Dvar Torah Pesach

Dedicated in Honor of our New Grandson, Victor Ancona

By Sophie and Victor J. Harary

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Pesach / Shir HaShirim

A Nation Amongst Nations

The Torah asks in reference to Yetziat Mitzrayim, “Has any other G-d tried to come and take a nation out from the midst of another nation (Devarim 4:34)? The etymology of the word tried used in the passuk is “Hanisa” which means “Net—miracle.” What is so miraculous about redeeming an enslaved nation?

In the recent months we have truly seen how hard it was to rescue a nation from within a nation. There was an enormous amount of planning to attempt to save the hostages from Hamas. Many Israeli soldiers and Palestinians died during the rescue missions. It would take an absolute miracle to rescue a hostage embedded in the Palestinian nation without harming any collateral damage or loss of life from either side. Even the Israeli army, the most experienced and ethical army had extreme difficulty extracting the hostages.

It is awe-inspiring how powerful Hashem is that He rescued the enslaved Jewish nation unharmed. Throughout the measure-for-measure makot—plagues, Hashem inflicted the perfect amounts of punishments to those who were unworthy.

This question the Torah asks is rhetorical, because rescuing a nation from within a nation would be impossible mission. Only Hashem possesses such power with perfection and accuracy to save us from exile. With Hashem’s help we will be extricated from the nations around the world and united in Eretz Yisrael very soon!

Pesach and the Number Four

Throughout Pesach, there is a recurring theme of the number four. Pesach has four names: Chag HaPesach—Holiday of Passover, Chag HaMatzot—Holiday of Unleavened Bread, Chag HaAviv—Holiday of Spring, and Zman Cherutenu—Time of Freedom. Hashem used four terms of redemption which were said in Parashat Va’era: Vehotzeti—I will take you out, Vehitzalti—I will rescue you, Vegaalti—I will redeem you, and Velakachti—I will take you, which are represented by the four cups of wine.

The youngest asks the four questions, and we learn of the four sons. There are three matzot on the Seder table. But one is broken into two parts, which makes four! Additionally, though there are 14 parts to the Seder, it can also be split into four sections: The introduction, the story of the Exodus, the seudah—meal, and the conclusion.

There are other instances during the year where the number four is significant. A year is not complete without four seasons. There are four cardinal directions and four corners of the earth. There are four components in the world: water, wind, earth, and fire.

Birkat Hagomel—The blessing of Thanksgiving is a blessing that someone says after facing one of these four experiences: traveling the ocean, crossing the desert, being released from prison, or recovering from a serious illness. After Hashem redeemed the Jewish Nation, they experienced all four of these difficulties. Hashem released them from their enslavement, helped them cross the ocean and desert, and later cleansed them and healed them from their sicknesses at Har Sinai. The number four represents the very essence of Passover. It reminds us of our gratitude for our miraculous redemption.

The number four also represents completeness and fullness. At the Seder, we are seeking to instill in our children the realization that they are not mere individuals but rather part of a people, members of an incredible, complete nation, who only became a nation after receiving the Torah at Har Sinai.

A Month of Miracles

Reb Berel Weinberger relates a story he heard personally from Rabbi Sholom Rubashkin. He said, “During my final year in prison, I conducted a Pesach seder. I sat at the head of the table, and five religious Jews sat to my right and three unaffiliated Jews to my left.

“When we reached the paragraph of ‘Vanitzak,’ I explained to everyone that this paragraph brings about an et ratzon—a time of desire and it is a powerful time of prayer. I encouraged everyone to get out of their seats and scream and beg Hashem to get them out of prison this year. Immediately the three nonreligious people got up with me to pray. Strangely, the five religious Jews didn’t budge.

“I asked the first one why he wouldn’t get up. The man shrugged. ‘What’s the point? My fate is sealed. The judge sentenced me to eight and a half years. I have five more left to go.” The next one said that he had recently had a call with his lawyer, and that they had tried all possible appeals. He had no hope of getting out early. The man beside him told me, “Rabbi, I tried it last year. It did not work. There is no point in praying.” The rest of the religious men gave similar reasonings.

“I led them through a ‘Vanitzak’ they would never forget. We were screaming and crying so loud that the walls were shaking!”

A few months later, on the final night of Chanukah Rabbi Rubashkin and the three nonreligious Jews received a presidential pardon! The other five Jews who did not get up remained in prison.

The Omer and Pirkei Avot

We are commanded to count the 49 days of the Omer until Shavuot. Hashem came down from the heavens with a strong hand. He saved us from the 49th level of tumah – impurity in Egypt to raise us spiritually so that we would be ready to receive our Holy Torah at Har Sinai.   

