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Kol Hamoed Pesach
INTERMEDIATE SHABBAT
23 April 2011
Exodus 33:12-34:26
Numbers 28:19-25
Ezekiel 36:37-37:14
1 Cor.5:6-8
Hag Sameach Pesach, Happy Passover! We
are in the midst of our Pesach Holiday. On the Hebrew
calendar, this week is called Kol Hamoed, the
Intervening Days or Half-Holy Days. Pesach begins on the
fourteenth of Nisan, when the Passover Lamb was slain.
The days of the Passover begin here and end on the
twenty-first of Nisan.
This festive season is to remind us of
the freedom and love that GOD has given to each and
every one of us. It is also a time of preparation. GOD
prepared the people to meet Him on Har Sinai, Mount
Sinai, where He created a people who were to be set
apart and holy, as He is holy.
In this Torah portion, we again go over
Parasha Ki Tisa (Exodus 33:12). GOD reveals to Moshe
that He will have His presence among the people and He
will give them rest and all that they need. Also, the
thirteen attributes of His mercy are given.
The HafTorah portion gives us the picture
of the dry bones, when Israel will be resurrected after
everything seems to be lost, as though she were dead.
Those who trust and receive the mercy of GOD and will
have His presence in their midst.
We are now in the season of the counting
of the omer. At the end of the forty-nine days we will
celebrate Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks. At that time, the
Children of Israel became the Bride of GOD as they said
they will obey (I will, or I do).
All are invited to eat of the Passover.
In the Haggadah, we are exposed to the breaking of the
matzah and lifting it up before all. The hardships and
cruelty of slavery under Pharaoh are re-told. All under
oppressions, discouragement, downtrodden, poverty are
invited to join us in the Seder meal. Just as the king
sent his servants out to gather all those who would come
to feast at his table, so we are all invited to join
HaShem, our King. We look forward to the time when we
will come together to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb
(Passover Seder).
Have a blessed Passover season.
Blessings, Hag Sameach
Shavua Tov
Rabbi Z.
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