by Motzen | Mar 25, 2025 | Halacha
The search for Chametz is done on Thursday night after nightfall (8:21 PM). The burning of chametz is done Friday by 12:02 PM (Baltimore, MD).
Although you may eat chametz until Shabbos morning at 10:56 AM, the sale of chametz takes place on Friday morning. Any chametz you plan on eating on Friday and Shabbos morning should be placed apart from the chametz that will be sold.
Shabbos meals should be completely Kosher for Pesach with the exception of the bread (explained below).
Technically, you can set aside an entire chametz meal but due to the logistical challenges it is not recommended.
One should set aside two pitas or soft rolls that do not generate substantial crumbs for every Shabbos meal. They can be eaten at the table if one is using disposable utensils and a plastic sheet. Alternatively, one may eat the bread outside on their porch and then come back inside to eat the rest of the meal.
There are those who allow eating Matza on Friday night, many do not. All agree Matza cannot be eaten Shabbos day.
The bread must be eaten before 10:56 AM. The meal may continue afterward.
In order to enable eating challah before this, most shuls start davening on Shabbos morning earlier than usual.
One is obligated to have Lechem Mishna, double bread, at every Shabbos meal, to commemorate the double portion of man that fell every Friday while the Jewish People traveled in the desert. It is meant to remind us that G-d takes care of all our needs.
According to some opinions, one may use Egg Matzah for Lechem Mishnah. If one relies on this opinion, Shabbos meals need not be eaten early. One should not eat egg matzah on Pesach.
Some are of the opinion that egg matzah is chametz and therefore can be eaten on Erev Pesach as it is not matzah but cannot be eaten after the morning (Rav Moshe Feinstein). Others (Aruch Hashulchan) are of the opinion that it is not matzah or chametz and therefore can be eaten all day. Others, due to the uncertainty around egg matzah, do not eat it on Erev Pesach/ Pesach. And others allow eating it on Erev Pesach alone.
Seudah Shlishi – One is obligated to have three meals every Shabbos. There are three ways to do so on Erev Pesach that falls out on Shabbos.
- Start the first meal really early. Finish the meal and take a little break by reading a short book, or going on a short walk. Then return and eat the third meal with two rolls of bread. Of course this must be eaten before 10:56 AM.
- There is an opinion that one can fulfill the obligation of eating the third meal with fruit, meat, or fish. One can then eat this meal at any point during the day but should not eat too late so they have an appetite for the seder.
- There is an opinion recorded by the Magen Avraham that one can fulfill their obligation by learning Torah. This is not a conventional view. Nonetheless, one can rely on it if need be.
Leftover bread should be broken up and flushed down the toilet before 12:02 PM.
It cannot be placed with the other chametz as that chametz has been sold already. Placing it in the garbage is not sufficient.
At 12:02 PM all chametz becomes muktzah and cannot be handled. One should say Kol Chamira (found in a siddur in the Pesach section), nullifying any remaining chametz, before this time.
One may not start preparing for the Seder on Shabbos. One may only start after Shabbos concludes at 8:23.
Before beginning to do anything for Pesach, one should say, Baruch hamavdil bein kodesh l’kodesh/ daven Maariv.
One lights Yom Tov candles from a pre-existing flame.
*Pro Tip: Set your dining room table for the Seder on Friday. Eat the Shabbos meal at a kitchen table. This enables you to start your Pesach Seder as soon as Shabbos ends.*
by Motzen | Mar 25, 2025 | Halacha
Orthodox Union Pesach Guide: OU-PassoverGuide2025
Star-K Pesach Guide: Lots of great articles and abridged Passover Guide https://www.star-k.org/passover
CRC Pesach Guide CRCPesach-Guide-2025
by Motzen | Mar 25, 2025 | Halacha
Pesach is less than thirty days away! Are you ready?
- It is not only forbidden to eat chameitz, there is also an obligation to get rid of all chameitz that is in one’s possession.
Biblically, one can relinquish ownership of chameitz that is in one’s possession and that would take care of the issue of owning chameitz. However, our sages were concerned that if one would have chameitz that is sitting around in one’s home they would inadvertently eat it. They therefore required one to remove all chameitz from one’s home.
