Parshat Tzav/Shabbat Hagadol

The Shabbat before Pesah, Shabbat Hagadol, takes its name from the final words of the haftarah, in which the prophet Malakhi announces in God’s name: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great[hagadol] and fearsome day of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of parents to their children and the hearts of children to their parents.”

Malakhi wanted us to understand that, before God can enter our world, we must be at peace with one another. And peace begins within our own families. Perhaps that is why the Seder is such a deeply family-centered ritual. On the night when we remember how God broke through into our world and liberated us, we try to be worthy of receiving God’s presence again by drawing close as families — and drawing others close to us as well. We take the time to truly listen to each other’s questions and respond. In that way we try to make our families and our community a fitting vessel to receive God’s love.

May this Pesah — and the Shabbat of spiritual preparation that precedes it — be a time of wholeness and liberation for all of us.

• Shabbat services at The New Shul are on Friday evenings from 6 to 7 pm and on Saturday mornings from 9 am to 12 noon. The kiddush this Shabbat is sponsored by Carol and Israel Naishtut in honor of the 70th anniversary of Israel’s bar mitzvah and the 63rd anniversary of their wedding, and by Jeannette and Shamai Kanter in honor of the birthdays of Shamai Kanter, Jonathan Wasserman and Michael Wasserman.
• Childcare is available from 10 am to noon on Shabbat mornings.Munchkin Minyan for preschoolers and their parents is from 11 to 11:30 am this Shabbat. Parashah study for teens is from 10:15 to 11:15 am.
• Minyan on Sunday morning is at 9:30 am.
• Donations of hametz to benefit the needy can be dropped off at The New Shul this Sunday morning, March 24, between 9 am and 11 am.
• Pesah begins on Monday evening March 25. Services for the first two days of Pesah are on Tuesday and Wednesday, March 26 and 27 beginning at 9 am. Services for the last days of Pesah are on Monday and Tuesday April 1 and 2 beginning at 9 am. The service for the 8th day of Pesah, Tuesday April 2, will include Yizkor, the memorial prayer. Kiddush-lunches throughout the holiday, and on the Shabbat of Pesah (Saturday March 30) are sponsored by Patsy and Lee Bakunin.
• Please note that there will be no email bulletin next week because of the holiday.