Shabbat Shalom from Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow
March 26-27, 2020 / 14 Nisan 5781
Shabbat Tzav/Shabbat HaGadol
Haftarah: Malachi 3:4 - 3:24 | Shabbat HaGadol
“Run for Your Life”
Dear Friends,
This is the shabbat before we celebrate Pesach – our festival of freedom. As we await the great event of our liberation there is so much preparation to do. Of course, our ancestors had to pack and get ready to leave their homes for life in the desert. We have to get ready for the seder meal with all its rituals and the telling of the great story. But there is more.
The Haftarah portion for this shabbat comes from the book of Malachi. In the portion, God instructs us through the prophet, saying, “be mindful of and remember the Torah of My servant Moses, whom I charged at Mt. Horeb with laws and rules for all Israel. (Malachi 3:22)
The Exodus has not happened, and we are already being told to follow the Torah and its laws. From this we learn that the leaving Egypt is more than just a jailbreak. It is literally ‘running for our lives,’ and that means creating new lives as free and responsible individuals. Our tradition is telling us that running away from slavery is not enough. We must run towards life itself, which includes the Torah and our Jewish heritage, tradition, and identity. That is the deeper meaning as we raise our glasses and say, ”L’chaim - to Life.”
Chag Pesach same’ach – Have a healthy, happy, and meaningful Passover.
Shabbat Shalom.
Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow
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