It therefore follows that if one relinquishes ownership of the chameitz in their home they do not need to remove chameitz from locations that are very difficult to reach since there is no concern that one will inadvertently eat the chameitz there. Additionally, the rabbis concern was only about substantive food items, like a cookie. One need not worry about crumbs. For example, there is no obligation to move a fridge to remove chameitz from behind the fridge. (This is not the same as the prohibition against eating chameitz, which one would violate by even eating a crumb. For this reason, cleaning in the cooking/ dining area is different than cleaning anywhere else.)
We are only obligated to search for chameitz in places that we have reason to assume that it will be found. This makes Pesach cleaning very subjective. If for example, one has a strict policy of ‘no food outside of the kitchen and dining area’ then they only need to look for chameitz in those locations. If one has young children then typically every area of the house potentially has chameitz.
Once we relinquish ownership of our chameitz, there is no Biblical prohibition of having chameitz in the house. The Rabbis were concerned that if chameitz was sitting around one would absentmindedly eat it. That being said, when one is cleaning for Pesach there is no need to look for crumbs. Since we either sell our chameitz and whatever is not sold, we relinquish ownership to, we therefore do not need to worry about insubstantial items like crumbs and the like. The one exception to this is the kitchen which we will discuss shortly.
Books – Although one sometimes eats while reading books and therefore there is reason to assume that crumbs have fallen in between the pages one need not clean out every book they own. However, due to this concern the custom is not to bring books to one’s table during Pesach. Benchers that are used during the year should not be used on Pesach and should be put away with the chameitz that is sold.
Kitchen/ Dining Room Table – One should clean very well. If there are hard to reach places, the area should be sprayed with a harsh cleaner. The custom is to cover the table with a water-resistant cover such as a plastic sheet. It should be thick enough that it shouldn’t tear during Pesach.
Tablecloths/ dishtowels – The custom is to use ones that are designated for Pesach use. If this is difficult one can wash the tablecloths/ dishtowels and use the same ones they use year-round.
As mentioned in the previous days, the primary concern of chameitz lying around one’s home is because one may eat the chameitz food. This obviously is not a concern when it comes to crumbs. Therefore, there is no need to drive oneself crazy to find every crumb in one’s home. If one does not have young children and there is no concern about food being hidden in all sorts of places then one should not be breaking a sweat when cleaning for chameitz.
However, when it comes to the kitchen there is an additional concern of eating chameitz. It is forbidden to eat even a drop of chameitz. That being the case, if a crumb of chameitz is left on one’s kitchen floor and a piece of food falls onto the floor on Pesach, the chameitz can get attached to the food and become forbidden to eat. Therefore it is imperative to meticulously clean one’s kitchen.
In addition, anything that came into contact of hot chameitz during the year retains a chameitz status and if it comes into contact with hot food on Pesach can make the food chameitz and forbidden to be eaten on Pesach. We therefore must purge all appliances and surfaces before Pesach to remove any chameitz from within them. The laws of purging appliances, otherwise known as kashering, are discussed in a different post.
Refrigerator: All shelves and surfaces should be cleaned thoroughly. If it is difficult to clean shelve (due to ridges etc.) or it is an area which food touches directly (like a vegetable/fruit drawer) then one must line that area. Otherwise, no lining is necessary.
Any chameitz food that needs refrigeration should ideally be finished before Pesach. If that is not practical, one must place the food in a specific area and cover it in a way that is not so easy to access the food.
Soaps, Shampoos, and Lipstick
Although there are those who are stringent not to, it is permitted to use shampoos and soaps that are made with chameitz materials. (Owning these items is not a problem because it is not fit for consumption).
Ideally, anything that will come into contact with one’s mouth should not have chameitz, even though it is not fit for consumption. Therefore, items like toothpaste, lipstick, chap-stick, and similar products, should be chameitz-free. Kashrut agencies such as OU and Star-K have comprehensive lists on their websites and in print.
