Mining The Riches Of The Parsha

My love for Israel is deep and fierce. My desire for Israel to be better flows directly from that love. This issue is not new. Many of us have been speaking about it for years. But in the past two months, something has changed - both in intensity and in kind. A significant and largely overlooked story is unfolding in Israel, in two parts, concerning violence by Jews against Arabs in Yehuda and Sho...

David Lazarus is 50 years old, a husband and father of three, living with a progressive, terminal illness. For years, he believed visiting the sick was simply a good deed. Now, from the inside, he understands it very differently. In his essay, David shares what actually helps a person who is ill - and what, despite good intentions, can make things harder. His insights are simple, practical, and de...

Today is Yom Hashoah - Holocaust Remembrance Day. We tell the story every year. We say: never again. And yet, the question lingers - has the world actually changed? Drawing on the haunting words of Elie Wiesel, we confront a painful possibility: that memory alone does not transform humanity. But if memory is not enough - what is? Through the story of Cathy Lawi, a trauma specialist in Israel, we e...

Every morning, near the end of Shacharit, we say Shir Shel Yom—the Psalm of the Day, once sung by the Levites in the Beit HaMikdash. It feels like a closing note. Something we say and move past. But it’s not random—and it’s not just a memory of the Temple. Each day’s psalm was chosen with precision. Each one reflects a different dimension of the world—and a different way we are meant to live withi...

I was asked a simple question: Why are there three Rothko prints behind me? That question opens into something much deeper. Mark Rothko was born Jewish, and many have tried to read his work through that lens—seeing in it echoes of the Holocaust, the Temple, or even Kabbalah. But I’m not convinced. In this video, I briefly trace Rothko’s life and then set those interpretations aside—not because the...

At first glance, Sh’foch Chamatcha—“Pour out Your wrath”—feels like a jarring note near the end of the Seder. Why introduce anger at the very moment we should be moving toward redemption and joy? But in its deeper context, this is not a call to vengeance—it is a declaration of vision. We open the door not in fear, but in hope. It is an invitation: a call to all peace-seeking people and nations to...

This is my 10@9 for Monday, March 30, 2026 Though every section of the Haggadah holds both slavery and redemption - as we explored yesterday - the real question is this: What are you meant to feel when the Seder ends? That question turns on a subtle but critical debate about the final passage of Maggid. How much of the story do we tell - and where do we stop? We explore the approach of Rabbi Tarfo...

There is a clear chronological arc to the Haggadah. We begin as slaves. We end as free people. But beneath that story lies something far more unsettling - and far more powerful. At every single moment of the Seder, from Karpas to Hallel, we are experiencing both slavery and freedom at the same time. Not sequentially. Simultaneously. Why would the Haggadah be structured this way? And what does it m...

Why does the Haggadah give two different—and seemingly contradictory—reasons for eating Matzah? One appears near the beginning of the Seder. The other comes near the end. And they don’t seem to say the same thing. This isn’t just a textual question—it goes to the heart of what freedom actually means. In this episode, we uncover why these two explanations both exist—and how, when taken together, th...

This evening we discuss the significance of and practice of Eruv Tavshilin, a practice allowing us to prepare for Shabbat on Friday which is Yom Tov, which we will do this Wednesday. We examine the elusive paragraph in the Haggadah of Ha Lachma Anyah (this - Matza - is the bread we ate as slaves), and how this is connected with inviting guests to our Seder. Then we explore the special Haftorah for...

When was the last time you stopped and counted - not your problems - but your blessings, one by one? Why does the Haggadah spend time counting miracles - 60, 240, even 300? It feels like the kind of passage designed to lose the room. But what if this “technical” debate is actually pointing to one of the central goals of the entire Seder? In this episode, we uncover how the rabbis are teaching us n...

We have a striking practice at the Seder: when we mention the Ten Plagues, we remove a drop of wine from our glass - diminishing our joy in recognition of the suffering of the Egyptians, even our enemies. And yet, at the very same Seder, many of us use finger puppets for the plagues, place toy frogs on the table, and sing playful songs about Pharaoh in pajamas. So which is it? Are we meant to rest...

