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To: Hebraic Heritage Newsgroup <heb_roots_chr@geocities.com>, Hebraic Heritage Newsgroup 2 <heb_roots_chr@geocities.com>
Subject: Passover Basics / Passover Sacrifice
Date: Thu, 1 Apr 1999 17:34:38 -0800
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From: Pam Staley
To: heb_roots_chr@geocities.com
Subject: Hametz and matzah

WHY DO YOU EAT HAMETZ AND MATZAH DURING PASSOVER?

The reason we eat matzah during Pesah is given by Rabban Gamliel in the
Haggadah as follows:

Matzah: Why do we eat it? To remind ourselves that even before the dough of
our ancestors could become leavened bread, the Holy One revealed Himself and
redeemed them, as it is written: "and they baked the dough when they had
brought from Egypt into matzah, because it did not rise since they were
driven out of Egypt and they could not delay, nor had they prepared
provisions for themselves."

Matzah, then is a reminder of the moment of Exodus from Egypt. although we
may eat matzah all during pasover, we are commanded to eat it only during
the seder.

Hametz is a mixture of flour and water that is allowed to rise, tus becoming
what we noramally call 'bread.' The laws of hametz are very strict, and
prohibit not only eating it but even owning it during Passover. Thus, during
the weeks before Pesah, we dispose of our hametz. The night before Passover,
there is a final search for hametz, followed the next morning by a ritual
buring of what remains. We also make a formal declaration renoucing
ownership of any hametz and declaring any that remains in our homes null and
void.

Hametz is seen as symbolic of the yetzer ha-ra - the evil inclination. The
removal of all hametz is a metaphor for an inner process of purgin and
freeing ourselves of impurity - the hametz that lies within us. That is why
we go to such lengths to remove even the tiniest amount of material hametz;
it is meant to signify the difficulty of the struggle to remove those
negative parts of our selves.

Philo, a Greek-Jewish philosopher, described hametz as pride because
leavened bread is puffedup. To remove hametz, then is to struggle with our
sense of self-importance.

Shalom
Pam

******************************************************************

From: Kathy Kuntz
To: heb_roots_chr@geocities.com
Subject: Passover Question

Ok...I have a question for anyone who can help...

This year, for the first time the Lord has put on my heart to fully
observe passover...ie not just the seder, but keeping the bread as well.
(and maybe some things that I don't understand yet) I plan to go
through my house and remove all leven for the time of passover, but I
need some education on this.

This is the first time I've ever done this, and really know NOTHING
about what I'm doing! Can anyone help me out...refer me to a good website or
maybe write out something for me? Thanks so much... What day do I need to do
this...for how many days....and any other info you can share.. Thanks again!

In His Love,
Kathy

>From Pam Staley:
********************

Kathy, hopefully this might be of some help to you ... and also... I,
too, for the first time will be removing all the leaven from my
house...the L-rd is moving mightily to bring the two houses under one
roof .. ;->... I think the "Israelites" are being recalled...as Gail
said...out of Babylon!

Traditions:

The following is a ten-step approach to removing hametz. Each of us is
free to decide whether to do less or more than is presented here:

1. Do a thorough cleaning of the house, with special attention to
those areas where hametz might have been eaten or stored. To
facilitate this process, you may want to clean a room at a time and
then allow no further eating in a room once it is "Pesahdik." Hametz
may be lurking in such places as your car, coat pockets, handbangs,
baby carriages or under the sofa cusions. The possibilities are
endless. (This sounds like the proverbial spring cleaning to me!)

2. If you are certain that no one has brought hametz into an area - for
example, the cellar, attic ect, you don't have to clean it.

3. The dining room and kitchen require special attention. The tables
should be cleaned, particularly the crack between the halves of a
table that opens. While some "kasher" their tables by scouring them
and pouring hot water over them, others simply wash them and cover
them. Many people cover the kitchen counters and some line the shelves
of their kitchen cabinets.

4. All hametz should be eaten, disposed of, or, if it is to be sold,
put into separate cabinets/storage space. To prevent the accidental
eating of hametz during the holiday, many people tie or tape the
hametz cabinets closed. (Even if according to your observance you are
not going to remove or sell your hametz, it would still seem important
to set it aside to prevent eating it by mistake.)