Cupboard Shelves, and Towels
One need not line cupboard shelves or drawers with shelving paper. Since they do not come into contact with hot food the only concern is cleaning the area out from any Chameitz.
One may use towels and table-cloths from year round on Pesach as long they are washed in hot water and soap before Pesach.
I want to emphasize that I am writing what is necessary by law. Jewish People from time immemorial have cleaned for Pesach with extra stringencies and it is a beautiful testimony to our ancestor’s commitment to G-d. I would advise that if one has a custom that is a stringency one should treasure it and hold on to it. If for some reason it becomes difficult to maintain, it should be weighed seriously before being discarded.
Pills
If something is inedible we do not treat it as Chameitz. However, if one puts that item in their mouth to digest it the Poskim debate if in doing so one gives the item the status of food. In that light I would recommend the following:
Medicine: Bitter or tasteless tablets, capsules, or liquids may be taken on Pesach even though they have chameitz ingredients. (If the medicine taken is in the form of pleasant tasting tablets or liquids an alternative should be found. If none is available, check in with a rabbi before discontinuing use.)
Vitamins: Ideally, a chameitz-free vitamin should be used. If none are available, then as long as the vitamin is bitter tasting or tasteless and prescribed by a doctor, the vitamins may be taken on Pesach.
Eye drops, ear drops, nose drops, and throat sprays do not need to be chameitz free.
Miscellaneous: Don’t Need to be Kosher for Pesach
A few more things that do and do not need to be kosher for Pesach: Paper-ware and plastic-ware do not need to be certified as kosher for Pesach. (However, some do not use paper plates unless it is certified to be Kosher for Pesach. This is due to the fact that corn starch is used in the plate.)
Dish soap, strictly speaking, does not need to be kosher for Pesach but the prevalent custom is to use only kosher for Pesach dish soap.
Liquid cosmetics that contain alcohol, wheatgerm, or vitamin E, is a matter of debate. One may rely on those that permit using perfume, cologne, shaving lotion etc. on Pesach.
One last thing, although not typically eaten by humans but still must be kosher for pesach is pet food. (Pets may be fed food with kitniyot.)
Selling Chameitz
The Talmud relates a story of a man travelling on a boat with chameitz. Realizing that he would be stuck on a boat over Pesach with a large quantity of chameitz, he decided to sell it to a non-Jew who was travelling with him. After Pesach, he bought the chameitz back. Over time, it was common practice for businesses that dealt with large quantities of chameitz would sell their chameitz to a local non-Jew to save them from incurring a large financial loss. Nowadays, in an age of stockpiling, it would be a substantial loss for any of us to just get rid of all chameitz products before Pesach (especially after Purim!), we therefore sell our chameitz to a non-Jew for the duration of Pesach.
The sale itself is rather complex due to the fact that there is no transfer of the physical items being sold. It is therefore customary to appoint a competent rabbi as one’s agent to sell their chameitz.
All chameitz food that is being sold must be placed in an enclosed area. If one could place it in a separate room that is most ideal. If not, cover in a way that makes it difficult to access. If food is in a cupboard one should tape the cupboard down.
We do not sell our pots and pans that have been used for chameitz The reason for this is that if we were to sell a non-Jew our dishes and buy them back after Pesach, we would have to tovel all of those items that we just bought from a non-Jew.
If one will be in a time zone that is different than the time zone that the sale will take place in, one should discuss this with their rabbi. There are some complications with such a sale. For example, if one is in California, where they are three hours later than us in Baltimore, and the rabbi buys back the chameitz immediately after Pesach, the individual who is in California will be in possession of chameitz for the last few hours of Pesach.
This year (2025), the chameitz will be sold on Friday morning. One should put aside any chameitz food they plan on eating afterwards.
Searching for Chameitz
One must search all their property on the night before Pesach. This includes one’s car and any office space which is owned or rented. If it is very inconvenient to check one’s office on the night before Pesach then one should search for chameitz in their office on the night before.
If one will not be home for Pesach then one should check their home for chameitz the night before they leave.
