AHAVAS CHINAM

Replace Hate With Love

The Torah (Vayikra 19:17) explicitly states, "Do not hate your brother in your heart." Even the simplest person is commanded not to have envy, hatred, and feelings of revenge and a grudge. This is such an important and basic obligation that the Jewish people's failure in this regard led directly to the destruction of the Second Temple.

Is there anyone you hate without a valid reason? Mentally visualize that hate melting away. In its place, visualize compassion, empathy. Now mentally bless that person. Bless him/her that they should treat you so wonderfully that you are filled with love for that person

Royal Weddings!

The world is abuzz with excitement as everyone awaits the royal wedding that will be taking place tomorrow.

I have been watching this Prince and soon to be Princess a little bit, and it amazes me how careful they both need to be with what they say, what they wear ,and how they act.

Then i stop for a minute and think- WAIT! IM ALSO A PRINCESS!

I am a Bat Melech, and my Father is the most powerful king in the entire world! If this so, shouldn't I also be cautious about what I wear, what I do, and what I say?

Why of course I should be! I would never want to let my Father down and embarrass him! I need to make him proud and live up to my role as princess.

Friends, while we may not have the opportunity to have the whole world watch us walk to Westminster Abby, (or stroll in a carriage? i dont know how it works) we cannot forget that we are just as important (probably more actually) because we are daughters to the most amazing King in the whole world!!

Have a beautiful Shabbos everyone!!!

Hilchos Pesach

1826. Things to Remember for Erev Pesach, April 18th

* Siyum for Bechorim Monday morning.

* All male firstborn to either parent must fast, as well as a firstborn following a miscarriage.

* Some Sefardim have the minhag that female firstborn also partake in the siyum.

* Fathers should attend siyum in place of a minor firstborn child.

* Do not say Mizmor Lisoda and Lam'natzeach.

* Stop Eating Chometz end of 4^th hour. (Jerusalem 10:03 am, NYC 10:12 am)

* Brush teeth thoroughly before end of zman Achilah.

* Complete Burning of Chometz end of 5^th hour. (Jerusalem 11:21 am, NYC 11:34 am)

* Say Kol Chamira - Bittul (Nullification) of Chometz in a language that you understand.

* Remove vacuum cleaner bags with chometz before zman biur chometz.

* Chometz garbage that will not be collected by sanitation before z'man biur should

not be left in garbage cans. Rather, it should be left in bags at the curb.

* Dentures, bi-pates, etc. should be cleaned (and kashered if removable) before zman biur.

* Work restrictions after Chatzos.

* No haircuts or shaving after Chatzos.

* All kitchen and dining areas must be covered before Yom Tov.

* Prepare for the Seder: Roast the Zeroah, Beitzah. Grate the Maror, Make the Charoses, Check

the Maror leaves, mix the salt water.

* Set Shabbos clocks to allow lights to stay on very late for the Seder (Sedorim).

* Many have the minhag to immerse in a mikvah in honor of Yom Tov.

* Prepare Kittel for the Seder. Open any staples or tags left on by the Dry Cleaners.

* For those who eat gebrokts one may only eat boiled foods with matzoh meal (e.g. knaidlach).

* One may not eat baked matzoh meal products at any time during the day.

* After Mincha Ketanah (Jerusalem4:26 pm, NYC 4:50 pm) one may not eat knaidlach, drink

wine, or fill oneself.

* Many have the minhag to recite the order of the Korbon Pesach (printed in many Haggados)

after Mincha, thereby meriting as if having offered a Pesach sacrifice in the Bais hamikdash.

cute pessach song/video

עוֹלָם חֶסֶד יִבָנֶה

"The World will be built upon kindness"

-King David Tehillim/Pslam (89:3)

Dear Friends,

While many of us are preparing for Passover - The Holiday of Freedom, wherever we may be: our homes, in Jerusalem, in NY, Miami, or etc., please have in mind that we have brothers out there who will be "celebrating" it alone in a dungeon.

The Japanese prison authorities refuse to give us the addresses of the two slandered Chassidish boys.

Hamas refuse to give us contact to Gilad Shalit.

Please at least send a Passover Greeting card to Jonathan Pollard who has been in prison for over 26 years for trying to save Jews, furthermore, whose health as well as his wife's health is deteriorating.

It is just one act of Chesed, Kindness and great Mitzvah you can do.

Please, please send a Pesach greeting card to Jonathan Pollard. You can go to CVS/Duane Reade and just by a card for $1. It's that simple!

His address is:

Jonathan Pollard #09185-016
c/o FCI Butner
P.O. Box 1000
Butner, NC
U.S.A 27509-1000

THANK YOU!!

inspiring class with Rebbitzen Chava Koenig

Please join us as for an inspiring class with

Rebbitzen Chava Koenig

from EYAHT Jerusalem!

