"Speak to Aaron your brother, that he not come at all times into the sacred zone... Not banned from entering altogether, nonetheless it was inappropriate for Aaron to visit too often. Why? Proverbs advises: Be sparing of your visits in your neighbor's house, lest he have his fill of you.... While God may never tire of us, freshness

Four are the mothers and three are the fathers...goes a popular Jewish song. Why the disparity? To remind us, says Rav Neria, that Judaism wanted to expand the role of our mothers. Our parasha begins: When a woman gives birth to a male...and when she gives birth to a female...in both these circumstance a series of rituals and

People think that pleasure expands the spirit. The Torah says that the opposite is true: This is the Torah about the beast and the bird -From here the Talmud teaches that only one who studies Torah may partake of the meat of animals and birds. With an expanded consciousness, it is best to enjoy pleasure. Torah study expands the spirit

Because the Seder is busy instilling faith in God, the Haggadah does not mention Moses. But belief in God cannot alone sustain a community, for that we need laws and customs, and so at Sinai, Moses became our lawgiver. It was on the seventh and last day of Pesach, while crossing the sea that Israel trusted

During the Seder we lift the second cup of wine and sing" v'He sh'Amda l'Avoitenu v'lanu... "This is what has stood by our ancestors and us..." What has stood by us? The cup of wine that we use on four occasions: at a wedding; at the beginning and end of Shabbat; at a Brit Milah; and at the