Intensive Summer Emunah Healing Workshop

Emunah Healing Workshop (Jewish Energy Healing)

With Rebbetzin Chana Bracha Siegelbaum

Envision Reaching Your Full Potential

Mend Challenging Relationships                                  

Unravel Negative Thought Patterns  
Nurture Your Inner Child  

Actualize Your Goals & Clear Spiritual Blocks

Heal Childhood Wounds                                       

  

Learn practical healing tools through strengthening your emunah and connecting with Hashem’s light inherent in your own neshamah. Learn to let go and allow Hashem to act in your place, in order to engender healing and wellbeing. The workshops include:

·         Clarification of how Emunah Healing works

·         Torah sources on spiritual healing

·         Learning to open the spiritual channels, mastering the Basic Prayer based on Derech Hashem by the Ramchal used in Emunah Healing

·         Guided meditations (visualizations) connecting you to the light of Hashem

·         Spiritual healing exercises such as energy balls technique to remove spiritual blockages, and clearing the energy in a room or of an object by means of prayer formula.

·         Techniques for indentifying underlying spiritual blockages

·         Techniques for couple therapy through Emunah Healing

·         Practice in the emunah-way of removing spiritual blockages through tefilah and energy work.

What is Emunah Healing?

Emunah Healing is the Torah way to heal ourselves and others by accessing Hashem’s healing light within us. In Hebrew the word for creation – בריאה, and for health – בריאות share the same root – ברא. The state of our health depends on the extent to which we allow Hashem to recreate us every moment. Therefore, the key to health is removing exterior layers, the klipot which block Hashem’s life-giving energy from flowing freely within all the parts of our psyche, emotions, and organs. Emunah Healing is method that facilitates us to identify and remove these klipot by unblocking negative energy and infusing each part of ourselves and the people we treat with Hashem’s light through tefilah and energy work. Not everyone is destined to treat others, yet everyone can learn to heal themselves and their family. In addition, Emunah Healing promotes spiritual growth and closeness to Hashem.

How do I know it is kosher?

Many religious Jews who have had experience with energy healing are concerned that these systems are not based on Torah, and therefore, they may not be spiritually pure. Ilan and Sandy Feldman of Ramat Beit Shemesh decided to purify alternative energy healing from its non-Jewish elements and create a Torah/Emunah based system of energy healing, channeling Hashem’s life-giving power. This system of spiritual healing is endorsed by Rabbi Berkowitz of Aish HaTorah. Rebbetzin Chana Bracha, endorsed by the Biala Rebbe, Rabbi Ben Zion Rabinowicz of Biala-Lugano and Rabbi Lazer Brody has been trained in Emunah Healing by Chana Luke. Rebbetzin Neustadt the daughter of Rabbi Ezrial Tauber, said about Emunah Healing, “This is the healing of the Geulah!”

Who is Rebbetzin Chana Bracha Siegelbaum

Rebbetzin Chana Bracha Siegelbaum, a native of Denmark, is Founder and Director of Midreshet B’erot Bat Ayin: Holistic Torah Study for Women on the Land. She holds a Bachelor of Education in Bible and Jewish Philosophy from Michlala Jerusalem College for Women, and a Masters of Art in Jewish History from Touro College. Rebbetzin Chana Bracha began her practice of spiritual healing, spring 2010, after having studied and apprenticed with Chana Luke for almost 10 years. For more than two decades Rebbetzin Chana Bracha has practiced spiritual counseling to women of all ages in Israel and the United States. She creates curricula emphasizing women's spiritual empowerment through traditional Torah values. In 2010 Rebbetzin Siegelbaum published her first book, Women at the Crossroads: A Woman's Perspective on the Weekly Torah Portion which was reviewed in the Jerusalem Post and various other publications and has sold worldwide. She has a married son and several granddaughters, and lives with her husband and younger son on the Land of the Judean hills. Beyond being a Torah scholar, Rebbetzin Chana Bracha is a strong female role model for many women. 

The Fires of Lag B'Omer

Click here for the printable PDF version.

Lag b'Omer is one of these hidden holidays which we celebrate "big time" in Bat Ayin. In addition to the big communal fire for the entire community, almost each family has their own bonfire. When I invited a couple of our friends over to share the light of our Bonfire, one woman responded: "Sorry, we can't come, because we have a big pile of wood clippings to burn. We want to use the night of Lag b'Omer to burn it all up." So I'm asking you, is the purpose of the bon-fires on Lag b'Omer mainly to consume all the accumulated garden waste? Or is there a deeper reason behind lighting fires on this holy day? What is the best way to take advantage of the energy of Lag b'Omer? I look forward to reading your comments!

Lag b'Omer – A Holiday Shrouded in Mystery

Lag b'Omer is an exciting and mysterious holiday. We light bonfires, play music, celebrate weddings, and some shoot arrows. All this takes place during the semi-mourning period when we do not hold weddings, play dance-music, cut hair, or shave. What is the underlying significance hiding behind this obscure holiday? Lag b'Omer celebrates the anniversary of the passing of the renowned Mishnaic sage and foremost Kabbalist, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. His teachings comprise the text of the Zohar the primary book of the Kabbalah. We don't have any other holiday of this caliber which celebrates the passing of a Jewish sage. Why do we celebrate the passing of one of the greatest sages in Jewish history with so much joy?