If one will be staying at someone else’s home for Pesach it is not the guests obligation to check. However, if one is renting the room (like at a hotel), they must check the room for chameitz. If they arrive at the hotel on the eve of Pesach, they must check for chameitz upon arrival.
One only says the blessing of bedikas chameitz if they are searching for chameitz the night before Pesach. Otherwise, the search is done without a blessing.
One makes a blessing before searching: Baruch… asher kid’shanu b’mitzvosov v’tzivanu al biur chameitz (Blessed are….Who sanctified us with His mitzvos and commanded us to destroy chameitz).
Since one’s home has been cleaned thoroughly for Pesach at this time there is a concern that the blessing be made is being said in vain. For this reason, there is a custom to hide ten pieces of bread before the search so that there is definitely some chameitz that must be found. That being said, the purpose of searching is obviously not just to find those pieces. One must search for any chameitz that they may have missed.
Although some search with a candle as this was done throughout history, it is totally acceptable and, if it is more efficient, even preferable to use a flashlight. One may leave their lights on if this facilitates the search.
This year (2025), we search for Chameitz on Thursday night.
Fast of the Firstborn
Male firstborns must fast on Erev Pesach. The reason for this fast is because the Jewish firstborns were spared on Pesach night from the plague of the firstborn. Therefore, Jewish firstborns acknowledge that they were not worthy of being saved and therefore fast as a sign of repentance on Erev Pesach.
There is another reason, suggested by Rabbi Yakov Kamenetzky Zt”l. On Erev Pesach, the entire Jewish People converged onto the Temple Mount to bring the Korban Pesach. Every family had to participate in this sacrifice and therefore to accommodate the masses of people, every single Kohen was put to work on Erev Pesach. Our tradition has it that the firstborns were supposed to be the priests but they lost their chance after participating in the Golden Calf. That being the case, the day most reminds the firstborns of their lost opportunity is Erev Pesach. Watching the Kohanim hard at work, running the ceremonies at the Temple was a sad reminder to the firstborns of what they could have been doing. It is for this reason, explains Rabbi Kamenetsky, that the firstborns fast on this day; to ask for forgiveness for their participation of the Golden Calf.
All male firstborns must fast; whether it is the mother’s firstborn, the father’s firstborn, whether it was a cesarean birth, whether the mother first had a miscarriage, and even if one is a convert firstborn.
The custom is that a firstborn may attend a Siyum, participate in the Siyum by eating some food served to celebrate, and once the fast is broken they may continue to eat the entire day. (This idea of ‘once the fast is broken it is permitted to eat the entire day’ does not apply to other fast days.)
If a firstborn was not able to attend a Siyum and knows that by fasting they will have a very difficult time participating properly in the Seder, they may break their fast but should not eat more than they have to.
According to some authorities if one is unable to attend a siyum they could participate by listening to the siyum on the phone.
This year (2025), the fast will take place on Thursday.
Seder Night: Four Cups of WIne
One of the major themes of the seder is a celebration of our freedom. To demonstrate our freedom, the rabbis instituted the drinking of four cups of wine at the seder.
Ideally, the cups should be of a good wine. If one is concerned that the alcohol will affect them negatively or if they really dislike the taste of wine, they can drink a wine with a very low alcohol content. If that is challenging as well, one can use grape juice for the four cups.
The cup should be at least 3 ounces. This year, on the first night of Pesach one must use a cup that can hold at least 4.4 ounces (This is because it is Friday night and the obligation for Kiddush is Biblical).
One should drink the entire cup. If that is difficult, one can drink the majority of the cup.
It is customary to not pour one’s own cups.
Seder Night: Matzah
There is an obligation to eat matza three separate times at the seder; motzi matza,korech (Hillel’s sandwich), and for the afikomen.
The amount a person needs to eat is as follows:
Motzi Matza and Afikomen – 1/3 of a hand-made and 1/2 of a machine matza.
Korech – 1/4 of a hand-made and 1/3 of a machine matza.
One must recline when eating the matza and should try to eat each portion of matza within two minutes and at most four minutes.