5. All dishes, silverware, pots, dish drainers, food processors,
etc., that are used during the year are considered "hametzdik" and
should be put away.

6. The refrigerator should be emptied of all hametz and washed out.
The freezer should be defrosted. Some people line the refrigerator
shelves with foil or newspaper. (Care should be taken to punch holes
in the liner to allow the circulation of air necessary for the
refrigerator's operation.)

7. Certain things may be kashered for Passover rather than replaced.
(In our situation, this means making hametz utensils permissible for
use on Pesah.) Unless youhave an extra stove used only for Passover
(believe it or not, a growing practice among the Ultra-Orthodox), the
most difficult task is kashering your stove/oven/broiler. To do so
requires an understanding of the general rules of kashering - which by
the way are the same for transforming a nonkosher utensil to kosher.
The principles are as follows: a. Utensils are kashered the way they
are used - that is, utensils used with heat are kashered by heat and
b. Heat during normal use of utensils causes absorption of food
material into their walls. Further heat will cause walls to extrude
it.

Cold does not cause any absorption. Thus a refrigerator can simply be
washed since it is used only, or mostly, with cold things. On the
other hand, since the oven uses heat, its walls will absorb particles
of the food being cooked in it. Also, hot food will often spill or
bubble over onto the oven's surfaces. Therefore and oven must be
kashered iwthheat to draw out the hametz food particles.

8. To kasher an oven:
a. Do not use for 24 hours.
b. Clean thoroughly
c. Clean racks
d. Turn oven to highest temp and leave for one hour (or use your self
cleaner ;->)

9.The stovetop and aburners should be kashered ina similar fashion -
unused for 24 hours, thoroughly cleaned and burners turned to the
highest temp for about 15 min on gas and 5 min on electric.

10. The sink: if metal, scour it well and pour boiling water over
it.... OR

go to a relative or a hotel and forget the whole thing ;->

**********************************************************************

From: Pam Staley
To: heb_roots_chr@geocities.com
Subject: Erev Pesah

The day before passover

On the eve of Pesah, are the final stages of removing hametz:

1. Bedikat hametz - the search for hametz
2. Bittul hametz - the nullification of hametz
3. Bi-ur hametz - the destruction of hametz

Bedikat Hametz

By nightfall of the day before Passover, it is customary to have
finished cleaning the house. Soon after sundown a final, symbolic
search for hametz is done. Many people hide a few pieces of bread so
that the children will have something to find. There is a kabbalistic
tradition of hiding ten pieces of bread to reflect the ten sefirot -
the spheres that makue up the universe. (My note.. I find this
interesting that >> 10 << pieces were 'hidden'... to me that is also
symbolic of the ten tribes that were 'hidden' from the eyes of the
world)

The search is conducted at night and a candle is used to 'find' the
hidden pieces of hametz. It is scooped up with a feather into a wooden
spoon. The whole thing is then burned up the following morning.
Before the search we recite the following blessing:

Praised are you, Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, who has
sanctified us through His commandments, commanding us to remove all
hametz.

Bittul Hametz

This is the formula for nullification - one that is grounded in a
biblical law:

"All leaven in my possesion which I have not seen or emoved or of
which I am unaware of is hereby nullified and ownerless as the dust of
the earth."

According to the Torah, the removal of hametz reques not so much
action as intention: by making a firm declararion of bittul, we
successfully eliminate hametz from our possession. This reflects a
rabbinic belief in the power of the word even without action to change
reality.

Bi-Ur Hametz

Ritual destruction of hametz should take place no later than the 5th
hour on that day. It is taken outside and burned. Some add the
following kavvanah (meditation):

"Lord our God and God of our ancestors, just as I have removed all
hametz from my home and from my ownership, so may it be Your will that
I merit the removal of the evil inclination from my heart."

One custom associated with bi-ur hametz is to use part of the lulav
(palm branch) saved from Sukkot to light the fire.