The Successor of Rabbi Akiva Entering the Orchad of Kabbalah

Lag b'Omer, which literally means the thirty third day of the Omer, commemorates two events. On the thirty-third day of the Omer, there was an interruption or end of the plague that killed twenty two thousand students of Rabbi Akiva. The Talmud relates that subsequently Rabbi Akiva moved to the south of Israel, where Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai became one of the five students, who then carried Rabbi Akiva's teachings into the future. He later died on the same thirty-third day of the Omer. On his deathbed, he expressed his personal wishes that his yahrtzeit (anniversary of death) be celebrated with great joy. Rabbi Akiva was the greatest Kabbalist of his time. He is the only one of four Rabbis who entered the Pardes (An acronym for the four levels of Torah including the secret mystical level of Kabbalah). Whereas the other Rabbis were injured either physically or spiritually, Rabbi Akiva was the only one who entered and returned in peace (Babylonian Talmud, Chagiga 14b). The mystical tradition that Rabbi Akiva carried with him was passed down to Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and revealed in the Zohar.

Lag b'Omer's Kabbalistic Transmission – Rectification for Rabbi Akiva's Students

Rabbi Avraham Trugman explains how Lag b'Omer celebrates the survival of the Kabbalah. When Rabbi Shimon and his son were hiding from the Romans in the cave, Rabbi Shimon summoned Eliyahu the prophet by a specific formula that he had learned from Rabbi Akiva. This is how it came about that Eliyahu taught them the holy Zohar. There is a tradition in the writings of the Chida (Rabbi Chaim David Azulai), that Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai received the sacred traditions of the Kabbalah from Rabbi Akiva specifically on Lag B'Omer. The knowledge of Kabbalah needed to be transmitted during the Jewish month of Iyar, called the month of Ziv (splendor), because at this time the land of Israel is glowing with holiness, as the fruits are maturing on the trees and the flowers are blossoming. Since the knowledge of Kabbalah is the holiest teaching, the greatest obstacles deter it from being passed on and revealed in the world. This is the underlying cause of the dispute between the students of Rabbi Akiva and their death during the Omer period. However, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai brought about the rectification, by enlightening his students with the secret of Kabbalah that he had received from Rabbi Akiva. The zenith of this Kabbalistic revelation took place on the day when Rabbi Shimon's soul rose to heaven. Therefore, we celebrate on the day of his passing, how Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai became the most important link in the chain of Kabbalistic succession.

Bonfires

Since "the Torah is light" (Mishlei 6:23), we can understand the main custom of Lag b'Omer to light the bonfire. The fires of Lag b'Omer represent the light of the inner dimensions of the Torah as well as the deepest longing of our soul to be close to G-d and to understand the spiritual, mystical depths of the Torah. The bonfires also connect us back to Rabbi Akiva, who was tortured to death. He transformed his burning pain into sacrificing his life with the fiery love of Hashem. Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai carried on Rabbi Akiva's ability to transform the fires of torture to the fire of love of G-d. This incredible light became engraved in the holy Zohar. Rav Yitzchak Ginsburgh reveals that the two letters of "Lag," 33, when inverted, spell "Gal," which means to reveal/open, as in the verse "Open [Gal] my eyes that I may see wonders in Your Torah" (Tehillim 119:18). Lag b'Omer represents the fire of Torah that gives us the inner vision to grasp the wonders of the Torah, thereby illuminating the long night of exile. With Hashem's help, Israel will be redeemed in the future through the merit of learning the Zohar. In order to overcome the darkness all around us, on a personal, national and universal level, we need to go beyond the superficial learning and observance of Torah, and reveal deeper and more spiritual levels that will bring light to ourselves and the world

Receiving the Torah with a Good Heart

B'nei Yissascher explains that the forty nine days of counting the Omer can be broken down to the numerical value of the Hebrew "A good heart" consisting of (לב- lev- 32) and טוב)- tov- 17). (32+17=49) If you count from the first word of the Torah until the word "good" ("tov") in "Hashem saw that it was good" (Bereishit 1:3), you will find exactly thirty two words. Together the first thirty two words (לב) and the word "good" (טוב) spell out the expression "לב טוב – A good heart." Hashem commanded us to count the numerical value of "A good heart" in preparation for receiving the Torah, which embodies the quintessence of "A good heart." The Torah is the heart of the world. Therefore, it has thirty two paths of wisdom. On the first day of Creation, after creating light, the Torah states that Hashem saw that the light was good. According to the Midrash, He concealed this light in the Torah. Therefore, the Torah is the essence of good corresponding to the hidden "light that is good." This explains why Hashem commanded us to count 49 days (32+17) in order to be worthy to receive the Torah.

The Hidden Light of the Torah

Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai is called the holy candle, for through him the secrets of the Torah were revealed. This is the secret of "the light that is good" – the Ohr HaGanuz (hidden light) buried in the Torah. Just as the word "tov" in the sentence "the light that is tov/good" is the thirty third word in the Torah, so was Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai's holy light revealed on the thirty third day of counting the Omer. After having counted thirty two days of the Omer, then the "good" of the heart hidden in the Torah, is revealed. For this reason Lag B'Omer is "tov" (17) days from Shavuot. On that day Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai rose to the upper heaven, and it follows that this is also the day he was born, as Hashem always fulfills the years of the Tzaddikim (Babylonian Talmud, Rosh Hashana 11b). Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai's holy book is called the Zohar – (Splendor), which refers to "the light that is good" hidden in the Torah. His light will be preserved until the revelation of the light of Mashiach, as our sages said "G-d said, let there be light" (Bereishit 1:3) – this is the light of Mashiach (Yalkut Shimoni, Yesha'yahu 60). This explains the minhag (custom) to light candles and fires on this day, in honor of "the light that is good" which begins to sparkle on that special day of Lag b'Omer "tov" days before receiving the Torah. This is in honor of the soul of Rabbi Shimon the illuminator of the Torah, and in honor of his holy book the Zohar which gives light from one end of the world to the other (B'nei Yissascher on Lag b'Omer).