Seder Night: Marror
There is an obligation to eat marror twice during the seder; once on its own and the other time in a sandwhich. The proper amount of marror to be eaten each time is one ounce worth of marror. If one is using lettuce to fulfill the mitzvah of marror, one big leaf or two stalks of lettuce suffice. One does not lean while eating marror.
What is Kitniyot? What are the applications of this custom?
Kitniyot are certain vegetables that may not be eaten on Pesach according to Ashkenazic custom. Some common examples of kitniyot are alfalfa, beans, chickpeas, mustard, coriander, cumin, lentils, poppy seeds, peas, peanuts, rice, tofu, and soy.
If one has a restrictive diet due to health reasons, one should speak to a competent rabbi but in some circumstances they may eat kitniyot. The same holds true for very young children.
Kitniyot does not have to be sold but should be placed in a covered area to ensure that one will not eat it on Pesach.
Ashkenazim may eat food that was cooked in dishes that kitniyot was previously cooked in. So if one who is of Ashknezic descent were to visit the home of one who has Sefardic customs, he may not eat kitniyot, but he may eat non-kitniyot food cooked in that home even though the pots, pans, etc. were just used to cook kitniyot.
by Motzen | Sep 11, 2022 | Sermons
There will be many terms that you will hear and read in the tributes to Queen Elizabeth II. Words like stability, dignity, tradition, unifier of her country, and grace. Those are all special terms in that they are hard to find in this day and age. As one columnist put it, “As I sit down to write about her life, I cry, realizing that all that she stood for is no longer.”
In addition to all that she stood for, there was something that surrounded her that is also ‘no longer’, something that would be worth spending some time contemplating and appreciating this morning, and that is awe.
In April 2009, President Barak Obama and his wife Michelle, visited the Queen of England. It was a disaster. The gift the first family presented the monarch was an iPod – which was derided as tacky. But far more controversial was the way the First Lady greeted the Queen. She gave Queen Elizabeth the Second a hug.
Now for most of you here that means absolutely nothing. What’s the big deal? None of the papers in the US picked this up as anything special. But across the Commonwealth, they were losing their minds…
You do not hug the queen. It is not just against royal protocol. It’s just unfathomable. The queen is sacred. The queen is literally untouchable. When in the Queen’s presence, if you are lucky enough to be there, you don’t breathe unless it fits with royal protocol. Like the big-hatted soldiers outside Buckingham Palace, in the Queen’s presence, you stand at attention. You stand in awe.
The concept of awe, the notion of something being sacred, is quaint, it’s old-fashioned. It is, to us democratic and egalitarian Americans, backward. And that’s a pity. Awe is the most… awesome emotion we can experience, but our culture, its speed, its tone, its self-centeredness all precludes us from experiencing true awe.
A few years ago, a group of students from Vassar College visited the home of Ludwig van Beethoven. His home is preserved as a museum in Bonn, Germany. The centerpiece of the museum is the room in which Beethoven’s piano is found. It’s the piano on which he composed most of his incredible musical pieces. The 200-year-old piano, valued at an estimated 200 million dollars, is of course, roped off.
However, one of the students came to the room that held the piano and just couldn’t resist the temptation to ask a museum guard if she could play it for just a moment. The guard allowed himself to be influenced by her generous tip and he let the young woman beyond the ropes for a few moments. She sat at the famed piano and knocked out several bars of Moonlight Sonata. When she finished, her classmates broke into applause.
As she stepped back through the ropes, the young woman asked the guard, “I suppose over the years, all the great pianists that have come here have played the piano, right?”
“No, miss,” the guard replied. “In fact, just two years ago I was standing in this very place when Paderewski, the famous pianist and composer, visited the museum. He was accompanied by the director of the museum and the international press, who had all come in the hope that he would play Beethoven’s piano. But when he entered the room, he stood over there, where your friends are standing, he gazed at the piano in silent contemplation for almost fifteen minutes. Finally, the director of the museum gently invited him to play the piano, but with tears welling in his eyes Paderewski declined, saying that he was not worthy of even touching it.” (h/t R. Efrem Goldberg)
That, my friends, is awe.