Many people get lost when the Haggadah begins its detailed commentary on the four Torah verses describing the Exodus. At this point in the Seder, the method feels unfamiliar—and many quietly start counting the minutes until dinner. But this “Midrashic” method isn’t random or obscure. It blends literal, metaphorical, and allegorical interpretations in a way that is designed to provoke discussion, d...

The Haggadah does something strange. Instead of telling the Exodus story directly, it builds the entire narrative around a passage spoken 40 years later. Why? That unexpected choice reveals two hidden goals of the Seder: not just to understand what happened - but to experience it as if it happened to me; and to arrive at genuine, heartfelt gratitude. In this series, Unlocking the Haggadah, we unco...

The Passover Haggadah is not just a script for telling the story of the Exodus. It is also a framework for discussing the Jewish story in every generation — including our own. One of the most powerful passages is “V’Hi She’amdah,” the paragraph that reminds us that in every generation there are those who rise against the Jewish people — and that God has protected us again and again. In Israel, man...

In the middle of the Haggadah, we suddenly encounter a bizarre idea: maybe the Seder should have taken place two weeks earlier. Why does the Haggadah suddenly suggest that the Seder might have taken place on the first day of the Jewish month of Nissan — two weeks before Passover? Why would anyone think that? And why raise the question when we are already in the middle of the Seder itself? The firs...

At the Passover Seder, we are taught to respond differently to four types of children. Each one asks a different question, and each one needs a different kind of answer. But the Haggadah’s response to the “wicked” child is deeply puzzling. Why does it sound so harsh? Why do we seem to insult a child who is simply asking questions? Many people feel uncomfortable when they reach this moment in the S...

This evening we discuss our ability to choose the perspective we take on anything that happens, and where we see this in our Parsha. We analyze why the command to build the Mishkan must follow the Parsha of Mishpatim, because we cannot serve God with funds or objects we obtain unethically. And we provide a sweeping view of the narrative arc of the Book of Exodus, based on an essay by Ezra Sivan, t...

When the Haggadah begins telling the story of the Exodus — our national birth narrative — it starts in a surprising place. Before describing redemption, it reminds us of our lowest moments: that we were slaves, and that our ancestors were once idolaters. Why begin the story there? Because the Seder is not just about remembering the past. It is about learning how to see our own lives - recognizing...

Why does the Haggadah tell the story of rabbis staying up all night at their Seder - before the story of the Exodus even begins? According to Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, this moment is not only about the past. It is about how to create a meaningful conversation around the Seder table. The story shows how many voices can participate in the discussion while avoiding the kind of arguments that divide famil...

The Passover Haggadah begins in a puzzling way. Before the story of the Exodus even starts, we encounter invitations to strangers, weird foods, and a story about five rabbis whose Seder lasted all night. It can feel random. But it isn’t. These opening moments are carefully designed to create something essential for the Seder: not a reading, but a conversation. The Haggadah wants everyone at the ta...

Many people attending a Passover Seder feel puzzled or bored by the Haggadah. The text can seem long, confusing, and difficult to follow. In this series leading up to Passover, we will unlock the structure, meaning, and goal of the Haggadah so that each section begins to make sense and lead naturally to the next. The first key is surprising: the Haggadah is not simply a text to be read. It is a ca...

What keeps a relationship alive after disappointment? The Torah’s most important relationship—between God and the Jewish people—nearly collapses at the Golden Calf. Yet strangely, it becomes deeper afterward. The Book of Exodus begins with one kind of relationship between God and the Jewish people—and ends with another. After the catastrophe of the Golden Calf, the original relationship of command...

All the utensils of the Mishkan (Sanctuary) are described together across the previous two Torah portions. Yet in this week’s portion, Ki Tissa, one item appears by itself: the Kiyur, the basin where the priests washed their hands and feet before beginning the sacred service. The message is striking. Even the priests could not simply begin a holy act. They had to prepare themselves first. The same...

This evening we compare Rabbi Yehuda Amital's foundational story of the crying baby, with Moshe being disappointed with Yehoshua for misunderstanding the crying of the Jewish People. We tell the story of Tylenol package tampering and the revolutionary change it brought about as a modern day example of the main lesson to learn from the Golden Calf debacle. And we explore two sources and reasons for...