Redeeming the Land – The Extension of Our Soul

Haftorat Behar
Yirmiyahu 32:6-32:27
Printable Version

I'm writing this as I mourn together with my people the spilled blood of our holy soldiers for the sake of redeeming the Land of Israel from the hand of the other nations. This fits with the theme of the Torah reading and its haftorah which is about redeeming the land. In my commentary, I attempt to explain why it is so important that each one's particular land stays within the family, and what this principle teaches us about the relationship of the Jewish people with the Land of Israel.

Purchasing Land in Eretz Yisrael with Emuna
This week's haftorah highlights our eternal relationship with Eretz Yisrael – our homeland. The Jewish people are be encouraged to purchase land in the Land of Israel and continue to build even in the midst of difficulties, obstacles and building freezes. Although the exile from Eretz Yisrael was imminent, and the Jewish people were about to leave the "Palace of the King", Hashem instructed Yirmeyahu to buy land as an eternal lesson that Israel's bond with its Land can never be permanently severed. With the purchase of land in Eretz Yisrael, Yirmiyahu demonstrated his complete emuna in the return of the Jewish people. There is never any reason to despair and break our eternal ties with the land. Even though Judea is suffering under siege, "Houses, fields, and vineyards shall again be purchased in this land" (Yirmiyahu 32:15). By spending a substantial sum of money for a purchase from which Yirmiyahu will not be able to personally benefit, he taught us that the Jewish people are never disconnected from the Land of Israel. We truly belong to Eretz Yisrael and this land will always belong to us.

The Connection between the Haftorah and the Torah reading
Yirmiyahu's purchase of his cousin Chanamel's field is called redemption."Behold, Chanamel, the son of Shallum your uncle, is coming to you, saying: Buy for yourself my field that is in Anathoth, for the right of redemption is yours to buy it" (Ibid. 7). This redemption which entails ensuring that the land stays within the family echoes one of the main themes of this week's Torah portion, B'Har: "If your kinsmen becomes poor and has to sell part of his land, his closest relative shall come and redeem what his kinsman has sold" (Vayikra 25:25). It is a mitzvah to redeem the land so that it remains within the family.

Redeeming the Land – The Extension of Our Soul
Until we obtained our own portion of land, in the Land of Israel, I never understood why the Torah emphasizes the mitzvah of keeping each plot of land within the family. I also didn't understand why it is called "redemption." While exerting the effort required to transform our plot from rocks and thistles into a lovely orchard garden, a prayer and vision of the grandchildren of my grandchildren often comes to mind. Who, after seventy years, will one day pick carobs from our land? Who will play on the swings, climb the apple trees, pick juicy figs, and make homemade grape-juice after we will be gone? Every year, as we deepen our imprint on the land which has become an extension of ourselves, my hope and prayer, that our own children will continue where we leave off, intensifies. Just as a person's body is a vessel for his soul, so is the land in Eretz Yisrael the vessel for the Jewish body – a vessel to the vessel of the soul. True redemption is when we are able to express our soul in all of its layers including the particular land which is the manifestation of our particular souls. This is why Megillat Ruth emphasizes "to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance" (Megillat Ruth 4:5). It is not enough to elevate Ruth's deceased husband's name by means of marrying his closest living relative, and siring offspring in his name. His soul elevation must take place on his particular land – the extension of his soul.


The Spiritual Effect on each Jew of Keeping all of Eretz Yisrael in Jewish Hands
Also on a national level, redeeming the entire Land of Israel manifests the communal soul of our people. Only when the Land of Israel was redeemed by her people, after eighteen hundred eighty four years of exile, did the spirit of Israel become revived, expressed in the revival of the many Yeshivot from Mir to Slobodka. In addition to and increase in Torah learning, also Jewish art, music, science and healing received a renaissance in the wake of the establishment of the Jewish state. This is why giving away any part of the Land, is tantamount to causing sickness to the communal soul of Israel. Any part of Eretz Yisrael which is not in Jewish hands, prevents our people from manifesting their soul to it fullest. Not only the evictees of Gush Katif (Gaza) suffered a horrible trauma. The expulsion had a traumatic effect on the entire Jewish people; even those Jews who commanded it, as well as those who carried out their orders. Giving away land from Eretz Yisrael has a negative effect on the life of every Jew, no matter where he or she lives. This is why preventing to relinquish any land within Eretz Yisrael is so vital for the spiritual health of our entire people.

The Land of Israel Gathers the Jewish Souls together and Purifies the Impure
On the other hand, the fact that we have a Jewish State influences even the Jews in the furthest exile. Rabbi Teichtal explains the meaning of the obscure prophetic verse: "Hashem who gathers the outcast of Israel says, Yet will I gather others to him, beside those of him that are already gathered" (Yeshauyahu 56:8). "Gathering Israel in Jerusalem and the Land of Israel, they will become a general center for all Israel. Even those who remain in exile… will be connected in their souls to the general center established in the Land of Israel, to the extent that it will unify them even in galut. Therefore, their dispersion will not be called a complete dispersion, for they will all be connected together to the center in the Land of Israel… Even the individuals who remain in exile will not be hefker without anyone responsible for them. Whoever wants to harm us will know that there will be someone to demand of him law and judgment for his deeds… (Em Habanim Semecha p. 95). Perhaps this is why at the end of our haftorah the Land of Israel is called, "A land flowing with milk and honey" (Yirmiyahu 32:22). Milk which is produced from the blood, and honey produced by the bees are the only two kosher substances that are derived from non-kosher sources (i.e., bees and blood of animals are not kosher). This implies that the Land of Israel has the spiritual energy to purify even the impure. The Land of Israel purifies and heals the Jewish people from all of the impurities of our exile and allows our communal soul to manifest and flow freely like milk and honey. No wonder we read this haftorah close to Yom Ha'atzmaut – the week we celebrate the physical redemption of the Land of Israel.

