"A night of anticipation for HaShem"
(Exodus 12:42)
Nisan 14, 5778/March 30, 2018
Passover is the festival of freedom. For weeks we prepare to reacquire our freedom, to reaffirm our freedom and to celebrate our freedom, by cleaning our homes and our persons of all manners of chametz - leavened food stuffs, and even food stuffs that could potentially become leavened. We do this to the very last speck of chametz, removing it completely from our lives for seven whole days. Leaven causes things to rise, to take up space, to become full of themselves. The material chametz that we diligently remove from our homes in preparation for Passover parallels the spiritual chametz that we are equally diligent in removing from our souls and our psyches and egos, as we prepare for Passover. To fully receive freedom and to fully embrace freedom we need to clear ourselves of our own inflated self importance, of the crumbs that fill our lives and distract us from our purpose and our potential. We replace our chametz with matza, an unleavened, unassuming bread that doesn't bedazzle or bedevil us with idle distractions, the bread of our fathers before they went down to Egypt, before they became bondsmen. When they were free.
Passover is the festival of freedom. In Temple times we take for ourselves a lamb, not yet a yearling, unblemished, and accompany it to the Holy Temple courtyard, where it is slaughtered, and eat of it, each one of us, a single morsel, so that all can partake, until all the meat is consumed, and finish it before midnight, as our ancestors did in Egypt, reclining and eating in ease, until it was midnight, the appointed time to leave our slavery behind and leave Egypt forever. The Korban Pesach - Passover Offering - is a bond, a brit, an eternal covenant between ourselves and G-d, a two-party contract, a guarantor of our freedom. Without a commitment to G-d there is no freedom.
And what is the freedom we celebrate on Passover? It is the freedom, not of relinquishing responsibility, but of embracing responsibility. It is the freedom, not of doing my own thing, but of doing the thing I was put on earth to do. It is the freedom, not of creating my own story, but of discovering the story my Creator has in store for me. It is the freedom, not of being able to say no when I please, but to say yes, when called upon.
It is the freedom, not merely to fulfill my own role as an individual, but to assume my responsibility to my people, to play my part in the unfolding story of my nation and my land, and to the pursuit of the common destiny of all mankind, to know the G-d of Israel and see His presence in our world.
Freedom comes at a price, the price of losing our bondage, of walking away from the frivolities and diversions that plagued Egypt then, and that plague our world today. The price is steep but the reward is immeasurable. Passover night "is a night of anticipation for HaShem," (Exodus 12:42), of watchfulness for HaShem. It is only the beginning of freedom, not the fulfillment of freedom. The road to freedom stretches out before us. It leads to Sinai and it leads to Jerusalem. It leads to human dignity and it leads, G-d willing, to peace. The freedom of Passover is the freedom to move forward, to become who we are meant to be, to be G-d's partner in the perfection of the world He created. Chag Kasher veSameach - have a Happy (and kosher) Passover!
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Due to the restraints of pre-Passover preparation, a new Temple Talk Radio broadcast was not recorded this week. Our next broadcast will be Tuesday, April 10th. Rabbi Chaim Richman and Yitzchak Reuven beg your indulgence, and send their wishes for a Chag Pesach Kasher ve Sameach - a Kosher and Happy Passover!
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Passover Offering Reenactment At Foot Of Temple Mount Draws Ire Of Palestinian Authority: Palestinians across East Jerusalem will hold mass protests on Friday in the wake of a court-approved Passover sacrifice ceremony held by religious Jews close to the Temple Mount on Monday, the leader of the city’s Al-Aqsa Mosque announced. The Jerusalem District Court gave the go-ahead for the Bible-mandated ritual of slaughtering the paschal lamb not on the Temple Mount, the holiest site for Jews, but just below it, in the Davidson complex. Click here to learn more and view a video.
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2015 -Historic Practice Passover Offering: In 2015 (5775), in preparation for the upcoming festival of Passover, the kohanim (Temple priests) of the Nezer HaKodesh Institute for Kohanic Studies established by the Temple Institute held a Passover offering practice drill. This film documents that event. This was the most accurate and authentic reenactment of this service to have taken place in nearly 2,000 years. Click here to view video.
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Jordanian Gov’t Slams Israel For Allowing Jewish Prayer Near Al Aqsa: AMMAN — Minister of State for Media Affairs Mohammad Momani on Tuesday condemned an Israeli decision to allow a Passover Sacrifice celebration by Jewish settlers near Al Aqsa Mosque/Al Haram Al Sharif, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. Momani blamed the Israeli government for its “provocative and unacceptable practices [carried out] for well-known intentions” Click here to learn more and see photos of the event.
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Shlomo's Passover Adventure: Read the extraordinary story of an extraordinary boy, named Shlomo Ben Ezra. Shlomo lived in a quiet Galilee village called Tsippori, 1958 years ago, in the year 60CE! In that year, Shlomo, along with his Saba and Savta, (grandparents), Ima and Aba, (mother and father), and his sister Miriam , made the pilgrimage from Tsippori to the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, in order to celebrate the Passover festival - the festival of freedom! Click here!
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The Meaning of the Korbanot, Part 2: Parts: Rabbi Chaim Richman recorded at the West Texas Holy Temple Conference - Lubbock, TX November 2017: The korbanot (offerings) that are brought in the Holy Temple are a vastly complex and intricate Divine system that challenges man to rise above his own base animal nature and to strive to be the best human being that he or she can be. The Temple offerings is perhaps the most misunderstood of all Temple-related subjects. Why? What purpose did the offerings serve, and will they be renewed again one day?