(Aish HaTorah School for Women):

"Finding Your Personal Statue of Liberty"

Sunday, May 1st – 7:30pm

at the home of Dina Reis

322 West 75th Street (Corner of Riverside Drive)

Please RSVP to Amasarof@gmail.com

Rebbitzen Chava Koenig is an inspiring teacher and much sought-after speaker. She is a Senior Lecturer at EYAHT, Aish HaTorah's College for Women in Jerusalem, and is respected by women of all ages worldwide. Rebbitzen Koenig stimulates her audiences to grapple with fascinating questions, and challenges the independent thinker to search for deeper meaning in the everyday world, guiding listeners to apply the Torah’s wisdom to today's challenges. In addition to her official teaching responsibilities, Rebbitzen Koenig is well-known to personally nurture young Jewish women to actualize their full potential. Many have benefited from her knowledge, sensitivity and generosity. Originally from Monsey, New York, Rebbetzin Koenig and her family live in the Ramat Eshkol neighborhood of Jerusalem.

The Sweetness of Charoset

rabbi wallerstein askd the Q about why maror is dipped into charoset ... marror is bitter represnting the backbreaking work we did and how bitter our life was and charoset is representing the bricks that the jews had to built so a- why are we dipping sadness into sadness ? and b- charoset is sweet, its apples cinoman sugar and it represents something horrible i.e the bricks we built (also when there was no cement left the egyptians used jewish babies to fill in the spot where a brick was needed )

so the answer is that while this was going on...there was a judgement of the jewish people and of mitzraim going on in shamayim. and the malach of the egyptians made a claim that Hashem cant punish the mitzrim for throwing the baby boys into the river bc the king decreed that and if they didnt do it they would have died - they were under pressure and it was the babies lives or their own- so Hashem said ok fine i wont destroy the mitzrim bc it wasnt their fault they were under alot of pressure.. but then michoel who is the malach that usually saves beni yisroel came and said to Hashem," its true that the mitzrim were under presure because they were decreed to throw the babies in the river BUT in the case of bricks , when there were missing bricks NO ONE TOLD THEM TO FILL THOSE EMPTY PLACES WITH JEWISH BABIES...that was something they chose to do on their own and thousands of babies died.... so Hashem said ur right and IN THE MERIT OF THOSE BABIES that died in the bricks... THATS EXACTLY THE REASON HASHEM SAVED US ..

so really that bitterness brought about the redemption and thats why Hashem killed the mitzrm and saved us

so the msg is that sometimes those things that break our backs and hurt us and seemingly "kill us" are what saves us in retrospect

thats why charoset is sweet bc Hashem knew it was going to save us and wanted us to know that even when things seem bitter and we dont know why -its really good for us we sometimes just dont know and maybe if we wait it out.. well realize it

Chag Sameach !

A Benefit for Bentzi II

Please join us on Monday April 11th for an Eitan Katz concert....

Once again, we will be raising money for Bentzi, an adorable young boy with a rare disease called Eosiniphilic Enterocolotis...and other children with rare diseases!

Hope to se you there!

Bring all your friends

A Letter from Rebetzen Heller

Dear Friends,

Rosh Chodesh has arrived, and with it new energy and plenty of work to absorb it all! It is great to have your body and soul on the same page, getting rid of all of the junk.

It is hard to envision what leaving Egypt must have been. The families were huge; the balagan must have been enormous. Imagine what it must have been like to leave behind 210 years worth of history, 86 years of slavery, and the memory of all of those who didn't live to see this day, to pack everything you ever want to see again, and to just go!

You have to try to put yourself in their shoes, if you want to really maximize what your Pesach will be. Redemption is an ongoing process. Every year is part of the evolution of events that are taking all of us to the destiny that G-d had in mind for us when He created the world. There is no escaping the exiles and new beginnings that define our history.

The question is how you can make sense of it. You can easily fall into the trap of thinking that the One who brought about our freakish continuum of persecution isn't really doing us any great favors by authoring our salvation time after time. If someone tripped you, wouldn't you expect her to help you get up? The comparison is engaging, but very superficial. In the example of tripping, there was no inherent meaning in the fall. If you both could replay the moment, you would watch where you walk, and she would be careful about not being a living booby trap.

In actual historical reality exile is no trip up; it is the seed of redemption. Exile is the backdrop of the helplessness and vulnerability of suffering, that opens your eyes to who you aren't and who you never, never want to be. You then see Hashem's compassion in exposing you to yourself and to others, and then breaking all the rules to show you that He was there all along, suffering with you with unknowable love. Take this in, and the way you see life will be completely different.

If you were going to take this idea, and "search for it" at the Seder you would find a hint of it in the way the rituals are set up. At the Seder, you first eat matzah, which symbolizes the unbelievable speed that G-d used to get us out of Egypt. He knew that we were on the edge, and got us out at the last possible moment. From that angle, the matzah is a symbol of His "timelessness" and His love.

After eating the matzah, you eat the maror, which symbolizes the bitterness of the unspeakable suffering that the Jews in Egypt went through during their enslavement. The question you might ask is that since the slavery preceded the exodus, why not approach things logically and have the maror before the matzah?

