Culver City Observer -

Our best wishes to you for a Happy and Healthy Passover,

Rabbi Yossi and Sara Greisman

* PASSOVER SEDER

* MATZAH FACTORY

* SHABBAT @ 12053

* TORAH THOUGHT

* A BIT OF HUMOR

PASSOVER SEDER: Monday night, March 25.

If you or someone you know is looking for a place for the Seder, please email: seder@jewishcc.com for information and to RSVP.

On PASSOVER eve, the night that our freedom was born, we re-experience freedom by following 15 defined and ordered steps. We call it the SEDER which means: Order.

HAGGADAH means "the telling" and that's what we do at the Seder table - we tell a story of our slavery and redemption.

CHAMETZ is forbidden during Passover - it is any food product made from wheat, barley, rye, oats, spelt, or their derivatives, which has leavened (risen).

MATZAH is unleavened - since it's baked within 18 minutes and has not risen.

Visit: www.passover.org for Passover information including Seder guides, to sell your chametz and much more.

Trip to the MATZAH FACTORY:

When: Sunday March 17

Time: 11: am

Cost: $5 per child with advance reservation - group rate (RSVP: sara@ganwest.com )

Students of all ages will enjoy interactive, hands-on learning that makes the festival of Passover meaningful. Visitors travel back through time for a child-friendly re-enactment of the events of the Exodus. The group goes on to roll and bake their own Matzah - for a real taste of Passover.

SHABBAT CHAZAK:

This Shabbat is called "Shabbat Chazak", when we complete one of the books of the Torah; (the Book of Exodus) just as we complete the weekly Torah reading Shabbat morning, the entire congregation calls out "Chazak, Chazak, V'nitchazaik" - "Be strong. Be strong. Let us strengthen ourselves!" Just as we have completed one of the books of the Torah, G-d will help us be strong and complete all of the loose ends of our lives, physically and spiritually.

TORAH THOUGHT:

Matzah, the unleavened bread, is the most prominent item at the Passover Seder. It is the "bread of poverty" that symbolizes our hardship under Egyptian slavery. It is also the "hasty bread" that did not have time to rise, reminiscent of the nature of our redemption when we rushed out of Egypt.

Bread is life - there is something about bread which marks it as the quintessential food, and as the metaphor for all that nourishes our existence.

Yet for eight days and nights each spring, the Jewish home is transformed into a bread-free zone.

Of course, it is not bread per se that we banish from our lives, but rather chametz, or leaven. Passover has its own version of bread: matzah. Matzah is bona fide bread, made by mixing flour with water and baking it in an oven. The difference is that instead of being allowed to ferment and rise before baking, matzah is mixed, rolled and baked in a lightning-fast process that produces the flat, cracker-like bread we encounter on the Seder table. .

Passover marks our birth as a people, the very ground of our existence. As such, it is the festival of the matzah, a time to celebrate our humble faith in our Creator and our commitment to serve Him. Upon that foundation comes the rest of the year, when the bread of life attains its body and consistency, its savor and zest. (By Yanki Tauber; based on the teachings of the Rebbe.)

A BIT OF HUMOR:

One day a homeless Jewish man entered the most exclusive wealthiest synagogue, wanting to pray. He approached the rabbi and told him that he wished to join the synagogue. Not knowing what to say, the rabbi suggested that the homeless man take the night to look at other Synagogues to find one that truly suits him best.

The following day the homeless man returned to the fancy synagogue.

Frustrated, the rabbi asked the man if he had looked at other Synagogues.

"Oh yeah," replied the homeless man. "In fact, G-d came to me in a dream last night to discuss it with me."

"I see," said the rabbi. "And what did G-d tell you?"

"G-d asked me what Synagogue I wanted to pray in, and I said yours, Rabbi. And G-d said 'Oh no, you won't be able to get in there.' And I said, 'Why not?' and G-d said, 'Because I've been trying to get into that Synagogue for years but they wont let me in.'"

MAZAL TOV on your new car!

If your old car is in working condition, donate it for a Mitzvah and IRS Tax break. Call/email us for all donations at: 310-417-8500 donate@jewishcc.com

GOOD SHABBOS - SHABBAT SHALOM - Rabbi Yossi & Sara Greisman – 12053 Jefferson Blvd. Culver City, CA 90230 - 310-417-8500 http://www.jewishcc.com