words of Torah 5:25 pm
Earliest Candle Lighting 7:24 pm
No second Seder preparations before this time.
Pesach Evening Service 6:45-7:20 pm
Begin counting the Omer
DAYLIGHT SAVINGS ENDS SATURDAY NIGHT DURING YOM TOV
THE FOLLOWING TIMES ARE FOR EST.
Due to Yom Tov clocks should not actually be changed until Sunday night
PESACH, DAY 2
Sunday, 5 April 2015 | 16 Nissan
Pesach Morning Service 10:00 am - 12:45 pm
Children's Program 11:00 am
Priestly Blessing 12:30 pm
Mincha followed by words of Torah 5:30 pm
Yom Tov ends and Maariv 6:23 pm
CHOL HAMOED
Monday (Public Holiday)-Thursday, 6-9 April 2015
Shacharis 8:00 am
EREV YOM TOV
Thursday, 9 April 2015 | 20 Nissan
Eruv Tavshilin
Candle Lighting 5:23 pm
Mincha 5:20 pm
Pesach Evening Service 6:00-6:30 pm
SHEVII SHEL PESACH (DAY 7)
Friday, 10 April 2015 | 20 Nissan
Pesach Morning Service 10:00 am - 12:45 pm
Children's Program 11:00 am
Priestly Blessing 12:30 pm
Candle Lighting not before 5:21 pm
Mincha followed by words of Torah 5:20 pm
Pesach Evening Service 6:00-6:30 pm
ACHARON SHEL PESACH (DAY 8)
Shabbos, 11 April 2015 | 22 Nissan
Pesach Morning Service 10:00 am - 12:45 pm
Children's Program 11:00 am
Yizkor Memorial Service 11:30 am
Priestly Blessing 12:30 pm
Mincha 4:15 pm
Followed by Seudas Moshiach for men & women
Yom Tov ends and Maariv 6:15 pm
Please allow half an hour before eating chometz that was sold.
