This Saturday is known as shabbos ha'gadol, or "The Great Sabbath," because it precedes the Exodus from Egypt and Freedom and Independence. This special Sabbath has traditionally been set aside by Rabbis and Preachers for sermons about shabbos in general – the Sabbaths of all the year. The theme of this sermon, therefore, as was the theme of Rabbis for generations before, is that "Every Sabbath is a Great Sabbath." Particularly in our times, and especially in our neighborhood – the heart of the business center – must Sabbath Observance be stressed.But before a Rabbi criticizes and berates and flays his congregation—which is his privilege and duty, especially on SHABBOS HA'GADOL—he might first be asked to explain. For to us, SHABBOS is more than a "day-off"; quite the contrary, it is perhaps a “day-on.” Because while it urges us to desist from work, it does more than release us from all duties—it adds the duties of the soul and the heart and the mind. It is a day of active holiness. SHABBOS KODESH. And therefore Jews have a right to ask: why should I assume these obligations?Rabbis of the Mishna understood that such questions would be asked. And so the great R. Joshua answered the question and pointed out the three results of Sabbath Observance. Bible (on Manna): *VAYOMER MOSHE, ICHLUHU HAYOM KI SHABBOS HAYOM LA'SHEM*. R. Joshua: give this day to G-d, and He will give you three gifts in return: *IM TIZKU LISHMOR ET HASHABBOS, ASSID ANI LAHASOT LACHEM SHALOSH MOADOT—PESACH, ATZERET, SUKKOT*.A strange reward indeed! Ask a housewife about PESACH, and she'll tell you of the difficulties of housecleaning (Sholom Aleichem on Pesach preparation). Ask a husband of the discomfort of eating in the Sukkah on a chilly autumn day. But obviously, the Sages intended not so much the festivals themselves as the symbols they are.**PESACH** is the symbol of Freedom (explain why). What sort of Freedom does Sabbath bestow upon its observers?—Freedom of being different, which follows up…

1. The issue of whether to retain or abolish Capital Punishment as one of the methods of dealing with hardened criminals has recently been aired in the neighboring state of Conn. Most recently, the issue has become one of public controversy here in Springfield, and has been precipitated by the jury's verdict of C.P. in the tragic case of the double-killing last fall. However, the real issue is not the justice of the jury's decision, which is clearly debatable and should not be publicly evaluated without complete knowledge of all the facts. The problem is a much greater one: the question of whether it is right, under any conditions, to inflict this most severe of all punishments.2. The issue is understably one which has caused great controversy. Life and deathare weighty matters. Those who favor abolition of the extreme penalty maintain that mistakes are sometimes made by a jury; and one mistake is too many. There is sometimes serious question not only as to the proper identification of the killer, but as to the proper evaluation of his state of mind. Thus, in the recent case, there is the s erious question of the sanity of the confessed criminal. They maintain, further, that C.P. accomplishes nothing for the criminal and little more for society. They believe that death is too cruel a punishment to be tolerated in our day and age. Those who oppose them, and argue for the retention of our punitive system, are as firm in their opinion. Our laws do provide for careful weighing of evidence, they say. Death is one way to protect society against further acts against society by the criminal, and it serves as a warning and deterrent to other potential criminals. Furthermore, it is doubtful, they continue, whether life imprisonment is less cruel than death. 3. Now, to argue these matters endlessly may be virtuous, but the real answer on this critical problem of life and death cannot come from Man alone. It must ultimately be decided by reference to the Author of all life. An…

In our Jewish tradition, we speak of two months as being the "first" of the year. We have, as it were, 2 New Years. Generally Tishrei, we begin counting the new year from Rosh Hashanah. But we also have a different system, parallel to this, and that is the system which reckons Nissan, the month of Pesach, as the first month. While our presente calendar dates from Tishrei and Rosh Hashana as the beginning, the Torah always counts Nissan as first: החודש הזה לכם ראש חדשים.

הקדמה: טעם לשם "שבת הגדול": לעניין ספירת העומר היתה מחלוקת בין חז"ל והצדוקים ובייתוסים בפירוש הפסוק "וספרתם לכם ממחרת השבת". הצדוקים – שבת בראשית, החכמים – יום חג. לכן השבת קודם פסח נקרא שבת "הגדול" להפליא בין שבת (בראשית) זו ל"שבת" שבמקרא שפרושה: חג, וכמו שאמרו "כלל גדול: משמע שיש קטן ממנו". זוהי האמתלא לנושא הדרשה: ספה"ע (ספירת העומר). הקושיות: א) קרא גם במגילה ס"ו ע"א גופא: אמר אביי – עד זכר למקדש הוא. וקרא רש"י שם: עיקר העניין – אם ספירה תלויה בהבאת העומר. והרמב"ם (פ"ז מתמידין ומוספין כ"ה) והחולקין על אמימר חולקין אף בספירה, וס"ל דהוי דין ולא רק זכר למקדש, ופסק כוותייהו דהוי אף בזה"ז מדאורייתא. אבל הר"ן ושאר ראשונים – הכל מודים דבספירת העומר בזמן הזה פליגי אם צריכין לעשות זכר למקדש גם לשבועות. ולכ"ע כל הספירה בזמן הזה מדרבנן. שיטת הכרעה: רבנו ירוחם – דס"ל דבזה"ז ספירת ימים מה"ת, שבועות רק בזמן הבית, אבל היום רק מדרבנן (זכר למקדש). וקשה על שיטה זו: ממ"נ – אם ספירה תלויה בעומר, אף ימים מדרבנן, ואם לאו – אף שבועות מדאורייתא.Ask ChatGPT