The Power of Challah

Haftorat Parashat Emor
Yechezkiel 44:15-31
Printable Version

The Haftorah's Connection to the Parashah
In this week's haftorah, Yechezkiel prophesies about the various laws pertaining to the kohanim (priests). This corresponds to Parashat Emor, where Moshe explains the rules of the kohanim. These parallel teachings emphasize the idea of continuity from the time of the Torah to the later prophets. Yechezkiel gives us a glimpse of the status of the kohanim who will serve during the messianic era, in the third Temple, may it be built soon! The prophet explains the role of the kohanim as teachers and spiritual leaders. They do not receive a portion in the Land of Israel, but instead are nourished by the sacrifices and various tithes. The kohanim must wear special garments, and are commanded to keep their hair cut neatly. They have special purity requirements, which preclude them from coming in contact with a corpse, unless it is the body of a member of their immediate family. They are prohibited from marrying women who are divorced or widowed (unless the widow was originally married to a Kohen), and they may not drink wine prior to, or during their service.

Upgrading Holiness
A careful reading of the haftorah reveals that the regulations of the ordinary kohen are similar to the status of the kohen gadol described in the parashah. This is because all existence will be elevated during the period of redemption. For example Verse 44:22 in the haftorah prohibits the ordinary kohen from marrying a widow, unless she is the widow of a kohen. The parashah permits all widows as marriage partners for the ordinary kohen, reserving that prohibition for the Kohen Gadol alone. Just as in the time of Mashiach the holiness of the kohanim will be upgraded, so will the status of the Jewish people be raised as Rambam explains, "…there will be no jealousy or quarreling.... the preoccupation of all will be 'to know Hashem'...the Jewish people will be great scholars who will understand Hashem to maximum human capacity." (Rambam, Hilchot Melachim 12:5). Together with every sector of reality, the status of women will also be elevated then, when the light of the moon will grow full to reflect the light of the sun (Yesha'yahu 30:26).

Rectification for the First Woman by Separating Challah
Hashem gave women the opportunity to grow in holiness and blessing through baking bread and setting aside the challah offering for the Kohen:

ספר יחזקאל פרק מד:ל ...וְרֵאשִׁית עֲרִסוֹתֵיכֶם תִּתְּנוּ לַכֹּהֵן לְהָנִיחַ בְּרָכָה אֶל בֵּיתֶךָ:

... "You shall also give to the Kohen the first of your dough, that he may cause a blessing to rest on your home" (Yechezkiel 44:30).

From this verse, the Zohar learns that a person who dwells without a wife dwells without a blessing (Zohar Chadash, Parashat Chukat, the Song of the Well). The Talmud states, "One should be dedicated to separating challah, and remind his wife about this mitzvah on the eve of Shabbat, for it is one of the great rectifications for the sin of the first woman. She extinguished the light of the first man and caused death to him, who was the challah of the world. Therefore, she was given the mitzvah of lighting the Shabbat candles and offering the challah to the kohen" (Talmud Yerushalmi Shabbat 20a). Although challah is taken any time there is a sufficient amount of dough, separating challah is mainly performed on the eve of Shabbat, since the sin took place on the eve of Shabbat, and rectifications are best enacted during the time-frame of the original wrongdoing.

Prayer for Rectifying Chava's Sin Following the Mitzvah of Challah
After the blessing of the challah, it is good to recite the following prayer:

יהי רצון מלפניך ה' אלוקי ואלוקי אבותי שבכח סגולת הפרשת חלה יתוקן עון אם כל חי, חוה, שהביאה מיתה על אדם הראשון שהיה חלתו של עולם. ובכן בכח סגולת זכות מצות הפרשת חלה, "בלע המות לנצח ומחה ה' אלקים דמעה מעל כל פנים" ולהניח ברכה אל בתינו. יהי רצון שתבורך עיסתנו על ידינו כמו ששרתה ברכה על ידי שרה ורבקה רחל ולאה אמותינו, יקויים בנו מקרא שכתוב ראשית עריסותיכם תתנו לכהן להניח ברכה אל ביתך.

"May it be Your will Hashem, my G-d and the G-d of my fathers, that through the spiritual power of separating challah, the sin of Chava, the Mother of All Life, will be rectified. She brought mortality to Adam who was the challah of the world. Likewise, through the spiritual power and merit of the mitzvah of separating challah, "May death be swallowed up forever, and Hashem wipe away the tears from off all faces," "and cause a blessing to rest on our home." May it be Your will that our dough will be blessed through us like the blessing that dwelled through Sarah, Rivkah, Rachel and Leah, our Mothers. May it be established through the Scriptural verse ..."You shall also give to the Kohen the first of your dough that he may cause a blessing to rest on your home" (Yechezkiel 44:30), (Chemdat Yamim, Shabbat Kodesh, Chapter 2).