We've just seen the outline of Erev Pesah and the how to of removal
of hametz from our homes as stated in "The Jewish Holidays" by Michael
Strassfeld.... I'd like to add my own comments to some of it.

As for the removing of the hametz... I find that this procedure does
remarkably imprint on your mind and heart the importance of searching
ourselves and pulling a 'reality check'. All of us bring a certain
amount of baggage with us and it is at this time that we can do a
thorough search within our own hearts concerning the 'habits' and our
own evil inclination. God has always drawn pictures for his children
so that they would better understand His purpose in their life.

This picture of removing the leaven (sin) from our life can be a life
changing experience or at least an aid in helping us to fully realize
that we are sinful.

The ritual that takes place on Erev Pesah is very symbolic. Only the
Father of the House is allowed to search for the leaven. Our Father
is the only one who has the authority to ability to 'remove' the sin
in our lives. We can examine ourselves, we can try to force ourselves
to not sin, we can try to follow the law, but we are unable, without
His guidance, mercy and love, to free ourselves from the bondage of
sin. As the Father and the children search for the leaven with a
feather and a wooden spoon...remember that the Spirit of God is the
examiner of our soul, He is the still small voice within that we rely
on to 'point' out the error of our ways (the Spirit represented by a
dove?). As the leaven (sin) is swept away onto the 'wooden' spoon,
recall that our sin was swept away by a wooden cross and burned. The
symbology touches the very fabric of our redemption in Yehoushua!!

This Passover, whether you do or do not actually remove the leaven
from the physical house... do a search on your spiritual house and
with the Father, the Son and the Spirit.

Shalom
Pam

**************************************************************************

>From Tony Galli
To: heb_roots_chr@geocities.com

Subject: The Pesach Sacrifice - March 31/99

The Pesach Sacrifice

By Temple Mount & Eretz Yisrael Faithful Movement - Jerusalem.

On Wednesday 31st March at 10:00 AM, The Temple Mount and Land of
Israel Faithful Movement, with others, will perform a Pesach
sacrifice. We are doing our best to persuade the Israeli authorities
to allow us to do it on the Temple Mount despite the Arab opposition
which, unfortunately, still controls the Temple Mount even though the
sovereignty of the Temple Mount is in Israel hands.

The Pesach sacrifice has a special and very deep significance in the
life of Israel over the past 3300 years since the exodus from Egypt.
It is not regular sacrifice of forgiveness but a national and
redemptional sacrifice. This unique sacrifice goes back to the deepest
national and spiritual roots of Israel. In the Biblical times, when
the Temple existed, this sacrifice had to be performed according to
the Word of G-d only on the Temple Mount by the priests. Every family
brought their sacrifice to the priests and, after it was sacrificed on
the altar they ate it together as a family on the Temple Mount or in
Jerusalem.

According to the Word of G-d it could not be eaten outside of the
Temple Mount and Jerusalem. In Deuteronomy, the G-d of Israel
commanded the children of Israel: "Observe the month of Abib, and keep
the Passover to the Lord your God; for in the month of Abib the Lord
your God brought you out of Egypt by night. You shall therefore
sacrifice the Passover to the Lord your God, of the flock and the
herd, in the place which the Lord shall choose to place his name
there. You shall eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shall you
eat unleavened bread with it, the bread of affliction; for you came
out of the land of Egypt in haste; that you may remember the day when
you came out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life. And there
shall be no leavened bread seen with you in all your border seven
days; neither shall there any thing of the meat, which you sacrificed
the first day at the evening, remain all night until the morning. You
may not sacrifice the Passover inside any of your gates, which the
Lord your God gives you; But at the place which the Lord your God
shall choose to place his name in, there you shall sacrifice the
Passover at the evening, at the going down of the sun, in the season
when you came out of Egypt. And you shall roast and eat it in the
place which the Lord your God shall choose; and you shall turn in the
morning, and go to your tents. Six days you shall eat unleavened
bread; and on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to the Lord
your God; you shall do no work in it. Seven weeks shall you count;
begin to number the seven weeks from such time as you begin to put the
sickle to the grain. And you shall keep the Feast of Weeks to the Lord
your God with a tribute of a freewill offering of your hand, which you
shall give according as the Lord your God has blessed you. And you
shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you, and your son, and your
daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite
who is inside your gates, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the
widow, who are among you, in the place which the Lord your God has
chosen to place his name there. And you shall remember that you were a
slave in Egypt; and you shall observe and do these statutes."
(Deuteronomy 16:1-12)

