Shabbat HaGadol: Change your diet, change your life!

Rabbi Philip Weintraub

Congregation Agudas Israel

4/11/2014

Monday evening starts Passover.  While for some this strikes fear in their hearts, Passover is a time of liberation.  We imagine ourselves escaping Egypt, forgetting the decrees of Pharaoh and beginning our journey to the Promised Land.  From the second night of Passover, we begin counting the Omer, connecting the Exodus from Egypt with receiving Torah at Sinai, and in just a few weeks, we will celebrate Shabbat.

Traditionally, Shabbat HaGadol, which is today, the Shabbat before Passover, included a long, extended lecture by the rabbi.  While I do not plan to speak for hours today, there are three points I would like to cover.

1. Passover is just the beginning.  We are not really done until Shavuot.
2. Cleaning for Passover is essential, but not necessarily totally arduous.
3. Changing our diet is a holy experience.

For those of you reading our next book club selection, Rabbi Kalman (the protagonist of Kabbalah: A Love Story) mentions that every rabbi has three sermons that they teach over and over in different ways.  For me, if there is one thing I teach you, it is that the Exodus was just the beginning.  

Exodus 5:1

א  וְאַחַר, בָּאוּ מֹשֶׁה וְאַהֲרֹן, וַיֹּאמְרוּ, אֶל-פַּרְעֹה:  כֹּה-אָמַר ה", אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, שַׁלַּח אֶת-עַמִּי, וְיָחֹגּוּ לִי בַּמִּדְבָּר.

1 And afterward Moses and Aaron came, and said unto Pharaoh: 'Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel: Let My people go, that they may hold a feast unto Me in the wilderness.'

Exodus 8:16

טז  וַיֹּאמֶר ה" אֶל-מֹשֶׁה, הַשְׁכֵּם בַּבֹּקֶר וְהִתְיַצֵּב לִפְנֵי פַרְעֹה--הִנֵּה, יוֹצֵא הַמָּיְמָה; וְאָמַרְתָּ אֵלָיו, כֹּה אָמַר ה", שַׁלַּח עַמִּי, וְיַעַבְדֻנִי.

16 And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; lo, he cometh forth to the water; and say unto him: Thus saith the LORD: Let My people go, that they may serve Me.

Exodus 9:1

א  וַיֹּאמֶר ה" אֶל-מֹשֶׁה, בֹּא אֶל-פַּרְעֹה; וְדִבַּרְתָּ אֵלָיו, כֹּה-אָמַר ה" אֱלֹהֵי הָעִבְרִים, שַׁלַּח אֶת-עַמִּי, וְיַעַבְדֻנִי.

1 Then the LORD said unto Moses: 'Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him: Thus saith the LORD, the God of the Hebrews: Let My people go, that they may serve Me. (Biblical texts from mechon-mamre.org)

Those verses are only three examples, but there are more.  Moses said to Pharaoh, LET MY PEOPLE GO, that they may SERVE GD.  We are freed from Egypt not so we can buy whatever we want, not so we can do whatever we want, not so we can enjoy life (although that’s ok), not so we can watch TV; we are free to be JEWS.  We are free to observe Torah, to study, to teach, to do deeds of lovingkindness, to raise children, to love one another and to love Gd.

Shavuot is probably one of the most unobserved important days in modern America.  Shavuot is the day when we accept the Torah, accept Gd’s commands, accept Gd’s love.  It is the day when we make the real journey--we leave “freedom FROM” and arrive at “freedom TO”.  I can even see a parallel with our first amendment to the US Constitution, we are FREE TO state-sponsored religion, and FREE TO observe whatever faith is ours.

So my essential sermon is that we are not simply “Free FROM” Egypt, but we were “Freed TO” serve Gd.

My next point is the classical Shabbat HaGadol sermon.  How do you get everything ready for Pesach?  Yes, it takes some work.  It takes some time, but it does not have to kill an entire month!  Pesach cleaning can be done in one day, if necessary.  

The first step is thinking about what is and isn’t chametz.  If Le’vee won’t eat it, it’s not chametz.  You do not need kosher for Passover deoderant or beauty products.  If you follow the Ashkenazi custom of avoiding Kitniyot, you can put away those products, but they are NOT treif for Passover.  If you accidentally get a chickpea on your Pesach dishes, that’s OK!  If you don’t eat green beans, you can still give them to a picky toddler or a vegetarian.  (Note, I’m not equating those two.)  In your Shabbat brochure, there is an abridged guide to cleaning for Pesach.  Again, it is important to the health of your soul, but it should not destroy your physical health.  The most important thing is to get rid/lock up any physical chametz, bread, flour, crumbs, oats, barley, rye, spelt or wheat.  The next step is to send me your form to sell your chametz.  There is even a form on the shul website.  It can be emailed to me through the webform, as long as it is done by 8AM Monday morning, (the last time I will check my email).  Traditionally, donations are made to organizations that help the needy.  For us, I will be sending a check to Mazon this week.

My third point was about our diets, you might be wondering what the whole point of changing our diet for a week is.  What do I get out of it?  Why does Gd care what we eat?  How can it be that if I eat bread during Passover, according to a traditional understanding, I disconnect my soul from the Jewish people, earning karet, Divine punishment for myself?

When we change what we eat; when we clean our kitchens, we are forced to reflect.  We are forced to consider what goes into our mouths and what comes out of them.  By ridding our homes of chametz, we follow the commands of our Gd.  We follow the traditions of our people.  We show our thanks for our very existence.  

From my understanding, in previous generations, it was unheard of to have Jews who were not observant.  While people might have kept the laws more or less strictly, the idea of a Jew who did not follow halacha at all was not known.  If someone was to stop following Jewish traditions, it was a sign that they no longer wished to be known as Jewish.  Therefore, as much as the rabbis said it was Divine punishment that separated this person’s soul from Gd and Israel, it was also a statement by the individual him/herself saying I am no longer a Jew.  Eating a sandwich on Pesach was not ignorance or lack of affiliation, but a conscious act to say “I am not a Jew.”

Gd cares what we eat, because Gd cares.  If you have someone you love with diabetes, you ask them about their diet.  If they have celiac, you keep bread away from them.  If they have heart disease, you cut out the fat and salt, too.  When we love someone, this is reflected in every action.  The same is true from Gd.  Because of this love, Gd asks us to keep a special diet year-round and an even more special one during Pesach.  Gd wants us to think about what we eat, how we eat.  Do we eat to feed ourselves or for pleasure?  Because we are bored?  To fill an emotional void?  By changing our diet, we ask ourselves these questions and more.  We cleanse our souls, by cleansing our bodies.

These physical acts are reflected in our souls.

One last point, seders can and should be fun.  Pesachim, the tractate of Talmud discussing Passover, says that all should be alert and awake during the seder.  They suggest afternoon naps, candy/nuts for children and new clothing for wives and daughters.  (Since they enjoyed their wine, they suggest wine would gladden the hearts of the men.)  One rabbi begins his seders by saying “Don’t ask any questions tonight!  If you do, I will be forced to throw candy at you!”  A great seder idea I heard this year is to put random objects, keys, clips, buttons, etc. next to your guest’s plates.  THe goal is for someone to say “Why are these here!?”  Somewhere during the course of the seder, one can even ask people to try to relate their random objects to the evening!

The Jewish calendar is filled with self-reflection.  Almost every holiday is a time for consideration, for tshuvah, for repentance.  By changing our diet, by making a great seder, we bring holiness to our lives. We connect ourselves to the Divine.  We show our children the traditions of our ancestors and link the generations one to another.