Passover Message
April 16, 2018
Passover is a time for returning thanks and for giving of ourselves.We pause, while enjoying the richness and warmth of our own Seder festivities with the invitation “All who are hungry let
them come and eat.”
The Seder, which means order in Hebrew, is a way for each participant to relive the Exodus as a personal spiritual event.The Seder is of a religious nature with a carefully prescribed ritual that makes the dinner quite unlike family dinners held on civil holidays.
We are reminded that the word Freedom can never be taken for granted, it is woven throughout the entire fabric of the Seder, and the holiday liturgy of the Passover festival.
In the words of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks,”If we are to cherish freedom and to guard it, we must remember what the alternative is:the bread of affliction and the bitter herbs of slavery.Each new generation learn now how freedom was fought for and painfully won. Memory is our best guardian of liberty.”
As we sit down and celebrate this beautifull festival of Passover, let us remember all the members of our armed forces, who made the ultimate sacrifice through the years, so that we can be with our loved ones on this memorable holiday.
On behalf of my dear wife, children and grandchildren, we wish all our members a Passover filled with health, joy and peace of mind.
Alan Edwards
National Chaplain
Spiritual Upgrade
May 8, 2019
Upon our ancestors liberation from the bitter bondage in Egypt, its purpose was to inculcate in each of our ancestors the essence of upgrading our ethics and morals. It was a “koshering” process for each one to receive his/her graduation certificate in Torah education. That “certificate” was a pledge to use the Torah as a road map to face the physical and spiritual challenges that each generation will face.
Just as continued training in the military, police, fire and other agencies is required to face current and future challenges, so is each Jew obligated to study and sharpen his/her skills to strengthen one’s individual spiritual challenges.
The proof of this is the ability of the Jewish People to thrive despite the most difficult challenges any people endured.
As we celebrate Jewish Heritage Month, think of the many miracles we have experienced in our recent history.
As the non-Jewish Prophet Bilaam declared when he tried to cast a bad spell upon the Jewish Nation encamped in the Sinai Desert, he realized that he will not succeed by declaring:
“מַה טֹּבוּ אֹהָלֶיךָ יַעֲקֹב מִשְׁכְּנֹתֶיךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל”
A quoted narrative that I am adding to my article: How goodly are your tents’
Bringing the Jewish people together
By JEWISH STANDARDJuly 4, 2014, 3:58 am
“How goodly are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel!
It seems when Israel was victorious in the miraculous 1967 Six Day War and captured the Golan Heights, soldiers came to this particular spot and found a mock kibbutz set-up with various rooms and locations all marked in Hebrew. This was used by the PLO to practice training for terror attacks against kibbutzim in the northern part of Israel. This even included practice for raiding the children’s area of a kibbutz.
“Israel tore down this despicable place and planted vineyards. We plant, seed, grow, create, and with God’s help bring blessings. Our enemies sadly focus on destruction.”
As I think about Naftali, Gilad, and Eyal z”l who were kidnapped and murdered; and their families (and really all of us) and sit here with tears in my eyes, I have two competing emotions and thoughts.
First, I wonder what kind of people kidnap and murder children and teenagers, and how many Palestinians celebrate this despicable crime. This part of their society – the part based on hate, intolerance, violence, and murder – must transform. Only then can we achieve our dreams of peace.
Secondly, the outpouring of extra prayers, love, acts of kindness, mitzvot, and unity – especially unity – by Am Yisrael, the Nation of Israel, during this time brings light into a seemingly dark world.
We can’t let go of this. In fact we need to do more of these positive acts and work harder to bring the Jewish people together. The Jewish people represent hope, love, faith, and kindness, and our enemies are the exact opposite. The world must understand this. Bilam did when prophesized “Mah tovu ohaleyhu Yaacov…” “How goodly are your tents, O Jacob.”
Am Yisrael Chai-עם ישראל חי!
“The Nation of Israel lives on and endure for generations to come”
With blessings,
Rabbi Tzvi Berkowitz
National shomrim Chaplain