Rabbi's Week in Review
As we approach our Passover celebration in this year 5782, and as we celebrate our own freedom and redemption from persecution, let us resolve to work so that all people are free from persecution and violence. As we were strangers in the land of Egypt, let us always find ways to help the strangers in our midst so that they are strangers no more.
To everyone, a zissen Pesach, a Passover of sweetness. May it be a time of hope and gladness, a time of contemplation and meaning. May we move closer to peace and justice for all humankind. Kein Y’hi Ratzon — May That Be G-d’s Will.
This Week's Torah Portion
Torah portions surrounding the Passover holiday are scheduled differently among Israel, less traditional Jews in the Diaspora, and more traditional (Conservative and Orthodox) Jews in the Diaspora. And it can get a little complicated.
This week, leading up to Pesach, the Torah portion is the same for everyone — Parashat Acharei Mot (Vayikra/Leviticus 16:1-18:30). This coming Shabbat (also the first day of Passover) and during Passover, we read from different Parshiyot, or Torah portions, each day; all are related to our Pesach celebration.
Now the tricky part. For those in Israel and for less traditional Jews in the Diaspora who follow what is done in Israel, Passover is celebrated for seven days. The holiday ends after sundown on the evening of Friday, April 22 (as Shabbat begins). So Shabbat morning, Saturday, April 23, does not have a special holiday Torah portion. They chant the Torah portion Acharei Mot, the Torah portion they started the week leading up to Passover but did not get to on Saturday, April 16, the first day of Passover.
For more traditional Jews in the Diaspora, Passover is celebrated for an eighth day. Therefore, on Saturday, April 23, they are chanting a special holiday Torah portion designated for Passover. They will not get to Acharei Mot until the following Saturday, April 30.
This means that Jews in Israel and those in the Diaspora who follow Jews in Israel will be a week ahead of traditional Diaspora Jews. This remains so until we reach the end of the Book of Bamidbar/Numbers on July 30. While Israeli Jews then read the last Torah portion, Masei, in the Book of Bamidbar/Numbers, traditional Diaspora Jews read both Parashat Matot (the Torah portion read in Israel the prior week) and Parashat Masei.
The following week, we are back together, all of us starting a new book of the Torah, Devarim/Deuteronomy, on Saturday, August 6. Not sure if this is helpful or makes life more complicated. The good news: There will be no exam.
Worship Event of the Week
As we approach our Passover seders and celebrations, a reminder that we can be together every weekday morning for a time of connection, with a short service and a little learning, 8-8:15 a.m. Monday-Friday, via Zoom. Click here.
Weekly Features
A Passover Memory
By Nancy Milgram
Top: charoset with carrots, apples, walnuts, cilantro, horseradish and raisins
Middle: red pepper salad
Bottom: mina, or meat pie
In preparation for our 2021 Passover seder, Bob and I watched “Bringing Israel Home,” an online series featuring chef Michael Solomonov, and we learned how to make these dishes. Mina is a meat pie with a matzah-crust top and bottom. We were not fully vaccinated at that time, so there were just four of us. It was really nice to eat nontraditional Passover foods! I may make these dishes again this year.
Passover Recipe — Matzah Mac & Cheese
(From the Nosher)
When you have “picky eater” grandkids like I do, or when it’s nearing the end of Passover and the food has gotten boring, and I can’t look at one more piece of matzah, this dish hits the spot. It’s decadent, filling, rich and cheesy. I plan to serve it at the first-night seder for the children — and for some of us older “kids at heart”! For the recipe, click here.
— Wynne Begun
Social Justice News
Ukraine: We Want to Help, but How?
By Wynne Begun
The images and stories from Ukraine are devastating. As we watch the horror unfolding, we know we want to do something but are not sure where to start. Here are some ideas.
• Jewish Federation of Greater KC has been organizing Ukraine relief efforts. To learn more or to donate, click here.
• As we've written before, local agency Jewish Vocational Service is one of the primary resettlement forces in Kansas City, and it most likely will resettle Ukrainians in the future. Goods and funds help support the effort. For information, click here.
• The Kansas City Star ran a story in March about local Jewish man Leo Khayet, who raised $200,000 to help Ukrainians flee Odessa. Khayet, who immigrated from Belarus as a child, worked with a Jewish organization to identify leaders with feet on the ground in Odessa. To donate, click here. (For more about Leo Khayet and his efforts, click here. And KC Star subscribers may click here for the original Star article.)
