Pesach 2003 / 5763 The Secret of Eating at the Seder by Sarah Yehudit Schneider The great Kabbalist, Rabbi Tsadok HaKohen, revealed a deep secret about how to fix the way we engage with the world. He says that humanity’s first sin was not Adam and Eve’s eating of forbidden fruit, but rather the way they ate it. The Tree of Knowledge, says he, was not a tree or a food or a thing at all. Rather it was a way of eating. Whenever a person grabs self-conscious pleasure from the

Pesach 2004 / 5764 A Passover Teaching, from A Still Small Voice Rabbi Isaac Luria, the master kabbalist known as the Ari, teaches that at the original Pesach sedar, in Egypt, a conception occurred. Conception is defined as the point when a soul makes contact with a body and they begin a life together, a story, and a journey. So what was conceived on that first Pesach eve in Egypt. The Ari teaches that it was the collective soul of Israel, a higher-order-unity that is gre

Pesach 2005 / 5765 A Passover Teaching, from A Still Small Voice Everyone knows that on Pesach, the removal of all chametz (leavened grains) from our household mirrors the removal of inflated ego states (i.e. arrogance) from our personalities. On the night before Pesach each family turns off the lights, takes a candle and searches the nooks and crannies of their home for any crumbs that may have been overlooked. All chametz that is found in that search gets burned and nulli

Pesach 2007 / 5767 Thoughts on Slavery, Redemption and Matzah Based on teachings by the Freidiker Rebbe of Chabad As formulated by A Still Small Voice At a certain point on Avraham’s spiritual path, HaShem revealed to him some unpleasant details concerning the fate of his descendents: Know for a certainty that your seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and shall be afflicted by them for four hundred years; And also that nation, whom they

Pesach 2008 / 5768A Pesach Teaching from A Still Small Voice הא לחמא עניא – “This is the bread of humility [and of affliction that brings us to humility]” Kenesset Yisrael (the mystical Body of Israel) was conceived by Avraham and Sarah, floated through the fallopian tube with Yitzchok and Rivka and implanted in the dark womb of Egypt when Yakov descended there with his clan of seventy souls. They gestated “like a fetus in utero”[1] for 210 years and then, on sedar night they

Pesach 2009 / 5769 A Passover Teaching from A Still Small Voice The sedar is a ritual meditation—a symbolic reenactment of our historic (and continuous) journey from exile to redemption that began nearly three and a half thousand years ago when we were born as a nation on this very eve. The whole point of a ritual is to bring light, fixing and healing into the deepest layers of the soul. Its choreography of movements, prayers and affirmations cuts to the quick. The sedar’s fi

A Pesach Teaching 2010 / 5770 by Sarah Yehudit Schneider הָא לַחְמָא עַנְיָא דִּי אֲכָלוּ אַבְהָתָנָא בְּאַרְעָא דְמִצְרָיִם. כָּל דִּכְפִין יֵיתֵי וְיֵיכוֹל. כָּל דִּצְרִיךְ יֵיתֵי וְיִפְסַח. הָשַׁתָּא הָכָא, לְשָׁנָה הַבָּאָה בְּאַרְעָא דְיִשְׂרָאֵל. הָשַׁתָּא עַבְדֵּי, לְשָׁנָה הַבָּאָה בְּנֵי חוֹרִין:This is the bread of affliction that our fathers ate in the land of Egypt. All who are hungry, let them come and eat. All who are needy, let them come and join this Passover

Pesach 2011 / 5771 A Pesach Teaching, Based on Zohar 2:25b-26a and R. Tsadok HaKohen, Likutei Maamarim, ot 11 The sedar is a ritual meditation—a symbolic reenactment of our historic (and continuous) journey from exile to redemption that began nearly three and a half thousand years ago when we were born as a nation on this very eve. The whole point of a ritual is to bring light, fixing and healing into the deepest layers of the soul. Its choreography of movements, prayers and

A Pesach Teaching Based on the Haggadot of Maharal [1] and Ari [2] Sarah Yehudit Schneider צא ולמד מה בקש לבן הארמי לעשות ליעקב אבינו, שפרעה לא גזר אלא על הזכרים ולבן בקש לעקור את הכל שנאמר, ארמי אובד אבי… Go and learn what Lavan the Aramean planned to do to our father Yaakov! Pharoah decreed that only the male children [should be put to death], but Lavan wanted to uproot the whole [Jewish nation], as is written: “The Aramean sought to destroy my forefather…” (Deut 26:5). Pas

Pesach 5773 / 2013 Sarah Yehudit Schneider The 12th step in our seder is called Tsafun—meaning hidden or secret. It follows the festive meal and marks the time for “dessert” which, at the seder, means our last portion of matzah, called the Afikoman. Really, the dessert should be the Paschal lamb—the sacrificial centerpiece of our evening’s ritual, but without the Temple there is no way to truly sanctify the lamb’s slaughter so we substitute matzah instead. In the original Pas