Tragically, during these 49 days we mourn the loss of 12,000 pairs of Rabbi Akiva’s students...24,000 great Rabbis who died in a plague over just 34 days within the 49 days between Pesach and Shavuot. The Gemarah in Yevamot page 62b says very briefly on this topic that the reason that these 24,000 students died was..."because they did not treat each other with proper respect.” This is all that the Gemarah says, but the Midrash Rabah elaborates a little further and says that they were "Guilty of Stinginess.” The disrespect they showed towards each other was an outward manifestation of their inner flaw, a stinginess of the spirit.

Each student begrudged each other's success in their studies. They allowed themselves to feel that another student’s advancement in learning was somehow a setback to themselves. This led to a feeling of dissatisfaction that others were learning Torah at a higher level than them. The students should have viewed their Yeshivah of Rabbi Akiva as a collaborative group, where each individual helps and is concerned for the other, instead their selfishness became their ultimate final downfall.   

Rabbi Joey Haber shares a profound story that he heard from the father of the boy himself. Once there was a boy who grew up in a very religious community. As he got older, he totally left Judaism. He was sent to a Yeshiva in Israel for struggling boys, and he got kicked out again. Later on, he went to the Heritage House, and at one point he turned his life around and became a Torah Jew. He switched to a mainstream religious Yeshiva where he thrived.

One day a friend of his told him about some sort of Tu Bshvat celebration that a descendant of the Baba Sali, Rabbi Septimus hosts where he gives blessings and plays the guitar. It sounded interesting so he decided to go. Right as he walked into the house, Rabbi Septimus stopped everything and said, “I know you. Where do I know you from?”

The boy was very confused as he never saw this Rabbi before in his life. The Rabbi insisted he recognized him. After a few minutes the Rabbi remembered and told him, “Three years ago you were off the Torah path.” The boy nodded. “You went to the kotel and met a famous rapper. You started singing all his rap songs to him.” The boy was shocked. How did this man know this? The Rabbi continued, “There was a Chabbad stand putting tefillin on people, and you did not put on tefillin. You went instead and took food. When you left the Lubavitch person I went over to him and asked him for your Hebrew name. He found it out and every day since then I have been praying for you to return to Judaism. Now you are walking into my house a totally changed person.”

Rabbi Haber points out two powerful points of this story. The first is that a Jew saw someone struggling, and he did not just move on with his day. He was determined to help and care. Even though he never spoke to the boy, he took his time to pray for him every day. This connection was so strong to the point where three years later he recognized the boy who looked and was dressed totally differently. During sefirah we should look out to see how we can give and care for our fellow Jew.

The second thing is the awesome power of prayer. The boy went from totally off the derech to totally on. The father of this boy attributes the transformation of his son to the prayers of the Jewish people. The power of prayer can overcome all logic and odds. Bnei Yisrael were on one of the lowest levels of impurity, and it was their heartfelt prayers and cries that saved them. Especially in this month of Nissan, the month of redemption let’s pray for the ultimate redemption, Moshiach. May he come soon and swiftly to redeem us from galut and take us to Eretz Yisrael. Amen!

“Love Your Neighbor as You Love Yourself”

Rabbi Akiva quoted the famous phrase...from the Torah in parashat Vayikra (19:18) ..."VeAhavta Lereacha Kamocha" which means "Love your neighbor as you love yourself". In Rabbi Zelig Pliskin's book "Love Your Neighbor," he quotes Bereshit (1:27), "….And Hashem created man in His own Image". The Chofetz Chaim explains that "The Image of G-d" means the ability to emulate G-d, who bestows kindness on people. Someone who performs a kind act reflects Hashem's attributes therefore, the very survival of humanity is dependent on chessed. We as Jews are obligated from the Torah to love doing chessed for others, as the prophet Michah states: "He (Hashem) has told you, what is good and what does Hashem require of you but to act justly, to love chesed and to walk humbly with your G-d.” We must always look for ways to aid others, we must always be on alert to practice chessed whenever possible. A person who loves chessed and looks for ways to help others will encourage others to do chessed as well. 

From this tragedy that befell the students of Rabbi Akiva, we have the custom of learning "Pirkei Avot --Ethics of our fathers" during these 49 days as we count in anticipation to the days of receiving our Holy Torah. We learn from our Rabbis that this is the time that we should fine-tune our character traits by learning Pirkei Avot which teaches us of our obligations to be considerate and helpful to our fellow Jewish brothers. We also learn so that we can be better prepared to receive the Torah and celebrate that event through our holiday of Shavuot! 