What would you do in that room? Would you play that piano, or would you stand in silent and awe-inspired contemplation?
The last passage of this week’s portion speaks of the archenemy of the Jewish People, the nation of Amaleik. We know they attacked us as we left Egypt. But they weren’t the only ones who did so. Why is the Torah so dead set against this nation?
If you look closely at the Chumash, it does not say they attacked us, it writes, asher karcha baderech, literally, this means they encountered you on the way. It’s a strange term, asher karcha. And so, our Sages, with their exquisite and sensitive ear, understand the term karcha not to mean encounter, but rather, from the word, kar, cold. They cooled you off.
You see, the nation of Amaleik is the anti-awe. The Jewish People, after the ten plagues, after the splitting of the sea, were revered, they were untouchable, they were seen as special by all. Amaleik could not stand this. They believed that there is nothing sacred. There is nothing called holiness. There is nothing that is worth an iota of awe. And so they attacked us to demonstrate that we are not that hot, that nothing is that hot.
Had they lived in 2022, they would have just tweeted a cynical tweet. Maybe they would have created a silly meme of the Jewish People. Or they would have written a hit piece. The Amaleiki people with their anti-awe philosophy would fit right in with our modern society. Amaleik would scorn the notion of an untouchable queen. Amaleik would sit down and play ‘Mary had a little lamb’ at the piano of Ludwig van Beethoven.
Amaleik is no longer. But what they represent – anti-awe – is all around us. The quick pace of life precludes us from ever allowing ourselves to be swept up in a magical experience. Fashionable cynicism precludes us from admiring anything or anyone. Leon Kass once said, “Shallow are the souls that have forgotten to shudder.” We, our generation, has forgotten to shudder.
So how do we develop this ability to shudder? How do we overcome the cynicism, the pace of life, and develop a sense of awe?
It starts here, in shul. One of the prime objectives in the institution of the synagogue was to instill within the Jewish People a sense of awe. According to Jewish Law, it is forbidden to kiss a child in a shul. Judaism is all about family, but in shul, we are meant to develop a sense of awe. This is why we have separate seating. Sitting with family is comfortable. But we are supposed be a little uncomfortable in the presence of G-d.
When I first joined the shul, I remember how David Greenfeld would get so worked up about making sure the people taking the Torah out of the ark all stood in the right place and all walked in formation following the Torah. My initial reaction was, who cares. But he was right.
We come to shul, especially during the days of awe, and we stand in silence, we bow, we listen, we have processions, we have pomp, we have ceremony. It’s slow. And you know what, it’s supposed to be slow. It’s meant to slow us down.
And then we open the siddur, and we start reading about things that we know and see all the time, but we ignore them or even worse, dismiss them. “Thank you, G-d, for giving me sight… for enabling me to stand… to walk.” We thank G-d for the cosmos, for light, for darkness, for Jewish history. Shul is one long exercise in developing a sense of sophistication and a sense of awe.
The goal is to then take that sense of awe and bring it to every part of life. I’ve shared this poem with you before but it’s worth sharing again. It’s an old Yiddish poem about an orange that was brought to a small, poor shtetl somewhere in Eastern Europe. The town-folk had never tasted, let alone seen, an orange in their lives. And so, when the orange was brought to town, everyone left work early that day. They gathered at the marketplace, and each and every person had a chance to hold and smell the orange. They admired its radiant color, they took in its powerful citrusy-sweet smell, and allowed their fingers to caress the smooth grooves of the fruit before passing it on to their friend.
The next day, after work they gathered again as the orange was peeled. They crowded together so they could catch the burst of juice as the peel was punctured for the first time. The peel was first grated and a lucky few were able to go home with some orange zest. The remaining peels were chopped and then distributed among the community members so they could each make a tiny little batch of marmalade.
The next day, they gathered again. This was the grand finale. They all stood in silence as one woman delicately peeled apart each segment of the orange. The people admired the ingenuity and uniqueness of a fruit that needs no chopping or dividing, a fruit that’s readily available for sharing. They oohed and aahd as the sections were separated and a chosen few were given an orange piece of their own to eat, to savor and to enjoy.
