Daily Kavanot
Writings of reflection by the Stephen Wise Temple clergy.
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Daily Kavanah – Friday, April 18, 2025
“This is halachma anya—the bread of affliction—which our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt. Let all who are hungry, come and eat.” (Passover Haggadah)Every year, we begin telling the Passover story with these words. Rabbi Eliezer Davidovits (Slovakia, 1878–1942) reads this line as a kind of mini-sermon. He teaches that halachma anya symbolizes our suffering in Egypt. To the Egyptians, we were a people “dwelling in their shadow,” thus, they were obligated, he writes, to treat us with justice and compassion. Instead, they increased our pain.The Egyptians’ treatment of us was not only morally wrong, but also a profound misunderstanding of how God wants the world to be.The Torah tells us that God brought us out of Egypt with chozek yad—a mighty hand. This phrase appears three times in Exodus 13. Why?Davidovits teaches that chozek yad reflects the Egyptians’ mistaken view of power. They valued only yad yamin—the right hand, the strong hand. To them, power [...]
Daily Kavanah – Wednesday, April 16, 2025
When I think about Passover with my family growing up, I immediately smile. Passover seders have always been a big to-do; sometimes they were celebrated by having family and friends gather around the table at my parents’ house, other times by taking road trips to visit cousins up and down the East Coast. No matter where we were for seder though, I was always the youngest child. As the youngest child, I have been responsible for the Four Questions for as long as I can remember. Year after year, it has been my job and year after year, I hope that some guest will be younger than me and take over. There have been years when I have been more enthusiastic to chant by myself as well as years when I have tried, usually unsuccessfully, to encourage others to join me so that I didn’t have to sing alone. Finally, [...]
Daily Kavanah – Tuesday, April 15, 2025
My favorite line from the Passover story is one that is met with little fanfare. We cannot find it in the Haggadah and it receives minimal attention each year when its parashah arrives. When Moses, leading the Israelites out of Egypt, finds himself facing the Sea of Reeds with Pharaoh’s army bearing down upon Israel, he cries out to God for help. God’s reply is simply astonishing: “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to get going!” (Exodus 14:15). God’s reply challenges Moses to stop worrying and start moving by taking that first step into the unknown. Without those first steps, redemption remains firmly out of reach. God's directive to Moses emphasizes the need for human initiative to achieve Divine goals. It teaches us that we must be proactive; that we must take the first step even when the odds seem impossible to overcome. Miracles begin with us. They require [...]
Daily Kavanah – Monday, April 14, 2025
As a child, after days of helping my grandmother clean and watching her cook with that sacred determination that only a Jewish grandmother can possess, we would finally gather around the seder table—where my grandparents, both gifted storytellers, led joyful, musical seders filled with guests from all walks of their lives. Just as the candles were lit and the first glasses of wine were poured, my grandfather would lean forward with that familiar twinkle in his eye and ask, “Nu, if you were leaving Egypt tonight, what would you take with you?” He asked it every year, and every year, we’d give new answers—beloved books, old family photos, the best Legos that my brother and I cherished. I think now, as I prepare for Passover myself, how that simple question held such depth; it was a child’s game but also a spiritual challenge. This holiday asks us to imagine [...]