The Unification of Flour into Challah Rectifies Israel's Lack of Unity
When we offer up the first of our challah-dough to Hashem, the rest of our bread becomes as if left over from our offering, which is the Holiest of Holy. We are sustained not only by the physical bread, but rather by the holiness which Hashem's puts in our food. "Humanity does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of Hashem, does humanity live" (Devarim 8:3). The reason why the challah gift to the kohen causes the blessing to dwell is because it causes more holiness of Hashem's mouth to reside within our food. This extra holiness in the food strengthens our heart and helps us to do teshuva. When we bake bread, all the scattered flour becomes unified into one lump. Separating the first of our dough as a gift to the kohen, is therefore, a rectification for the lack of unity among the Jewish people. This explains why the gift of "the first of your dough… causes a blessing to rest on your home". For the blessing is enacted by means of unity. One of my Shabbat guests, Bracha Lappen, shared with us that she began to connect with her Hebrew name, only after she had learned that the word bracha (blessing) shares the root of the Hebrew word for "knee" (berech), which means connection. Therefore, taking challah connects us to one another, and brings blessings to our home and the entire world by rectifying senseless hatred and schism between us (Shem m'Shemuel, Parashat Korach, year 5674, Parashat Shelach, year 5677, and 5672).

Please share your thoughts and experiences in bringing more holiness into our food!

Connecting Through Working the Land

Haftorat Kedoshim, Amos 9:7-15

(The Sephardic custom is to read Yechezkiel 20:2-20)

Printable Version

I was inspired by shepherd Amos who in this week’s haftorah describes the Jewish people’s connection with our Land through working the land. The people of Israel are moreover compared to Hashem’s plant firmly planted on the soil of the Land of Israel. This week of vacation several seminar students take the opportunity to join us at the Judean hills to enjoy nature and volunteer gardening work

The Haftorah’s Connection to the Parashah –

Living a Torah life is a Condition for Living in the Land of Israel

The weekly Torah portion, Kedoshim, teaches the nation of Israel about the importance of living a moral holy life according to the Torah. The parashah opens with the command to “Be holy, for I Hashem your G-d am holy” (Vayikra 19:2). This parashah includes a wealth of mitzvoth pertaining to every facet of life from interpersonal relationships to our relationship with the environment, from our respect for property to sanctifying time and space to the service of Hashem. Achieving holiness through keeping these mitzvot is the required condition that makes Israel worthy of living in the Holy Land. “You shall faithfully observe all My laws...lest the land, to which I bring you to settle in, spew you out” (Vayikra 20:22). The haftorah reinforces the message of Parashat Kedoshim. During the time of the redemption, only the Jews capable of living a holy life will merit living in the rebuilt Land of Israel. Amos prophesies  how “All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword…in that day will I raise up the Sukah of David (Temple) that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof, and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old” (Amos 9:10-11). Another connection between the parashah and the haftorah is that they both describe the importance of working the land of Israel. “When you come into the land, you shall plant every fruit-bearing tree...” (Vayikra 19:23). Likewise, the return of the people of Israel to the Promised Land during the redemption is characterized by working the land, as the haftorah describes:  “Behold, days are coming, says Hashem, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that sows seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine…(Amos 9:13).

The Way of the Land Precedes the Torah

The Hungarian Chareidi Rabbi Yisachar Shlomo Teichtal turned to religious Zionism during the Holocaust when he wrote his in depth, scholarly work about Eretz Yisrael, Redemption and Unity. He explained that the establishment of a Jewish State in the Land of Israel will affect even the Diaspora Jews, who will become more unified through their soul’s connection to the center established in the Land of Israel (Em Habanim Semeichah page 95). The meraglim (spies) in the wilderness were not interested in entering the Land of Israel, because they claimed that Torah precedes the Land of Israel. Therefore, they preferred to remain in the wilderness and learn Torah from Moshe. However, according to the midrash, Derech Eretz – the way that leads to the Land – precedes Torah, as it states: “To guard the way of the land, the Tree of Life” (Bereishit 3:24). There is no Tree of Life except the Torah as it states, “She is a Tree of Life to those who hold on to her” (Mishlei 3:18). This teaches us that the way to the Land of Israel precedes the Torah. (Tana, D’Bei Eliyahu Rabah Chapter 1). Although the term “Derech Eretz” usually is translated to mean “The way of the world,” according to Rabbi Akiva Yoseph Shlessinger, Derech Eretz refers to the Land of Israel. I can personally testify that there is no way I would have come to live the Torah way, if the Land of Israel had not been in Jewish hands, making it possible for Jews from the Diaspora to come to Israel. I was totally un-inspired by the way the Jewish religion was practiced in Denmark, where I grew up. It was only my connection to Eretz Yisrael, fostered by my grandparents who both made aliyah when I was a baby, which eventually led me to become a Ba’alat Teshuva (returnee to Judaism). In the Land of Israel vibrating with holiness, at the sun-glowing rocks of the Kotel, surrounded by spiritual seeking Jewish youth from the entire world, my soul was reawakened.

To Plant and Be Planted

“I will bring back the captivity of My people Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink their wine; they shall also make gardens, and eat their fruit. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be plucked up out of their land which I have given them, says Hashem your G-d ”(Amos 9:14-15). From the sequence of Amos’ promise in our haftorah, it seems clear that if we first work the land and plant, then Hashem will plant us securely in our home land, without ever uprooting us. Planting in the Land of Israel – connecting our souls to their root – connects us to the Land for all eternity. The early Zionist thinker and writer, A.D. Gordon, wrote so beautifully, “We come to our Homeland in order to be planted in our natural soil from which we have been uprooted, to strike our roots deep into its life-giving substances, and to stretch out our branches in the sustaining air and sunlight of the Homeland…” I feel so privileged to be part of the Messianic promise while preparing the soil of Bat Ayin for sowing the summer crop, and while witnessing the orchard at Midreshet B’erot Bat Ayin grow, as young women from the four corners of the earth return to the Torah of the Land. Munching on our homegrown grapes of the Judean hills, imparts within us the bitachon (trust) in the prophetic promise of our haftorah that the children of Israel will never again be uprooted from our land.