We don’t need to go to Buckingham Palace to feel this way. We live in a magical world, we’re surrounded by incredible people, we are the recipients of endless gifts from Hashem. Can we use our time here to slow down, to open ourselves up, and to experience a true sense of awe?
by Motzen | Sep 4, 2022 | Sermons
I’m sure by now you’ve seen the Pizza Hut commercial.
Certainly, the many people here today from the former Soviet Union know what I’m talking about. Da?
In 1997, Mikhail Gorbachev, who passed away this week, appeared in a Pizza Hut commercial. He and his granddaughter are seen walking into a Pizza Hut, which of course, is an American franchise that had only recently opened its doors on Russian soil. At another table in the restaurant, two men who notice him start arguing. “It’s Gorbachev! Because of him, we have economic confusion,” says one of them. His friend, clearly a lot younger, replies, “Because of him, we have opportunity!” The argument continues: “instability”, “freedom”, “chaos”, “hope”, and back and forth and back and forth.
That argument of Gorbachev’s legacy is still going on today. There are people like Vladimir Putin who despise Gorbachev’s shift to restructuring the USSR to a policy of openness, or in Russian, glasnost and perestroika (how’s my Russian accent, guys?). And others, especially many Jewish leaders, who hail him as a hero who allowed millions of Jews to go free. You’ll find some obituaries that claim that he was a visionary who saw value in democracy, and others like Natan Sharansky, who argue that he was an ardent communist who was forced to make concessions.
So as this argument is playing out in this Pizza Hut commercial, an older lady stops the two men and exclaims, “Thanks to him… we have Pizza Hut!” Which no one can argue with. And before you know it, the entire Pizza Hut is raising their glasses to toast Gorbachev… for bringing them Pizza Hut. (Only in Russia do they have alcoholic beverages in Pizza Hut.)
My initial reaction upon seeing this commercial was that this is bizarre and pathetic. Clearly, Gorbachev was in need of funds – which he was, and therefore allowed himself, he, formerly one of the most powerful people on earth, to appear in a commercial for pizza. Not even good pizza, I am told, and allow himself to be mocked.
But I thought about it some more and I realized that maybe I was mistaken, maybe this commercial can teach us a profound truth about life and about Judaism. Hear me out:
Every one of us desires to have a legacy, right? We hope that we’ll be remembered for doing something good, positive, constructive in this world. So, we build our legacy. We give donations that will ensure organizations that we value will impact people for years to come. We build families – the clearest form of legacy. We come up with ideas that will change the world, or our communities, or our workspaces. We all want to leave our mark. And that’s great and it’s important. But sometimes, it comes at a cost.
There’s a Chassidic tale of a man who had a recurring dream. He dreamt that under a certain bridge in Cracow there was a huge treasure buried. Night after night, he kept on having this dream. This guy was poor, dirt poor. He figured he had nothing to lose so he packed his bags and started travelling across Eastern Europe until finally he arrived in Cracow. He finds the bridge and starts digging.
He’s digging and digging and digging until suddenly he hears a voice yell, “Jew! What are you doing?!” He looks up, there’s a Polish soldier staring at him menacingly. “What do you think you’re doing?”
He tells him the truth. “I know this sounds crazy, but I had this recurring dream that there’s a treasure buried under this bridge. So, I travelled from my home to come here and find it.”
The soldier looks at him and then bursts out laughing. “You fool! I also have a recurring dream of a treasure buried, but it’s across the country in Berditchiv. Do you think I am going to travel there to find it?”
The Jewish man says, “Wait, where in Berditchiv?”
The soldier replies, “In this and this street and in this and this home, under the fireplace.”
Sure enough, the address the soldier gave him was his address. The man went home, dug up his fireplace and found a magnificent treasure.
You see, sometimes we are so focused on the big picture, sometimes we are so focused fulfilling our dreams and laying out our legacy, on accomplishing all of our big plans, that we ignore and lose sight of what’s right in front of us, right under our nose.