Pesach 2014 / 5774 Sarah Yehudit Schneider Rabbi Yosi the Gallilean said: The Egyptians were struck by ten plagues in Egypt, and fifty plagues at the sea…Rabbi Eliezer said: …In Egypt they were struck by forty plagues, and at the sea by two hundred plagues. Rabbi Akiva said: …In Egypt they were struck by fifty plagues, and at the sea by two hundred and fifty plagues. This is the most obscure passage in the Hagada. The rabbis culled our vast body of teachings and created a

Pesach 2015 / 5775Based on R. Tsadok HaKohen, Tsidkat HaTsadik #218 Sarah Yehudit Schneider Between Barekh and Hallel (stage 13 and stage 14 of the seder)—between thanking HaShem for the meal (Barekh) and thanking HaShem for our freedom (Hallel)—there is a mysterious interval that revolves around the pouring of Elijah’s cup. We fill a goblet with wine, open the door to welcome Elijah the Prophet~Angel~Harbinger-of-Mashiach, and recite verses that urge HaShem to destroy evil.

Pesach 2016 /5776 Sarah Yehudit Schneider “The reward phase of history called the world-to-come is characterized by unfettered freedom. Liberty (דרור) is its hallmark. Freedom emanates from this Cosmic Yovel—the 50th Gate of Binah which broadcasts the fact that God is One.[i] Its Fifty Gates trace a path of enlightenment that marks our progressive integration of this unfathomable truth.[ii] Moshe reached rung 49. And when we (altogether) attain the Fiftieth Gate, we will di

Pesach 5777 / 2017 Sarah Yehudit Schneider Blessed be the Makom (Place). Blessed be He. Blessed be the one who gave Torah to His people, Israel. Blessed be He. The Torah addresses four children. The wise one, the bad one, the simple one, and the one who doesn’t know to ask.בָּרוּךְ הַמָּקוֹם, בָּרוּךְ הוּא, בָּרוּךְ שֶׁנָּתַן תּוֹרָה לְעַמּוֹ יִשְׂרָאֵל, בָּרוּךְ הוּא. כְּנֶגֶד אַרְבָּעָה בָנִים דִּבְּרָה תוֹרָה: אֶחָד חָכָם. וְאֶחָד רָשָׁע. וְאֶחָד תָּם. וְאֶחָד שֶׁאֵינוֹ

Pesach 5778 / 2018 Sarah Yehudit Schneider Kadesh. Urchatz We start the seder by pronouncing the fifteen steps that will comprise our evening’s ritual which (among other things) marks the birthday of our peoplehood. Kenesset Yisrael (the mystical Body of Israel) was conceived by Avraham and Sarah, floated through the fallopian tube with Yitzchok and Rivka and implanted in the dark womb of Egypt when Yakov descended there with his clan of seventy souls. They gestated “like a

Matanot Chinam–Free Gifts Inspired by Sod Yesharim Pesach 2023 ולהיות שהישועה מיציאת מצרים נקרא מרור יען שלא הי’ בזכות עבודת ישראל אלא כענין שנאמר (ישעי’ מ”ח) למעני למעני אעשה וגו’ And so it is, that our redemption from Egypt is called bitter, because it wasn’t earned by us through meritorious service. Rather [HaShem redeemed us for His sake, and we enjoyed its collateral benefit] as HaShem states through the prophet Isaiah: For my sake, for my sake I [will] do this/it. [Sod

Rosh HaShana 5780 / 2019 Sarah Yehudit Schneider יאמר א/להים נעשה אדם. במי נמלך?…רבי יהושע דסכנין בשם רבי שמואל אמר בנפשותן של צדיקים נמלך… נפשות של צדיקים שבהן נמלך הקדוש ב”ה וברא את העולם And G-d said, “Let us make Adam” [Gen 1:26] With whom did HaShem consult? [For “let us…” suggests there were others involved.]…R. Joshua of Siknin said in R. Levi’s name: He took counsel with the souls of the righteous… It is they with whom He consulted before creating the world. [Genesis

Pesach teachings over the years (2003-present.)

The seder is a journey from katnut (immature, childish, narrow-minded consciousness) to gadlut (mature, wise, broad-minded consciousness). From one perspective that IS the very essence of redemption. If a shift in perspective does not accompany the shift in circumstance, then that “deliverence” will backfire. At the seder, our expanding consciousness is evidenced by our evolving attitude toward matzah. In the course of the evening we will view the matzah in different ways, at

Pesach 2021 / 5781by Sarah Yehudit Schneider Matzah on Pesach is a powerful remedy that penetrates to the soul’s depths and heals ancient wounds. The 613 mitzvot correspond to the 613 organs of body and soul. A mitzvah is an exceptionally powerful act that brings light, fixing, and healing to some part of ourselves (which is often the area active in performing that mitzvah). Rav Tzadok notes that the first sin was an act of unrectified eating (from the Tree of Knowledge). Bec