According to the Word of G-d, this sacrifice has to be performed in
the afternoon of the day prior to the first evening of Pesach and must
be eaten before midnight. No bone of the sacrifice may be broken. It
has to be cooked over fire in a special way where the sacrifice may
not touch any part of the oven, only the spit. The first evening of
Pesach is dedicated, as in Biblical times, to eat the sacrifice in a
family meal when they sit around the table and tell the story of the
exodus from Egypt. Special prayers for this unique holy day are also
said. At midnight a special glass of wine is poured and the door is
opened for the coming of the prophet Elijah who will bring the news of
the coming of Mashiach ben David and the redemption of Israel. Over
the last 3300 years, the evening of the Pesach Seder was the most
exciting in the life of Israel. The Seder, the sacrifice and the
festival of Pesach symbolise the deep link and covenant between the
G-d of Israel and the people of Israel, and the godly redemption and
miracles which G-d preformed in the past, and present and will again
do in the future.

In Exodus and Numbers, the G-d of Israel explains the unique
significance and importance of the Passover festival to the people of
Israel and those who joined themselves to them: "And the Lord spoke to
Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be to
you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year
to you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth
day of this month they shall take every man a lamb, according to the
house of their fathers, a lamb for a house; And if the household is
too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house
take it according to the number of the souls; according to every man's
eating shall you make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be
without blemish, a male of the first year; you shall take it out from
the sheep, or from the goats; And you shall keep it up until the
fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the
congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall
take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the
upper door post of the houses, in which they shall eat it. And they
shall eat the meat in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened
bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat it not raw, nor
boil with water, but roast it with fire; its head with its legs, and
with its inner parts. And you shall let nothing of it remain until the
morning; and that which remains of it until the morning you shall burn
with fire. And thus shall you eat it; with your loins girded, your
shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it
in haste; it is the Lord's Passover." (Exodus 12:1-11) "And the Lord
spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If any
man of you or of your posterity shall be unclean because of a dead
body, or is in a journey far away, he shall still keep the Passover to
the Lord. The fourteenth day of the second month at evening they shall
keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. They shall
leave none of it to the morning, nor break any bone of it; according
to all the ordinances of the Passover they shall keep it. But the man
who is clean, and is not in a journey, and refrains from keeping the
Passover, that same soul shall be cut off from among his people;
because he brought not the offering of the Lord in his appointed
season, that man shall bear his sin. And if a stranger shall sojourn
among you, and will keep the Passover to the Lord; according to the
ordinance of the Passover, and according to its prescribed ordinance,
so shall he do; you shall have one ordinance, for the stranger, and
for him who was born in the land". (Numbers 9:9-14)

In the Biblical times, it was one of the most beautiful sites and
events to see the multitudes of Israelites who made the pilgrimage up
to Jerusalem, walking up to the Temple Mount to make the sacrifice and
then the groups eating together around the Seder table with thanks to
G-d , joy, songs and prayers. Jerusalem was filled with people who
came from all parts of Israel and gave, not only the feeling that we
are no longer slaves, but a free nation under the G-d of Israel Who
redeemed us, but also put the Temple, the Temple Mount and Jerusalem
in the focus of the life of Israel. They gave Jerusalem the meaning of
being the very holy capital of Israel and the center of the earth
where the G-d of Israel and the Universe dwells. This together with
the other pilgrim festivals and the complete dedication of Israel to
the Temple and Jerusalem, made Jerusalem the focus, not only of
Israel, but of all the earth according to the Word of G-d. It was a
message to everyone in the world that Jerusalem and the Temple Mount
are the heart and soul and the beloved focus of their land and life.
Millions of Israelites sacrificed their lives for their beloved Temple
and Jerusalem. More than any time in the past, this will be the
message to all to all the nations and powers that again want to take
the Temple Mount and the eternal capital of Israel, Jerusalem, away
from us.

