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I would like to share with you a true story, which I think has a message for us as we prepare for Passover.

There was a young family; father, mother, and one very young daughter. The father was a salesman, whose job required him to travel around the country. The mother didn’t travel, of course; their daughter needed a more stable environment.

And then there was a tragedy. The mother fell seriously ill, and was eventually admitted to a psychiatric facility for long-term care. With no other family to care for his young daughter, the father was forced to bring her along on his frequent business trips.

On one of his trips he met a warm-hearted Satmar Hasid, whom, for the sake of anonymity, we’ll call Mr. Scheiner (from whom I heard this first-hand). Seeing a sweet young girl who needed to be raised in a warm home with a family, in a community where she could go to school and play with friends, Mr. and Mrs. Scheiner offered to care for her, and take her into their own home.

The Scheiner children, and there were many of them, were reluctant to invite another child to their family. “We are already a large family Tatty — we don’t have so much room. We don’t want her to come!” Mr. Scheiner’s response was understanding, yet firm: “You now have a new sister. She is equal to every one of you and we will love her like anyone else in the family.” With that, she was welcomed into the Scheiner home, and raised for many years — right up until her wedding day.

She felt so close to her adoptive family that when she became engaged, she proposed that the Scheiners be the ones to walk her down the aisle. Mr. Scheiner refused this touching offer, saying that it was more appropriate for her biological father, who always loved her and had done what was best for her, to have that honor.

The night before her wedding, the girl handed a long letter to the Scheiners, one that Mr. Scheiner told me could bring anyone to tears. Overwhelming expressions of gratitude filled every line, as she tried to capture the love and kindness she had received in their home, and to offer some words of appreciation.

Sometimes, we may wonder about the length of the Passover Seder. We were slaves, G-d set us free. Thank G-d! Let’s eat… What more must be said? Why is it necessary to go through the lengthy Seder text every year?

But on the other hand, could you imagine this young woman simply leaving “Thanks for your help!” on a sticky note on the Scheiner’s fridge door? She had been spared a nomadic, unstable life and given a home of true warmth and love. The young bride recognized that, and one can only imagine how indebted she feels to the Scheiners.

The Jewish people’s redemption from Egypt, a land of intense spiritual impurity and immorality, certainly deserves similar expressions of gratitude. It affects every one of us, so it is important that we tell the story in detail, count the wonders G-d performed in Egypt, sing Dayeinu listing one gift after the next to the Jewish people, and “the more one tells of the Exodus, the more he is praiseworthy.” I know of many families who discuss many different facets of G-d’s miracles and kindness, and don’t finish their Seders until three or four in the morning! Our gratitude to the Al-mighty should have no limit, and on Passover we try to express what G-d has done for us, and attempt to express how we can never stop saying “Thank you.”

Wishing everyone a Happy, and Kosher, Passover,

Rabbi Mordechai Dixler
Program Director, Project Genesis – Torah.org

P.S. Speaking of “thank yous,” I want to add to the thanks expressed by Rabbi Menken and others of us here at Project Genesis to all those who participated in the Project Genesis $100,000 Raffle. Your generosity, in what turned out to be our most successful campaign ever, is quite touching and encourages us to continue our important work in the dissemination of Torah values. You all have a share in this holy work and we appreciate your efforts to make this a reality.

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Believe it or not, this week’s message was not inspired by the fact that the Catholic Church has chosen a new Pope; it just offers a convenient contrast. As you probably know, there is, in their beliefs, a doctrine of papal infallibility. When the Pope teaches the rules, he is always right.

It is natural to assume that Judaism has something similar. This is especially true, given the Torah’s demand that we listen to the Rabbis and Judges, and not deviate “right or left” [Deut. 17:11] from what they say.

We see from this week’s reading, though, that this is definitely not the case. The Torah prescribes special atonement for when the High Priest, the King, or the Sanhedrin [Lev. 4: 13-21], the High Rabbinical Court, makes a mistake. In other words, the Torah highlights for us that it is possible for the Sanhedrin to be mistaken.