Let me ask you a question, what is the mission statement of Judaism?
There is none. (The notion that being a light unto the nations as our prime goal is simply untrue. It’s important, but it’s not the entirety of our faith.) Nowhere in the Torah does Moshe say, this is what it’s all about. This is everything. This is the big picture. Instead, we are given Mitzvos. 613 Mitzvos. In addition to the 613 Mitzvos that are in the Torah there are a gazillion Rabbinic Mitzvos. There is a big picture in Judaism, but by not laying it out in the Torah, Moishe is teaching us not to worry about the big picture, not to worry about the End of Days, about the ultimate goal of the Jewish People. Because when we do so, we sometimes lose sight of, and even worse, we sometimes trample on, opportunities that are standing right before us.
There is a Mitzvah in this week’s parsha, that we are not to cut a down a fruit-bearing tree. And we extrapolate from there, that we are not to waste anything at all. Ba’al tashchit; do not destroy things for no reason. You take an extra piece of paper towel to dry your hands, you just wasted.
And the context of this Mitzvah is critical. It is describing the Jewish People in war. And in the context of warfare, when lives hang in the balance, the Torah demands of the Jewish soldier not to waste fruit trees. Really?! Is that so important right now? We have bigger things on our minds! But what the Torah is trying to do with this Mitzvah, it would seem, is sensitize us to the small things that we so often ignore, that we so often trample on in pursuit of what we believe to be greater and more important.
Our Sages take this even further, suggesting that an even greater sin than wasting material items is wasting time. Think about it –
… In the five seconds I just let go by, you could have turned to the person next to you and told them how nice their hair/ suit/ dress looks. You could have made someone’s day. You could have said a short prayer and rejuvenated your soul. But we’re sometimes so focused on what’s next that we forget about what’s now.
In the 16th century, a great rabbi by the name of Rabbi David ibn Zimra received a question. A Jewish man was in jail for life. But he was given the opportunity to take one day off. One day! And he sent a letter to this rabbi asking him which day should he take off? Should it be Yom Kippur so he could say Kol Nidrei and Neilah with a congregation? Should it be Pesach so he could have a seder with family? Maybe Rosh Hashana so he could hear the Shofar?
You know what the rabbi answered? He said, take off the first day you can. Whether it’s Shabbos, whether it’s a Tuesday. Because today, each day, is an opportunity. Each day has endless potential. Stop looking forward, stop looking up, stop looking big, and look right in front of you.
That old lady, in the Pizza Hut commercial, she was right. Legacies, fame, honor. They’re nice, but they’re not always attainable, they’re complicated, and most importantly, they could be distracting. Bringing people together, to enjoy each other’s presence, right here, right now, that is a big deal. Hail to Gorbachev!
Now, it’s a struggle. I’ll be the first to admit. This Friday morning, I was davening shacharis, morning services, and I was thinking about what I was going to say this Shabbos. And I had to stop myself. What am I doing? I am in middle of praying. I have an audience with G-d! And instead of appreciating what I’m doing right now, I am thinking about tomorrow. What a waste!
So maybe we can all practice this. We’re all going to go to Kiddush. We’ll be speaking to someone. Let’s try to speak to them and speak to them only. Let’s not worry about refilling our plate, let’s not worry about the friend we want to catch before they leave. Let’s value what is in front of us. It’s priceless.
In sixty seconds, we are all going to rise and have a few moments of silence. It’s called the Amidah, shemoneh esrei, the climax of today’s service. We believe that at that moment we are standing before our Creator. He’s listening to us. Every word. An audience with G-d. Let’s speak our mind. Or let’s just allow ourselves to relish and enjoy the experience of G-d paying attention to us, to me, to you, because we matter to Him. Wow.
I hope and pray that we all leave noble legacies behind, undisputed legacies. And we’ll need to dream big dreams to get there, we’ll need goals, we’ll need strategies. But on this great journey, let’s not lose sight of what’s right in front of us, let’s not lose sight of the countless treasures that we can access every moment with small acts of kindness, with prayer, with Torah learning.
There is nothing more precious than what’s right here, right now.