R. Meir Simchah of Dvinsk, the renowned author of the Or Sameach and one of the most profound halakhic scholars of all time, makes a profound comment in his Meshekh Chokmah which is most appropriate to the day we now celebrate, Shabbat Ha-gadol, the special Sabbath which heralds the celebration of our festival of freedom, Passover. There are two types of mitzvot: those that bind a Jew to his G-d, and those that bind him closer to his fellow-Jew. Thus, observances like tzillit, tefillin, and mezuzah bring the Jew directly into communion with G-d, whereas mitzvot such as charity, love of fellow-man, and terumah bring him into closer community with other Jews.

Many reasons have been offered as to why this Sabbath before the holiday of Passover is known by the name Shabbat Ha-gadol. Allow me to commend to your attention one such reason which I find particularly significant. The author of the Tur, one of the greatest legal codes of Judaism, maintains that our Sabbath is known as Shabbat Ha-gadol, lefi she’naaseh bo nes gadol – because a great miracle was performed on this day. It was on this day of the year the Jews were liberated from Egypt, that they summoned up the courage to take the lambs that were tied to their doorposts and slaughter them as sacrifices to Almighty G-d. This act outraged the Egyptians, for whom the lamb was a divinity. They were stunned by the effrontery of these miserable Hebrew slaves who dared, in the presence of their masters, to exert their own religious independence. And yet, ve’lo hayu rashain lo’mar la-hem davar – the Egyptians could not and did not say a word in an attempt to stop the Israelites. Because of this nes gadol, this great miracle, the Sabbath was called Shabbat Ha-gadol, or the great Sabbath.This is, indeed, a beautiful explanation. But there is something troubling about it. Granted that the silence of the Egyptians, their sudden paralysis, was a true miracle. But what makes this a “great” miracle? Why gadol? This was an era which saw the miracles of the Exodus from Egypt, the ten plagues, and the splitting of the Red Sea. Were these miracles not at least equally great? How does one measure the size or significance of miracles? I believe the answer can be most instructive. For nes gadol refers not to the silence of the Egyptians, but to the miracle of Jewish character. What we celebrate is not a great miracle, but the miracle of greatness. And I refer not only to the courageous defiance exercised by the Jews in Egypt, but to an even more significant fact. The other miracles of which we read and which we celebrate, allowed the Israelites to escape and survive, but in the process t…

I am pleased and honored to be able to occupy this morning the pulpit of my distinguished colleague, Rabbi Theodore Adams, one of the most eminent rabbinic leaders in our city. I also regard it as a distinct privilege to be able to participate in services in a synagogue with such a proud history. I am sure you join me in hoping and praying for the complete and speedy recovery of my honored colleague and your beloved rabbi. Perhaps the most appropriate prayer is a verse from the Psalms which we recite every Wednesday: "im amarti matah ragli, basdekha hashem yisadeni׳," "when I said that my foot has slipped, then Your kindness, 0 Lord, supports me.״ May the kindness of the Lord be the only crutch your rabbi will need and the only support he will receive for many many years to come. This Sabbath is known as Shabbat Ha-gadol, "the great Sabbath." Many reasons have been offered in our tradition for this distinctive name. Permit me to mention to you one which I regard as possessing special insight. Rabbi Jacob, author of the Turim, maintains that it is called by this name le'f^ she'naaseh bo nes gadol, because a great miracle, nes gadol, was performed on this day; the Hebrews who were yet slaves in Egypt dared to slaughter the lamb (regarded as the deity of the Egyptians) in defiance of their taskmasters, ve1lo hayu rash1in lo-mar la-hem davar — and the Egyptians were not able to protest or rebuke them. Shabbat Ha-gadol, in other words, celebrates the remarkable courage and the heroic conviction of the Children of Israel who reached new heights of fearlessness in their dedication to the Almighty. The nes gadol was not only a "great miracle" but also a "miracle of greatness" — Jews, heretofore diffident slaves, were able to take such risks for their beliefs, for their God!Perhaps it is best to see this act of bravery and dedication in a larger context. All of the Bible, and all of Judaism, is the story of the dialogue between God and man. This dialogue can be approached f…

