From the Rabbi’s desk

 

As we look back at this years Passover and Chag HaMatzot (Festival of Matzah),  I have had so many people tell me that they celebrated the Passover Seder on such and such a date, that they did not eat bread but the pastries were delicious at such and such restaurant. Of course, in this world today one can do, virtually, whatever one wants to do.
 
 There is of course the question of whether one is a follower of scripture or more importantly the disciple of Yeshua HaMeshiach (Yeshua the Messiah), who is the Torah personified. We say that we Love G-d, we love Yeshua for what he did for us, but when it comes to doing what he asks of us, we find all kinds of reasons why we should not. It reminds me of the ’Holy Name’ people, as long as they say the name of HaShem in its Tetragrammaton form, not to much else matters as to what scripture requires.

 

 As disciples of the Lord, of scripture, having the fear of Heaven, why would we have the mindset to change the word of G-d? This is not the way of true disciples! There is an arrogance that comes into play, which causes people to place themselves above G-d, above His Word. When we call any other day but the 14th of Nissan and the 15th of Nissan (twilight of the 14th is the time when the Pesach lamb was originally roasted and the 15th when we begin to eat unleavened bread, Matzah) as being the Seder night. There is a mindset that is not Jewish, that says as long as I am keeping the ‘spirit of the Pesach’, I can do whenever it is convenient to me. This is arrogance personified.

 

 The other problem is that of not knowing the historical and may I say ancient and correct interpretation of what is ’Chumetz’. This is not only bread but anything that swells when water or moisture is mixed with certain grains and similar products. Many think that it’s crazy that we can use baking soda or baking powder, however if one understands how this rising agents work, they cannot be identified with leavening agents. This is another issue which I will not address here. It is frightening that for a week we are so incapable of refraining from Chumetz. Does this perhaps show us that if we are losing over this small issue are we succumbing to greater spiritual weaknesses? For the Jew and those that have made a decision to be grafted into Israel, we are told that if we eat Chumetz, we will be ejected from Israel. I believe that if one makes a mistake the Lord is ready to forgive when we repent (promise not to do it again), however, if we do not repent nor see anything wrong in breaking a statute of G-d, we put ourselves outside of the Olam HaBah (the World to Come), read Hebrews 10:23-31.

 

 Do we think that the year, month, day and time that Yeshua was hung on a tree was arbitrary. When G-d created the heavens and the earth and created plants and animals and human beings, that there was no order in His creativity? That G-d desisted from creating on the seventh day, was because He ran out of things to make! G-d is a G-d of order that is why we have a Seder, an order of service during the Passover Seder, that is why we have a Siddur that is used every day to follow an order of worship. We are called to emulate G-d in a microcosm that is man’s ability, but that is what we are called to. When we do our own thing we are in fact saying we know better.