Shabbat Shalom ~ HaGadol 2022

Have-a-Seder Share-a-Seder, Need-a-Seder Get-a-Seder. The centerpiece of Passover, the seder, happens at home. If you have room at your seder table and would welcome a guest or two, please let Rabbi Arnowitz know. Similarly, if you are looking for a seder to attend, please let him know so you can be matched.

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Shalom WJC Family,

It is hard to believe it, but Shabbat HaGadol (the Shabbat immediately preceding Passover) is here and hot on its heels will be Passover (1st seder is a week from Friday night!) I hope you received the Review with all of our passover programming and services in the mail, but if not you can view it by clicking here. Please note the special events next week: Pizza and Pasta dinner Thursday night at WJC for anyone, but especially those who have already cleaned all the chametz out of their houses and kashered all of their surfaces for Passover – please rsvp here. And Friday morning after minyan (minyan-7am, siyyum 7:35am) we’ll have the annual “siyyum,” this year hosted by Rabbi Dalton. She will complete her learning of Talmud Tractate Moed Kattan and to celebrate this accomplishment everyone, including first born males who would otherwise be fasting, are invited to a bagel breakfast, thus canceling the fast for all those present. Finally on Friday morning at 9:30 we’ll host our annual Chametz Roast and Marshmallow Toast. We will have a good fire going in front of the lower entrance of the shul – come by to burn the chametz you “found” on the night before and kids will be invited to toast marshmallows on the fire too!

It is also time to make sure you “sell” your chametz (products containing leaven) to me so that I in turn can sell it to a non-Jew who will own it during the holiday. Just a reminder that you can only “sell” chametz that is sealed away and inaccessible during the holiday. For more rules on the “selling your chametz” loophole click here. To designate me as your agent to sell your chametz click here.

For guidance on how to kasher different parts of your house, dishes, utensils or appliances for the holiday, or about rules for specific foods you can contact me or Rabbi Dalton or take a look in the Rabbinical Assembly’s Annual Pesach Guide. The Rabbinical Assembly’s Annual Pesach Guide will also be the source text for my mincha/maariv shiur this Saturday evening as we look at some specifics, especially regarding kitniyot (legumes, rice and corn.)

One last thing—I wanted to report that we met our fundraising goal on behalf of our neighbors at First Baptist Church in Mamaroneck. You may recall that the church was all but destroyed by Tropical Storm Ida.  With the help of our contribution, they will be able to purchase office furniture to replace that which was lost. We received a beautiful thank you note from our neighbors there, which can be seen in the attached picture. Thank you to all who participated in the fund drive for FBC and helped us fulfill the mitzvah of being good neighbors.

See you in shul,

 

P.S. Thank you all for your concern after our exposure to COVID. Baruch Hashem, Tami and I fine—both tested negative and are symptom-free.