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From: Ephraim & Rimona Frank
To: Shevet Achim
Subject:Passover and Nationhood

Shalom Fellow Israelites,

In a few days we will be celebrating Passover. It was over 3,800 years ago, when the Almighty One of Ya'acov sent His family down into Egypt to make them into a single nation. Speaking to His servant Ya'acov, He said to him: "I am Elohim, the Elohim of your father; do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there'" (Genesis 46:3). One of the Hebrew words for "nation" is "goy". It is first used in the Tanach in the Covenant that the Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, made with our forefather Avram, "I will make you a great nation; I will bless you, and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing" (Genesis 12:2). One man, one Elohim, one covenant, one national identity, this was at the heart of YHVH's plan for the redemption of the creation. The Elohim of Avram set apart a man, and swore by His own name that his seed would become a great set-apart (holy) nation.

When Ya'acov and his band of 70 souls arrived in Egypt, he found another family member already down there - Yoseph. As we can see from the story recorded in Genesis, Yoseph and his progeny had lost their identity and connection with their family of origin, and thus became the second family of the house of Ya'acov. Perhaps this is why Ya'acov had to adopt Yoseph's sons (ref. Gen 48:5), even though they were of the same bloodline. Nevertheless, that adoption was significant for the restoration of governmental order and unity in the clan. If they were to become a nation, they had to have their own land, so Yoseph, being in a position to do so, gave them the land of Goshen, where they multiplied profusely. Their Creator blessed them with fruitfulness, as they dwelt in one of the most fertile areas in the land of Ham.

However, the sons of Ya'acov eventually became slaves to the Egyptian landowners. While in that state, they lost their vision of being a nation, a family, and a people with a purpose and a Divine call. This is portrayed quite vividly in the scene of the two Hebrew slaves, (reminiscent of the two houses of today) who were fighting one another in the sands of their demise. The seed of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Ya'acov was now characterized by individuality. It was only natural, since they were living under extreme conditions where self-preservation became their cry, and means, of survival. So where was this great nation that was promised to Avraham? These Hebrew slaves were cursing the day that they were born on. They had become nothing more than dead dry bones in the desert sands of Egypt. They were so helpless, that they could not even respond to Moshe when he came to them and preached the good news of their deliverance (ref. Gen.6:9).

The Passover story is replete with pestilence, famine, and one disaster following another. However, when gross darkness covered the land, there was still light in the tents of the Hebrews (ref. Ex.10:23). Why? Because the Almighty was still bound to the word (which "is a light" Ps. 119:105) that He had given to Israel's ancestors about becoming a great nation. How was this going to be made possible? It certainly was not going to happen by the people's own strength. It was going to take a miracle, a Divine intervention. YHVH, therefore, dispatched a man with a
message: "Let My people go". Moshe was faithful to bring that word to the ruler of the slaves, but YHVH hardened the heart of Pharaoh, just to make sure that His people would know that their deliverance was not going to come by the way or the authority of man. Had Pharaoh given his permission, these Hebrews would have been forever indebted to their slave owner. They would have never been free and could never have taken up their divinely ordained position as the head of all the nations. In this manner, they would have been legally bound to Egypt.

YHVH had another plan to restore these slaves to freedom, and to their national identity. He told His servant Moshe to tell each family to take a lamb, "Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: `On the tenth day of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man's need you shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats....Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb....then you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning....Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt " (Exodus 12:3-5; 21-22; 13).

The moment the elders applied the blood and struck the lintel and the doorposts of the Hebrews' homes with it, the latter were all sealed into their deliverance, freedom, and destiny, but even beyond that, their individuality had just come to an end. They were now united behind the one sacrifice, totally dependent upon the mighty right arm of the Almighty to bring them out. "Let My people go!" YHVH had already announced to all the rulers of Egypt who these people were. They were a people who did not belong to themselves, they were "My people, ["ami"singular] says YHVH". Now, through the blood of the lamb, they were set apart to enter into the next phase of His plan. "'And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel" (Exodus 19:6).

As we, Ephraim and Judah, YHVH's two families, two nations, gather together to honor Him during this year's Passover, let us leave our individuality and lift the cup of unity. Remember that we were all once slaves to sin and death and bound to the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. May we walk together through the Door that has the blood of the lamb splattered on its frame, out of the houses of our bondage and into the liberty of the new corporate life of the nation Israel.

May you all be blessed during this Passover and Feast of Matzot (unleavened bread) with a sense of national unity. May the eyes of our hearts be opened anew to the fact that we are "My people Israel" in this generation.

Shabbat Shalom and Hag Same'ach

Shevet Achim

Ephraim Frank

"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments. It is like the dew of Hermon, descending upon the mountains of Zion; for there YHVH commanded the blessing--Life forevermore" (Ps. 133).

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From: Dell Griffin
To: heb_roots_chr@hebroots.org
Subject: The Making of Sh'mura Matzot by Aaron Mateho ben Yosef, age 10

Shalom,

A few weeks ago my son Aaron, age 10, and I had the rare privilege (for non-Jewish "Orthodox Joes") of assisting in the manufacture of Sh'murah Matzot. Aaron was able to miss a day of school in order to do this with me on the condition that he write a report about it for his class. He had to write his report in Hebrew, of course, but I asked him to translate it and told him I would post it to the House of Joseph email list.

Here is his effort in his own words (with only a little help from Abba to get the facts straight and correct a few run-on sentences). I get a little bit choked up reading this because I am seeing something begin to blossom in my son and realize the precious gift from Hashem he is to me.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

Shalom Shalom & Hashem's love & blessings,
Ben Yosef

THE MAKING OF SH'MURAH MATZOT

I went with my Abba and the rabbis and the men he learns with at Yeshiva Ohr Sameah, to a place in Mea Shearim where they make the round unleavened bread called "Sh'murah Matzot."