Click here here to view video.
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PA: Passover Rites A 'Dangerous Precedent': Palestinian Authority says Jewish worship in vicinity of Temple Mount is unacceptable, vows to continue to pay terrorists. The Palestinian Authority (PA) has condemned Israel for allowing Jews to worship in the vicinity of the Temple Mount. Following a meeting in Ramallah, the PA released a statement condemning the decision to allow a group of Jewish worshipers to reenact the bringing of the 'Korban Pesach,' of Passover Offering, near the Temple Mount, which is the holiest site in Judaism. The PA called allowing the performance of the rite a "dangerous precedent." Click here to learn more and see photos of the event.
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Newlywed Eliyakim Cohen Calls On Israel To Ascend The Temple Mount! Last fall Eliyakim Cohen ascended the Temple Mount for the very first time with a special prayer in his heart. This week Eliyakim ascended the Temple Mount again, to thank G-d for answering his prayer! Click here to view video.
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Passover Offering Reenactment Conducted At Foot Of Temple Mount: For the first time since the Temple Institute has led a constituency of Temple activist organizations in conducting an annual pre-Passover Passover Offering Reenactment, the Israel police agreed to permit the event to take place at the southern wall of the Temple Mount, next to the famed Hulda Gates, through which thousands of Israelite pilgrims would stream every Passover with their lambs for offering, as they ascended to the Holy Temple. More than 1,500 people attended the ceremony, and many leading rabbis took part in then presentation. Click hereto learn more and see photos of the event .
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The Temple Institute's Raise A Red Heifer In Israel Project Gives Birth To Its First Male Calf: As reported earlier, the Temple Institute's Raise a Red Heifer in Israel project gave birth to its first red calf this morning, unfortunately a male calf and therefore not eligible to be a red heifer, as per Torah prescription, (Numbers 19). This short video taken one hour after its birth shows the young calf running after its mommy. Click here to view.
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Red Bull-Calf Born This Morning To One Of Five Expecting Mother Cows: This morning the first of our five pregnant cows gave birth to a red... bull calf, definitely not a candidate for a Torah mandated red heifer, (which is required to be a female). Three days before the beginning of the Passover holiday, the timing of the birth is especially exciting, as the ashes of a mature red heifer are required by Torah for purification before pilgrims bringing their Passover offerings to the Holy Temple can enter the Temple courtyards, as in accordance with Numbers Ch. 19. Click here to see a photo of the newborn!
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92 Year Old Meir Levenberg Invites You To Join Him On The Temple Mount! 92 year old Meir Levenberg of Efrat ascended the Temple Mount this week, and calls upon all of Israel to follow suit and ascend the Temple Mount today! Click here to view video.
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Rare Trove Of Bronze Jewish Revolt Coins Unearthed Near Temple Mount: Archaeologist Dr. Eilat Mazar's renewed excavations in the Ophel complex uncovers hoard in cave where Jerusalem residents sought refuge during war against the Romans. Click here to learn more and see photos.
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Arab Fear And Trepidation Over Today's Passover Offering Reenactment At The Foot Of The Temple Mount: Prime Minister Netanyahu has not responded to a petition to allow the Passover offering to take place on the Temple Mount, as per Torah commandment, but nevertheless, the Arab world has expressed grave concerns over the Passover offering reenactment that is taking place today, (Monday, March 26), at the foot of the Temple Mount, in the Davidson Center Archaeological Garden at the Temple Mount's southern wall. Click here to learn more.
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Holy Temple Myth Busters: Korban Pesach: To Be Or Not To Be? The Passover Offering is a thing of the past. It's not relevant today. Fact or myth? Quoting directly from Israel's most illustrious sages, Rabbi Richman explains why it is not only possible to bring the Korban Pesach today, but it is imperative to do so. Rabbi Chaim Richman provides the answers from the sources of Torah wisdom to these questions and many more in this multi-part series which will bust all of the myths that have come to clutter Jewish thought concerning the building of the Holy Temple and its significance to the entire world. Click here to view.
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Court Allows Jewish Prayer At Temple Mount Gates: Jerusalem Magistrate's Court Judge Shmuel Herbst rejected a police request to distance three 14-year-old Jewish girls from the Temple Mount area who prayed near the Temple Mount gates. In his decision, Justice Herbst ruled that the right of young Jewish women to pray at the Temple Mount gates was no less than the right of the Arabs and that police should allow the young women's prayers. Click here to learn more.
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Shavua Tov From The Temple Mount! Preparations for the Passover holiday which begins on Friday night are in high gear, but G-d fearing Jews still make time to show their reverence for G-d in the place of His Holy Temple - the Temple Mount! Click here to see photos.
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Celebrating Jerusalem’s Jubilee Year: Verse 391: Jerusalem In The Bible!: The holy city of Jerusalem is mentioned 627 times in the Bible. The Temple Institute is celebrating the Jubilee of Jerusalem's liberation and reunification in 1967 by posting a verse a day with a photo of modern Jerusalem! Visit our Facebook page each day to see a beautiful photo and verse about Jerusalem.
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Help To Build The Holy Temple In Our Time: Donate Generously To Help The Sacred Work Of The Temple Institute! Every contribution helps to rebuild the Holy Temple in our Time!
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Blessings for a Chag Kasher veSameach - a Happy Passover to all, from the holy city of Jerusalem!
Yitzchak Reuven
The Temple Institute
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