Please comment about how Diaspora Jews can strengthen the connection with the Land of Israel.

Pesach: A Meat & Potatoes Holiday?

The Mystery of Healthy Eating During Pesach

Click here to view the printable PDF version.

After having slaved for weeks to prepare for Pesach, we have finally been liberated. Now is the time to free ourselves from our daily routine and enjoy the renewal of this blessed holiday. No more scrubbing cabinets, no more re-organizing kitchen drawers, just the minimum of work needed for the enjoyment of the holiday. This work is mainly cooking, cooking and cooking. Let me share with you my personal experience of Hashem's Hashgacha Pratit (Divine Supervision) this Pesach.

I had a late start cleaning this year, as it took me a while to recuperate from my USA speaking tour. With some Yekish (German Jewish) blood within me, Pesach cleaning is quite an ordeal in my home, especially since the month of Nissan is also the peak season for gardening. With all of the good rain, Hashem called me outside of my kitchen, to weed and transplant every single day during the week prior to Pesach. I had emunah that Pesach preparation would work out somehow, and Baruch Hashem it did! You won't believe it, but Hashem actually sent me a professional cook Erev Pesach. My friend, Rivkah, called and asked if I would like an additional guest for the Seder, a young many from Antwerp who has no family here. I was eager to fulfill the mitzvah to invite someone who really had no other place to celebrate Pesach, and I gladly consented. Then to my great surprise, Rivkah told me not to worry about cooking for Pesach; the guest was an experienced chef who would whip it all up. So it "happened" that I became a guest in my own kitchen on the eve of Pesach.

The Mitzvah to Eat

Pesach is a holiday which centers around cooking, because Pesach is the only holiday when we have a mitzvah from the Torah to eat, as it states:

בָרִאשןֹ בְּאַרְּבָעָה עָשָר יוֹם לַחדֶֹש בָעֶרֶב תאֹכְּלוּ מַצתֹ עַד יוֹם הָאֶחָד וְּעֶשְּרִים לַחדֶֹש בָעָרֶב : )ספר שמות פרק יב יח (

"In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, shall you eat unleavened bread, until the twenty first day of the month at evening" (Shemot 12:18).

Therefore, we must pay special attention to what and how we eat during this time. All the kitchen utensils are new and different, the countertops are covered, and we eat only special food strictly Kosher for Pesach. Not a crumb, not even a spoon that ever touched a crumb of chametz - without being koshered for Pesach - must come near our lips on Pesach. Some people even peel all of their vegetables in case they ever came in contact with chametz. With all of this fuss over food, still, I'm devastated every single Pesach. As an Ashkenazi Jew, not only can I not have my sprouted wheat bread, but I may not even eat any legumes. How can I attempt to eat healthy, in the midst of this potato and meat holiday?

What Can I Eat on Pesach?

Although wheat grass juice is not actually forbidden on Pesach, since the grass and not the wheat kernels are used, I'm unable to drink it because we moved all our kitchen utensils out of the kitchen for Pesach, and use only utensils that have not been used or cleaned within a chametz kitchen. In addition, sometimes on the ends of the wheatgrass you may find a kernel of wheat which mustn't be found on Pesach, so we are not letting any wheat grass into our chametz-free home. I also cannot have my daily morning drink consisting of lemon juice and cayenne pepper diluted with water, since I couldn't find any cayenne pepper with a Kosher for Pesach certification. I tried hot paprika but it just doesn't do it for me. I also really miss my special grey Celtic sea-salt, which could have been contaminated by a trace of chametz as the bag was open in a chametz kitchen. What about sprouts? Why should sprouts be legumes? All vegetables were originally sprouts before they grew and we are allowed to eat vegetables on Pesach, thank G-d! This year our rabbi (Rav Daniel Kohn), permitted those kinds of sprouts which you can easily remove the hull of the seed itself – this rules out alfalfa, radish and broccoli sprouts. Baruch Hashem, I was able to get sunflower sprouts and their (occasional) hull easily comes off.

Quinoa

Quinoa is one of my everyday main food staples, as it is loaded with fiber, protein, and minerals. While being gluten-free, quinoa contains more calcium, iron, and protein than wheat. Every year for almost the last ten years, since I first heard that quinoa has been deemed permissible for Pesach in USA, I have been bugging my husband to ask Rav Daniel to permit quinoa. Every year the answer was "no", but I had emunah that this would change, so I kept asking my husband to ask. Last year, he somehow evaded the issue as he had already asked so many times in the past. This year, I ensured he would ask, and finally my husband came home with the good news: "You can eat quinoa this Pesach!" Speaking with my friend, the rabbi's wife, I marveled, "This year we are finally eating quinoa!" She responded: "Last year we also ate quinoa!"