This will be the third year that we are performing the Pesach
sacrifice. If we are again forbidden to perform the sacrifice on the
Temple Mount where it should be done, we shall do it on a hill in
front of the Holy of Holies and, as according to the Word of G-d it
has to be done on the Temple Mount,. we will only perform a symbolic
sacrifice. We will perform the sacrifice very carefully according to
the biblical law but not on an altar. We have decided to perform this
sacrifice because in this way we want to say to G-d, to Israel and to
everyone in the world that the time of redemption has come to Israel
and that the Temple Mount has to immediately be again the place for
the Temple of G-d alone and no more a place of pagan foreign worship
and that the government of Israel has to overcome her weakness, trust
in G-d's end- time promises, remove the pagan shrines from Mt.Moriah
and rebuild the Temple. We feel that this is the will and commandment
of G-d to our generation and that this is the right time. This
symbolic sacrifice will also symbolise the hopes, desires and efforts
of Israel to redeem the people and land of Israel in our lifetime.

We also feel to renew our commitment to the worship and Laws as
they were in the Biblical times with a special meaning of the prophetic end-times in
which we are now living in Israel. The message will be that Israel
should not, and cannot, be another regular materialistic nation in the
world but "a holy nation, a kingdom of priests, and a treasure above
all the nations." (Ex 19:5-6) We shall make the commandment of G-d and
the hope and desire of thousands of years a reality in our lifetime in
Israel and then all over the world. With these messages the Pesach
sacrifice will be performed this year and everyone who has the Word
and love of the G-d of Israel is their hearts, is invited to be a part
of this most exciting event in the life of modern Israel. We are
opening the door to a unique godly event that soon we will see
performed on the right place on the Temple Mount that all of us shall
soon see rebuilt. We shall not stop our struggle, campaign and efforts
to make this exciting day a reality in our lifetime. Everyone is
called to be a part of it and G-d is with us.

**********************************************************************

From: Eddie Chumney
To: heb_roots_chr@geocities.com

The Jerusalem Post - Internet Edition
Friday, April 2, 1999 16 Nisan 5759

Temple Mount Faithful conduct Pessah 'sacrifice'

By HAIM SHAPIRO

JERUSALEM (April 2) - The "only kid," about whom most
Jews only sing during their Pessah Seder, was a reality for members
of the Temple Mount Faithful, who on Wednesday morning used a young
goat for their "Pessah sacrifice" on a hilltop overlooking the Temple
Mount in Jerusalem.

About a dozen members of the group, together with
about twice that number of small children, gathered in the courtyard
of a former monastery belonging to the Greek Orthodox Church in the
Abu Tor quarter of Jerusalem, where they slaughtered the kid and
roasted it over a wood fire in a large outdoor metal oven.

Temple Mount Faithful leader Gershon Salomon said
that the sacrifice was a SYMBOLIC one, since it did NOT take place
on the Temple Mount itself.

He said the group, which regularly makes unsuccessful
attempts to ascend the Temple Mount to conduct Jewish prayers on
holidays, had asked the police for permission to carry out the rite
on the Temple Mount itself, but had been turned down.

"Of course we asked for permission, but we were refused," said
Salomon.

He added, however, that the group was PREPARING for the time
when Jews would be able to ascend the Temple Mount to carry out such
sacrifices.

"The Seder we have now is only a remembrance of the sacrifice,"
he said.

Those who slaughtered the kid and roasted it on Wednesday
would eat the meat during their own Seder meals, he added.

According to Salomon, it is POSSIBLE for Jews to perform the
rite on the Temple Mount even if the Temple is not rebuilt.

After all, he argued, the Pessah sacrifice had been offered
long before the time of the First Temple. Others in the group
disagreed.

One participant, wearing the black garb of the haredi
community and identifying himself only as Nehemia, insisted that until
the Temple is rebuilt, no sacrifices could take place.

He added, however, that by carrying out the ritual,
he and his friends were preparing themselves for that time.

"We have to be ready all the time," Nehemia said.

*************************************************************************

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