It was a lot of fun but we had to work real hard. Since we are not real Jews, the head rabbi said we could not touch the Matza at any time. We also had to wear an apron but everybody else wore an apron too.

But I helped Abba fold out the card board boxs and put plastik liner in. Then I stacked the boxs and then when they were full and wayed, I got to write with a black permanent marker, "1/2 Kilo (hetze kilo) " 1 kilo" "1 =BD Kilo" (kilo v'hetze) or "2 kilos."

After they put each batch of Matza in the oven, Abba and I also cleaned up the steel tables with steel wool and water. That was fun, too and we got real wet. But Eema didn't like that because Abba got stains on his best talit katan (before he put on his apron).

The first thing we did was say a blessing called "Matza Mitzvah" to help us think about Hashem as we work. The head rabbi smiled at me after I could read it in Hebrew. Abba smiled too so we got off to a good start. You are supposed to get happy when you make the matzot. We sang songs in Hebrew and one time the rabbi danced but he didn't dance on the table. Everybody had lots of "Simchat."

So here is how they make the Sh'mura Matza.

First they mix some speshal flour and water. The flour is speshil because it is garded from when it is wheat in the field until it is mixed with water to make a doue. That is why it is Sh'murah Matzot because it is Sh'murah, which means it is wached over." From when they mix in the water an make it into doue it has to be cooked in just 18 minutes because 18 is "Chet Yod" in Hebrew for life.

The water is just plain ordinary water from the sink, but it is kept away from the flour. The man who meshered out the flour had it all over him. Even his black kipa looked white. He could not touch any water or anything wet. The rabbi asked me if I knew why. I told him because water and flour makes glue. He laughed. I don't remember what his answer was. But to even get a drink of water he had to leave the flour room

When the flour and water mix that makes the doue. They beat and pound and crush and smash the doue with large metal poles attached to a hinj on the table. The doue starts out full of lumps but when they finish it is one smuth roll that looks like a roll'd up news paper.

A rabbi with a stopwatch places it on a big metal table and the 18 minutes start. By 15 minutes the roll is cut into about 12 small round biskits an each biskit is rolled with small metal rollers into flat real thin raw matzot. They are raw because they haven't been cooked yet. The matza pancakes are now pierced with a roller in one pass to make holes. The holes help the matza to cook all thru it.

The raw matzot is hung three to a pole across the end of a long wooden pole covered with wax paper. The pole is then put into a very hot oven and the matzot are rolled flat. The pole is only in the oven a few seconds and the paper sometimes caught fire because the oven is red hot. They stay in the oven only about 10 seconds and are then removed with what looks like a big flat shovel at the end of a long pole and emptied onto another table.

Then several rabbis look at each matza for parts that did not cook or for folds. This is the sloest part of the producion line. The rabbis look at each matza individual. Abba joked that the rabbis chosen for that job had the thickest glasses which were like magnifying glasses. They held the matzot within just a few inches of their eyes. The ones that pass the test are put in a stack to go into boxes. The others are laid aside so the head rabbi can re-inspect them. If they have doubts they go aside. Then the head rabbi takes a real long look at the ones that didn't pass and has the last say. He showed me what to look for mosely folds and uncooked areas.

The inspected matzot are then weighed and placed in plastic wrapping inside cardboard bozes. That was Abbas main job.

The head rabbi, also made Abba and I in charge of preparing each batch of matzot for the challot blessing. This means you lift off some of  the matzo to be sure it is not eaten. The Jews do this with a lot of things but espeshily bread. My Abba would spread a sheet on the floor and we would pile the boxes of matzot into six stacks on top of the sheet and then cover the six stacks with another sheet. The head rabbi would gather the matza that did not pass from each batch and put it inside a seprate pice of white paper. Then he sticked that under the top sheet. Then the rabbi would say the challot blessing to "lift the portion" from the batch. As he said the blessing, my Abba and another rabbi raised the corners of the bottom sheet. This lifted up and seperate the batch. The parts that did not pass was taken out and is suppose to be burned as chametz before Passover. When the challot blessing was said, the head rabbi let me write "CHA" for "Challot" on each box beside the kilo marks so we would know it had been lifted from already and not do it again. Then Abba and me would move the boxes into the next room to be shipped all over the world.

I also helped my Abba clean up the tables where the matzot was rolled out. The tables had to be cleaned with steel wool and water to remove all of the chametz from each old batch before a new batch can be rolled out on that same table. There are two big metal tables so one could be in use while we cleaned the other one. That ment we had to do our job in 15 minutes. It was hard but we scrubbed hard and the rabbi told me I was a good worker.

You also must wash your hands and brush the crumbs off your clothes many times to be sure you don't put spread chametz around.

I really liked helping make the sh'murah kind of matza. The most fun part was getting to stack the boxes when they were filled. Abba would yell "hetze kilo" and I would bring him the "hetze kilo" boxes and yell back "hetze kilo" then we would do the same thing with the "kilo" and the "kilo v' hetze" until all the boxes were stacked. I also go to stomp out the flame once when the paper on the end of the stick put in the oven caught fire. But most of the time they did that by sticking the stick into a pale of water. But the paper fell off of the stick before it made it to the pale an I was standin there so I just stomped on it. That made the man stickin the sticks into the oven smile. He had the hotest job.

I learned that a lot of care goes into making the Sh'mura Matzot and that will help me with kavanah at our Passover Seder an if Hashem cares as much about getting the chametz in us out as the rabbis do keeping chametz out of the Sh'mura Matzot that should tell us all something about chametz.

Aharon Mateho Griffin (ben Yosef)

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