Although quinoa is a sesame-seed looking kernel reminiscent of rice, it is not a grain, but a member of the beet family. Therefore, Rabbi Heinemann of the Star-K determined that quinoa is not kitniyot (legume). It does not grow in the vicinity of chametz and its growth does not resemble kitniyot. It, furthermore, has no religious precedent included in the prohibition against kitniyot. According to Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, foods which were not consumed by Jews at the time the minhag of kitniyot began are not forbidden on Pesach (Igrot Moshe, Orach Chaim III:63). Since no Jews lived in South America, where quinoa grew, at the time when the minhag to avoid eating kitniyot on Pesach began (3-4 centuries ago), quinoa is not considered kitniyot. As long as we can ascertain that no chametz grains or kitniyot are mixed in, we may consume quinoa on Pesach. In the USA, the whole quinoa sold under the Ancient Harvest and Trader Joe brand names are produced in plants which do not package chametz grains, and are therefore suitable for Pesach use.

Matzah – the Bread of Healing

With quinoa available this year for Pesach, I had decided that I would eat matzah only during the Seder when it is obligatory, since, on the remaining days of Pesach, eating matzah is only an optional mitzvah (Chizkuni, Shemot 12:18, Ma'aseh Rav,175). Although in our home, we only eat shemura matzah, which is made from whole wheat flour, I generally try to avoid eating food made from flour, as all the vitamins are lost when the grain is made into a powder, similarly to the process of producing juice from fruits. However, during the Seder night, something changed in me. I understood in the very fiber of my being how our health is a gift of Hashem. Healthy food is only a vessel for Hashem's life-giving light, whereas keeping Hashem's mitzvoth connects us directly with the light of Creation. Hashem, the healer of all flesh, tells us that matzah is good for us. In the Zohar matzah is called "bread of healing." Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach explains that the matzah is the greatest healing in the world. If we don't feel it, that's because we are not yet on the level to experience this. If Hashem commands us to eat matzah, this means that the matzah heals us both physically and spiritually.

Matzah – Rectification for the Tree of Knowledge

Eating matzah on Pesach is a rectification for eating from the Tree of Knowledge, because when Adam and Chava ate from this forbidden Tree, their eating was like stealing. Any food which is not connected to our soul root is considered "stolen" food. Since the time of eating from the Tree of Knowledge, whatever we eat has a taste of being stolen, and this makes us sad, as Hashem told Adam, ". . . in sadness you shall eat all the days of your life" (Bereishit 3:18). Regular food does not necessarily come from the channel that connects us directly with Hashem. However, matzah is prepared especially for us and therefore it comes down to us directly from Heaven. When I ate the homemade matzah prepared so carefully by my bar mitzvah son for the very first time since reaching manhood, I felt how it brought down Hashem's light directly from Above. My heartfelt prayer while chewing each bite of this matzah was engendered by my son's excitement for keeping the mitzvah of baking matzah.

Pesach celebrates the birth of the Jewish people. According to Ariza"l, we were conceived on Seder night, and born seven days later on the last night of Pesach, at the splitting of the sea which was the breaking of the birth waters. During the seven days of Pesach, when we begin our lives, we may eat only matzah. The beginning – our root – needs to be matzah – the Tree of Life. According to the level of our emunah, is the depth of life which we receive from Hashem. Matzah is called "the Bread of Emunah." On Pesach we renew our emunah that Hashem wants to give us endless life. Rabbi Shlomo explains that the last meal that we eat on the last day of Pesach is called "the meal of Mashiach" because when Mashiach comes, the earth will be healed from its curse, it will again believe in humanity and bring forth blessed produce. At this time one piece of matzah will be enough to give us eternal life. Let us enjoy our special Pesach food without guilt! "LaChaim"!

Shabbat HaGadol - Four Cups Four Mothers

The Four Cups during the Seder and Our Four Mothers

By Rebbetzin Chana Bracha Siegelbaum

Printable Version

Read the dvar Torah in Spanish!

Women at the Pesach Seder

Taking an active part in the Pesach Seder is an important mitzvah for women, since the Exodus from Egypt took place "in the merit of the righteous women…" (Babylonian Talmud, Sota 11b). Perhaps an additional reason why we read most of the Hagadah before the meal, is to keep the women at the table, free from their kitchen chores for a few more hours. Women are obligated to drink the Four Cups of wine during the Seder, and to take an active part in all the rest of the matters that pertain to the Seder (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 472:14). Maharal explains that whereas Pesach Matzah and Maror are in the merit of the Avot (Fathers) the Four Cups correspond respectively to our four holy Imahot (mothers) (Maharal Gevurat Hashem 48).

Why are the Four Cups linked to Our Four Mothers? 

Just as the grapevine cannot be grafted with any other tree, and is a modest tree in the recesses of the house, likewise the mothers were tznuot (chaste) (Ibid. 60). We open the Seder with the First Cup of Kidush. Likewise, women are the initiators who bring holiness into their homes. The fact that drinking the Four Cups of wine also continues after the meal symbolizes the long lasting effect of women's wisdom. Wine alludes to the פנימיות (inner dimensions) as it states, "When wine enters the secret emerges" (Babylonian Talmud, Iruvin 55a). Women's spiritual connection with inner dimensions of the Torah mirrors their physical hidden dimensions.

The First Cup Corresponds to Sarah

The First Cup corresponds to the first of the four languages of geulah: וְהוֹצֵאתִי אֶתְכֶם מִתַּחַת סִבְלֹת מִצְרַיִם- "I will bring you out from under the burdens of Mitzrayim" (Shemot 6:6-7).This promise comprises physical liberation. When we drink the First Cup it is good to meditate and pray for removing our physical suffering such as pain, illness, anti-Semitism, terrorism etc. Sarah was the first woman who integrated the emuna in Hashem into the very fiber of her body. In this way she created the spiritual genetics from which the Jewish People would issue. The First Cup is the cup of Kidush which elevates and separates the holiday from the mundane days of the week. Likewise, Sarah, was the first woman to become separate from all other people in the world. May we learn from Sarah to strengthen our emuna even if it goes against the grain of the world, and may we be able to integrate our emuna into our daily chores in the physical world!