This concept of chessed, doing mitzvot and fine-tuning our character brings to mind a story about the Skulener Rebbe. In the precarious period, right after the Holocaust, it was very difficult to get matzot for Pesach. The Skulener Rebbe was able to get a very limited amount of matzot, and deicided to limit his generosity to one matzah per family, due to the severe limitation of matzot available. Suddenly, the son of the Viznitzer Rebbe zt”l arrived, demanding to get three matzot. Everyone was shocked that he demanded more than anyone else, but eventually, they acceded to his demand and gave him three matzot.

On Erev Pesach, shortly before the Yom Tov started, the Skulener Rebbe and Rebbitzen realized that they had given away all the matzot they had, and there was none left for their own family. Then, the son of the Viznitzer Rebbe arrived, giving back two of the matzot. He explained that his father predicted that the Skulener Rebbe would probably give away all of his matzot and would have none left for his own family. This was why he sent his son to procure three matzot, to ensure that the Skulener Rebbe would have at least two matzot for his own family!

May we all appreciate everything that Hashem does for us all throughout our lives because everything we have is a gift from Hashem. May we always have hope and emunah, and never give up. May we all take the time to learn Pirke Avot during this time to refine our characters as learned from the Ethics of our great Rabbi’s. May we also learn from the midot of the Rabbi’s in our generations like the story of the Skulener Rebbe. May we always strive to make Hashem proud, and live, learn, and teach the Torah to our children and grandchildren for generations to come! Amen! 

Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach!!

Rabbi Amram Sananes, written by Jack Rahmey

Discussion Point:

• Do we make a conscious effort to be grateful to Hashem for both the huge and quiet miracles?

This book is a compilation of Divre Torah from the weekly parasha classes from Rabbi Sananes’ teachings over the last 10 years along with my own experiences in those classes which has stimulated my Torah growth. I’ve included many pertinent stories and life lessons to grow from at your Shabbat table. There’s also questions and discussion points at the end of each Parasha to stimulate a Torah conversation at your Shabbat table for the whole family to participate in. Also, included is a holidays section at the end of the book to use for all of our special holidays and Yomiim Toviim.



Now available in all Jewish bookstores and Amazon! Scan the barcode on the right to purchase from Amazon.

Rabbi Sananes and I look forward to hearing your feedback.

Sincerely, Rabbi Amram Sananes and Jack E. Rahmey

AmramSananes@me.com and jrahmey@rahmeyfinancial.com (917-226-6276)               

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Le’ilui Nishmat…

Eliyahu Ben Rachel

Rabbi Shimon Chay Ben Yaasher

Avraham Ben Garaz

Sarah Bat Chanah

Esther Bat Sarah

Avraham Ben Mazal

Shulamit Bat Helaina

Rabbi Meyer Ben Chana

Rahamim Ben Mazal

Batsheva Bat Sarah Esther

Rafael Ben Miriam

Ovadia Ben Esther

Rav Haim Ben Rivka

Moshe Ben Mazal

Moshe Ben Yael

Yitzchak Ben Adele

Avraham Ben Mazal

Meir Ben Latifa

Chanah Bat Esther

Yaakov Ben Rachel

Malka Bat Garaz

Moshe Ben Garaz

Avraham Ben Kami

Yaakov Ben Leah

Mordechai Ben Rachel

Chacham Shaul Rachamim Ben Mazal

Natan Ben Rachel

Saadia Ben Miriam

Eliyah Ben Latifa Simhon

Margalit Bat Mazal

Ovadia Haim Ben Malaky

Rabbi Aharon Chaim Ben Ruchama

Luratte Bat Masouda

Esther Bat Menucha

Uri Ben Rahel

Rivka Bat Dona

Shalom Ben Zahra

Rachel Bat Sarah

Shalom Ben Zahra

Chava Yvette Bat Jamile

Yehoshoua Ben Batsheva 

Aharon Ben Matel Yehudis

Yitzchak Ben Mazal 

Refuah Shelemah…

Rachel Bat Devorah

Gimol Sarah Ester Bat Batsheva

Haim Ben Miriam

Rachmim Ben Leah

Anyone interested in dedicating this Divre Torah Le'ilui Nishmat or Refuah Shelemah or In Honor of someone, can email me at

jrahmey@rahmeyfinancial.com. Checks can be made out to “A Life of Torah” for $101 and mailed to 2387 Ocean Ave Suite 1G, Brooklyn, NY 11229 (please put in the memo “Divre Torah”). Anyone interested in past parshiot please go to the website ParashaPerspective.org

RF | Jack E Rahmey | Brooklyn, NY 11229 US