Miriam’s Song and the Role of Music in Prayer
Apr 10, 2015 By Walter Herzberg | Commentary | Pesah
After the sea was parted and the Israelites were rescued from the pursuing Egyptians, Moses and the children of Israel sang the Song of the Sea, praising God for having saved them. Following the conclusion of the song, the Torah relates that Miriam, leading the women, sang as well. What prompted Miriam and the women to rejoice with song, instrumental music and dance?
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The Telling
Apr 2, 2015 By David Hoffman | Commentary | Pesah
This Friday evening we will gather with family and friends. We will sit down to beautifully set tables, and each of us will open one of the most popular and well-known of Hebrew books—the Haggadah. The name of the book comes from the Hebrew verb lehagid (“to tell”), and if we were to translate “haggadah” into English, it would be “the telling.” Not surprisingly, the core of the Haggadah is the section called maggid, a word that also derives from the Hebrew root meaning “to tell.” Clearly these two forms of the verb lehagid communicate the centrality of the activity of “telling” on this night. But here things become less clear.
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Why Is This Historic Event Different From All Other Historic Events?
Apr 8, 2014 By Burton L. Visotzky | Short Video | Pesah
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The Right Answers For The Wrong Questions
Apr 8, 2014 By Julia Andelman | Short Video | Pesah
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Men And Women: In The Kitchen And At The Seder
Apr 8, 2014 By Judith Hauptman | Short Video | Pesah
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The Four Children
Apr 19, 2008 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Aharei Mot | Pesah
We are told to probe the narrative of the redemption from Egypt for insights about what is blocking redemption in our own day and how we can work to bring ultimate redemption into being. The question facing us as we approach the seder, then, is this: What shall we tell our children and grandchildren at Passover—particularly the teenagers, college students, and twenty-somethings who are gathered at the seder table?
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