My sons reminded me that my sermon on the last day of Pesach always concluded “Let us put away our Passover dishes, but do not put away the beautiful memories of the Passover Holiday. Let us hold on to them as long as possible.
Memories have a profound effect upon us. They continue to warm our hearts and our minds. They permit us to build reservoirs of happiness and contentment in our lives with great encouragement to forge a life of love and compassion.
The Yom Tov of Pesach reminds us constantly, ‘We are the guardians of the past for the sake of the future.’ Edmund Burke called society, ‘A contract between the living, the dead, and those not yet born.’ Therefore, we are entrusted with the sacred responsibility of assuring that our Judaic way of life grows and is enhanced by our very lives.
I sense, that in a very prophetic way, our Torah realizes this truism of preserving the very fabric of the Passover Seder,of living harmoniously with each other.The minhag of counting Sefirah at the Seder Table expresses our intention of looking and carrying forth the spirit of this family holiday, as we begin our climb together,towards Mt. Sinai to experience the ultimate goal of Judaism - the Revelation of
G-D to our world.
These are times that our real world reminds us; ‘There are things that need genuine commitment and the courage of a Nachshon, to maintain with pride, our loyalty and dedication to all that that is magnificent in our spiritual lives.
This Sefirah period is an excellent time to make a Cheshban Hanefesh,to think well of one another rather than to think ill of others. It is a time to note that words have power and such power without restraint can be very destructive and serves only to demoralize others.
This Shabbat Torah reading, Shmini, discusses the laws of Kashrut. When the Torah lists the forbidden birds, one of the birds mentioned is the Da'ah.This list is again repeated in the exact way in Sefer Devarim. There is however, one difference. Instead of the Da’ah bird it is now referred to as the Ra'ah bird. The Gemarah states that the Ra'ah and the Da'ah is the same species. Why then is it called Ra'ah?
The answer given is that the Ra’ah bird is a special one,it can see from far away. To which Chazal explains, ‘It sits in Bavel, and is able to see rotting carcasses all the way in the land of Israel.’ This insight goes beyond the physical capabilities of the bird. It is suggesting that on a metaphorical level, this bird searches long distances to see the ugliness of things thousands of miles away. I sense, that is why this bird is not kosher, because a Jew is not to look for the bad in others, we are to train ourselves to see the good in others.
It is enough that the world looks and finds fault with the Jewish People. It is uncalled for that one Jew looks for the bad in another Jew.
We have suffered enough at the hands of so many Anti-Semites, we don't have to be ridiculed and judged in a negative and hateful way by our own brothers and sisters.
During this Sefirah period, when the students of Rabbi Akiva, died because they did not give Kavod one to the other, let us be ever mindful that our true redemption will come only when we have established a true loving and loyal relationship with each other.
Our motto must be חברים כל ישראל.
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