This is not about a small matter, either. The commentaries say that the mistake described here is one in which the Sanhedrin teaches that it is permitted to do something, and the Sanhedrin later realizes that the behavior is prohibited — so much so that a person committing the act deliberately would suffer the punishment of Kares, spiritual excision [the exact definition of this is disputed, but severe]. Even in matters of religious law, where the Sanhedrin’s supreme authority is undisputed — even there, they could make a mistake.

So why, then, does the Torah tell us to listen to them? They could, after all, be leading us in the wrong direction!

One answer has to do with the power of unity. Different customs and practices are wonderful, but there has to be underlying agreement on “the basics.” One of the problems with calling different Chassidic groups “sects” is that a sect is “a dissenting or schismatic religious body.” Chassidic groups may be led by different Rebbes, but they don’t rewrite the rules. The disagreements of today are disagreements about shapes of branches on individual trees within a massive, unified forest.

And there is another answer, which requires still more humility. It is all well and good to say that everyone is fallible — but who is more likely to be making a mistake? The Torah gives leadership to people who dedicate themselves completely to Torah study, to learning the Torah’s “way of thinking.” Such people are inherently less biased by the latest news reports and the wise opinions of the chattering class, as we are. We recognize that it is much less likely that they will make a mistake, and that is why we trust their guidance.

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The current foreclosure crisis is painful for all of us, but especially for those who have lost their homes. The feeling of failure and disappointment can be overwhelming.

When a home is seized, it is the last resort — even the lender will be happy to reverse it if at all possible. If the loan is not paid, then the borrower loses the property, but that’s not the desired result. The bank would much rather the receive mortgage payments than take away someone’s home and put it up for auction.

The building of the Mishkan, or Tabernacle, has been in the focus of the Torah readings over the last few weeks. The Hebrew word “Mishkan” literally means a dwelling place, but the Midrash (Shemos Raba 51) reads the word homiletically as “Mashkon,” a collateral. G-d lifted His protection from the Temple twice in our history: the First Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians, and the Second by the Romans. Those tragic events, says the Midrash, are to be seen as a lender seizing the collateral on a loan that wasn’t paid. It was a national foreclosure against the Jewish People.

The Holy Temple was where mankind, Jews and non-Jews, experienced the ultimate closeness to G-d, in prayer and with personal and communal offerings. It may be difficult for us to imagine how important its presence was to the world. It was a treasure that was ours — if we were willing to live devoted to G-d’s will. It was taken by the Al-mighty because the Jewish People failed to fulfill the bargain.

We, as a nation, experienced the most painful of foreclosures over 2000 years ago. But as the lender, G-d wants us to have the Temple, He wants to have that closeness. Whether we’ve yet earned it or not, it’s important to remember that He wants it to be ours. With patient anticipation, He waits for us to return to Him and reclaim what is ours.

Good Shabbos!
Rabbi Mordechai Dixler
Program Director, Project Genesis – Torah.org

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When it came to constructing the Tabernacle, everyone was invited to contribute as much as he wanted. Since not everyone has the same financial portfolio, it’s obvious that some people ended up giving more than others. In fact, we are told that the leaders of each tribe made a mistake. They said they would cover whatever was lacking, rather than giving immediately — and then the Bnei Yisrael gave more than was needed. This is why the leaders came at the end to bring the Shoham stones, the precious gems on the breastplate worn by the High Priest. Everything else had already been given!

In this week’s reading, we find a different plan. For the annual upkeep of the Temple, each adult male gave a 1/2 shekel coin — exactly the same amount.

There is an obvious message here: every individual has something to contribute. Every member of the Jewish people is part of a greater whole, and no one should think he or she is irrelevant.

Our teacher R’ Shlomo Katz, in his HaMa’ayan class, points to a comment of R’ Moshe Feinstein zt”l. R’ Moshe says that a person can think that he doesn’t really know much, and can’t learn like a great scholar, so it doesn’t matter if he studies or not. He can think that he’s really not a powerful or influential person, so it doesn’t matter if he goes out of his way to do a good deed.

This, says R’ Moshe, is why the opening verse [Ex. 30:11] begins, “When you raise the heads of the Children of Israel according to their numbers…” By counting them, Moshe is told, you are raising their heads. Each person is significant, and has much to contribute. Each individual is obligated to learn and do good deeds, like everyone else. Tap your potential, and you’ll find you’ve been given more than you thought!