When you see external reality in a linear way, no other order makes sense. You learned history that way, and it leaves its imprint. Remember learning about how World War One laid the foundation for World War Two? This is one way of looking at history, but there is an alternative way. You can observe the end results of a process. You can then realize that you have not yet come to grips with essential reality. The steps leading up to the end result were planned! Every step along the way was leading each and every protagonist to his destiny.

From this angle, getting us to the split second moment of liberation, symbolized by the matzah, is the cause of the exile itself. Bringing the Jews to the recognition of how beloved we are, and how willing G-d is to break every rule in the book to give us the greatest gift of all - ourselves -- was in the plan all along. Matzah - liberation -- is what G-d had in mind when he exposed us to the maror -- the bitterness that we had to have to be free.

Hearing this story again and again is essential, because it is still happening. You can see it in your own life, and in the life of the Jewish people. This is what the sages in the Haggadah discussed when they engaged in debate about why the Seder should take place at night (the symbol of darkness, in which nothing seems interpretable) while the exodus took place during the day. As you see when you read the Haggadah, the key is realizing that a "whole day" includes the night, and that "all of our history" includes the Messianic era when the process that took us there, and its meaning, will become clear.

There are four "sons" who live inside of you. Your wisest self wants to know HOW to unravel the enigmatic puzzle that is what you mean when you say, "my life". That "son" wants to see G-d's hidden Hand. The wicked son is also there. He is self-interested and has no reality beyond his momentary gratification. For him there is no meaning, only trivialization of what the entire picture means. Dull his teeth! Don't let him trivialize the significance of your choices. Don't let him mock you and destroy your inner yearnings with his cynicism. Hear the voice of the simple son, who wants to know how events that take place make this world a better place. Your answer is to see how every moral system stems from the Torah. In order to receive the Torah, we had to know that the One who gave it cares, is there and intervenes, and can do anything. The most dangerous voice is that of the son who has no more questions. That is the voice of despair. You may have heard its heavy silence. Be kind to yourself! Address that voice the way a mother address her baby, with love, compassion and understanding.

Hashem believes in us and loves us. We have to learn to believe in ourselves and care about ourselves enough to actually look inside and like what we see.

Love,

Tziporah

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SPECIAL FEATURES:

• Daily emails with clear and practical explanations.
• Video workshops by Rav Noach Weinberg Z'tl, Rav Yitzchak Berkowitz and Charlie Harary.

As many of you are aware, some Radical Muslims have called May 15 to be a day of the launching of a third intifada against the Jews.
But we know that darkness is only the absence of light. If enough of us are at least as committed to bring light into the world, all their plans can fall apart.

How do we do that? Tomorrow night is the start of the Jewish month of Nissan, the month of potential light and miracles.
We are moving from the darkness of winter and the hidden light of Purim, to the astounding miracles of the exodus all the
way to the incredible revelation at mount Sinai.

This parallels the journey each of us can travel in the next 10 weeks towards tremendous personal revelation and growth.
Just making a daily, sincere prayer is VERY powerful. In your daily prayer you can ask G-d to please gently show you what you most need to see right now.

You can also ask G-d to help all those in need and to empower each of us to become a beacon of light.

In addition, if you commit to taking your next tangible step towards personal growth you can access breakthroughs in your personal life
that have a ripple effect on others. Steps like getting wisdom on maximizing your life (like the one day workshop may 15 below),
preparing yourself spiritually for Seder night, meeting with a mentor to address what you most need to address etc.

If you are in the NY area or know people who live in the area, please make an effort to register now for Sunday, May 15.
There is a power in committing to a positive goal in the future, more than we realize.
As the muslims intend to use that day to bring evil, we want to use that day to bring good from the inside-out.

I believe this workshop with world renowned speaker Charlie Harary can bring tremendous light. See a 4min video of his teaching.
http://www.aish.com/sp/pg/84101077.html

Please see if you or someone you know can make it. It is open to both men and women of all backgrounds who want to maximize their lives
and impact the world positively. Although Charlie Harary would normally charge around 150$ for such a workshop, we were able to make
a special arrangement that it will only cost 36$ and for the first 20 or so registered, it’s only 25$.

You can registerby going towww.aishcenter.comor calling the aish center office 212-579-1388.
Please forward it with your personal invitation to the people you know would benefit!!
Warmly, Tzipora

Hey everyone! Just wanted to tell you about a shiur that will take play Iy'H this Wensday, April 6,2011 at the Young Israel of Midwood (downstairs in the shaare havodah minyan) on Ocean ave and ave L, Brooklyn, ny. The shiur will be given by Rabbi Chaimowitz with the topic "coming out of your personal Mitzrayim" Rabbi Chaimowitz was a Rav in Meor and has just moved from Eretz Yisrael to new york with his family. Rav Chaimowitz and his family are very involved with kiruv. He is an excellent speaker and I'm sure that we will gain much chizuk from Rav Chaimowitz. PLEASE PASS THIS TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS :) Hope to see you guys there! also if you can email res1686@yahoo.com if you plan on coming that would be great! have a good shabbos! Rivka