Ours is a sick society, or as a distinguished social philosopher said a number of years ago (using the psychiatric term quite technically), this is an insane society. I do not think it is necessary for me to describe in detail all the symptoms of this social psychopathology. Suffice it to say that this dreary list was punctuated by the rifle shot that so cruelly cut down Dr. Martin Luther King, one of the most distinguished Americans of our times, who is mourned by the entire country – black and white, Jew and Gentile, rich and poor. It is a measure of our sickness and an index of the enormity of the tragedy that, amongst the very people whom he had come to lead and teach and guide in the ways of non-violence, there are numbers who have reacted to his martyrdom by resorting to arson and looting. Violence and unbridled hatred not only pollute this land and corrupt its national soul, but they are themselves signs of the sickness of the spirit of our country.This morning, I wish to discuss another aspect of our national disease, one that is, paradoxically, proposed as a remedy for our ills, and yet turns out to be a contributory factor to the social malaise with which we are afflicted. I refer to what is called the New Morality – a complex phenomenon which is actually composed of several schools and subdivisions. It is the finest one, the least crude, that I wish to discuss today.The New Morality advocates the abandonment of all traditional moral restraints, whether pre-marital or extra-marital or abnormal. There is only one rule: that no one should be hurt or offended. Better yet, it demands respect for the personality of another person, it challenges us to establish meaningful relations with others. It insists that we must always attempt to enhance the ego of our fellow man, and never to exploit him or her. A human being must always be conceived of as an end in himself, never as a means to someone else’s ends. As long as this precept is observed, the New Morality co…

I. Introduction: old Jewish custom that שה״ג אחרי מנחה – the Haggadah is read up to "ר״מ אומר." Just at that point – "עד כאן אומרים את השבת הגודל!" – has become a folk expression for “enough!” But this may be an erroneous interpretation. R. Meir Shapiro (Lublin) tells: in the beginning, he introduced the new idea of a comfortable yeshiva, etc., and was criticized: כך היא דרכה של תורה וגו. He told: Hasidic travelers were caught for פסח in a Mitnagdic town. On Passover night, one of them was honored to lead the davening – so he began to say "Va’omer lifneihem," as is the Hasidic custom.Gabbai angrily stopped him—"We don’t do that here!"After service, one Hasid shows Gabbai Yalkut where "Va’omer lifneihem" is required (as is Sephardic tradition). Mitnaged answers: Tosafot comments: "Lo amar."Hasid replies: Yes, true. But what makes you think he stamped foot and banged fist and shouted, "No, don’t say it"? Maybe he sighed and groaned and lamented: "Unfortunately, lo amar—he didn’t say it." We fail to recite such a beautiful prayer.So—says Lubliner—Tanna laments: "Lo amar."And—that is tone and temper of Dayyenu.What a pity! We stop just before main part:Indeed, for these reasons, we shall on this page take for our text that very passage:"הוציאנו ממצרים ועשה בהם שפטים ונתן לנו את ממונם וקרע לנו את הים והעבירנו בו בחרבה ואבד את צרינו בו וסיפק צרכינו במדבר ארבעים שנה וזיננו את המן ונתן לנו את השבת וקרבנו לפני הר סיני ונתן לנו את התורה והכניסנו לארץ ישראל ובנה לנו את בית הבחירה לכפר על כל עוונותינו"

I basically reworked the derashah for 1961, A-378, with the following significant changes. I kept all the questions, and the core of my חידוש was substantively the same. However, I did not use the rationale of women not needing "holiness of time," because of observance of "family purity," and therefore being exempt from time-conditioned positive commandments — which argument I presented, quoting Rackman, in my Heroes of Rove. Rather, I developed an alternative theory: that women represent the negation rather than the celebration of time, כיבוש rather than קידום, and that is why they are exempt from time-conditioned positive commandments, because the latter celebrate time, whereas women suppress it. This accords much better with the whole nature of the "count" of the "seven clean days," and all "counts" in Halakhah (omer, jubilees, and the seven clean days) are all indicative of suppression rather than celebration of time.The rationale for my typology is this: men are involved in careers, in upbuilding this world and society, and therefore they revel in time and hence come to the concept of the sanctification of time. Women, however, are primarily concerned with raising the next generation. They seem to be engaged in trivialities, such as those that apply to child-raising, which can easily loom large and make life miserable. Indeed, this is the contemporary critique of housewifery. However, in the Jewish scheme of things, women develop the orientation of *meshiḥat ha’et*, by which I mean that they can ignore the troubles and woes and trivialities of the present because they are future-oriented. They know that for which they strive and which lies in the distant future. Therefore women represent the negation of the present for the sake of the future, whereas men represent the affirmation of the present, with the attendant danger of forfeiting the future.This explains beautifully why Ramban considers the counting of the Omer as a non-time-conditioned commandment — beca…