  

The Second Cup Corresponds to Rivkah

The Second Cup corresponds to the second of the four languages of geulah:וְהִצַּלְתִּי אֶתְכֶם מֵעֲבֹדָתָם I will deliver you out of their bondage. This promise includes delivery from both physical and spiritual enslavement. We may not be aware, but many of our actions derive from various unconscious scripts imprinted in our psyche from childhood wounds and traumas, which cause fears, jealousy, and anger. Although Rivkah came from a severely dysfunctional family, she was able to heal her childhood wounds by attaching herself to kedusha. Even at a tender young age, she was not afraid to detach herself from her family, and familiar environment, in order to follow a strange man to an un-known place. When we drink the Second Cup, it is good to meditate and pray for removing all our attachments and addictions. This cup also has the segula (ability) to free us from the confinement of performing the mitzvot only out of rote because we are expected to, without conviction and excitement. Rivkah was totally in touch with her neshamah, and all her actions were permeated with her spirit of enthusiasm. The Second Cup corresponds to the reading of the Hagadah. Just as the Hagadah begins with disgrace but concludes with praise (Babylonian Talmud, Pesachim 116a), so did Rivkah emanate from the thorns of her cradle, yet became an everlasting rose (Vayikra Rabah 23:1). May we learn from Rivkah to detach ourselves from all the negative influence of our past!

The Third Cup Corresponds to Rachel

The Third Cup corresponds to the third of the four languages of geulah: וְגָאַלְתִּי אֶתְכֶם בִּזְרוֹעַ נְטוּיָה וּבִשְׁפָטִים גְּדֹלִים I will redeem you with an outstretched arm. Hashem promised to bring our geulah in the zchut (merit) of our mother Rachel's ultimate Ahavat Yisrael. In her selfless mercy, she overcame her jealousy and allowed her sister to marry her beloved, in order to avoid embarrassing her (Eicha Rabah Introduction 24). Likewise, Israel will merit redemption, when we overcome the conflicts and jealousies among our people, and learn to truly unite. When we drink the Third Cup, it is good to meditate and pray for removing gaps between different segments of our people through tolerance and acceptance, so that we may repair the schism between the children of Rachel and Leah. The Third Cup is for birkat ha'mazon (Grace after Meals). Geulah is to reveal Hashem's malchut (kingdom) within the physical world manifesting shefa (sustenance) to the world. This revelation can only take place when there is unity among us. Rachel's son, Yosef, was able to bring sustenance to the world because he did not keep a grudge, but forgave his brothers for what they had done to him. Moreover, Rachel was the mainstay of her home, and the blessing of parnassa (sustenance) in the house comes in the merit of the wife (Babylonian Talmud, Baba Metzia 59a), who causes shalom to reside in her home. May we learn from Rachel to go beyond ourselves for the sake of כנסת ישראל – gathering of the dispersed segments of Israel, and engender true Ahavat Yisrael!

The Fourth Cup Corresponds to Leah

The Fourth Cup corresponds to the fourth and last language of geulah: וְלָקַחְתִּי אֶתְכֶם לִי לְעָם וְהָיִיתִי לָכֶם לֵאלֹקִים  I will take you to me for a people. After having removed our physical, emotional and spiritual blocks by means of the three previous cups, we are now ready to actualize our relationship with Hashem and communicate directly with Him through praise and prayer. The Fourth Cup concludes the Hallel (prayer of praise) at the end of the Seder. Leah is the first person to truly thank/praise Hashem, when at the birth of her fourth son Yehuda she exclaimed, "This time I will thank Hashem" (Bereishit 29:35), (Babylonian Talmud, Berachot 7b). Rav Arosh explains that although others from Adam to Avraham surely thanked Hashem before Leah, no-one thanked Him with her level of conscious intensity. Leah's chidush (new approach) was to truly thank Hashem even for all the hardships she had encountered. With the birth of Yehuda she realized that it was necessary and worthwhile to experience all her previous suffering for the sake of giving birth to Yehuda, the father of King David and Mashiach. When we drink the Fourth Cup, it is good to meditate and pray for strengthening our relationship with Hashem, that we may experience the connection with Him during both prayer, and in everyday life. May we learn from Leah to always recognize, thank and praise Hashem for bestowing us with His continuous blessing!

Women, Let Your Voices be Heard

The inherent connection between our Sarah, Rivkah, Rachel and Leah and the Four Cups of the Seder teaches us how each of the four steps of redemption is in the zchut (merit) of one of our holy Mothers. The midrash teaches us how Hashem redeemed us in the merit of both our Fathers and Mothers as it states, (Michah 6:1) "Arise, contend before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice" (ותשמענה הגבעות קולך). Whereas the fathers correspond to the mountains, the hills represent the mothers Sarah, Rivkah, Rachel and Leah. We learn this from the feminine form of the verb "to hear" used in the verse (Batei Midrashot 2, Midrash alfa Beita, Mesechta 315). The Sefer Hachinuch states that both men and women are obligated to tell about the Exodus from Egypt on this night (Mitzvah 21). It is specifically the mother who is called to answer the son who does not know how to ask, as it states: אַתְּ פְּתַח לוֹ-"You open [the conversation] for him" According to Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, the feminine form of "you" alludes to the women's obligation to tell the story about our Exodus from Egypt    (Otzar Meforshei Ha-Hagadah). Therefore, women, remember during the Seder night that Hashem wants to hear your voice!