Whenever I am asked for my predictions for the future I become irritable and think of Horace.

Horace, himself a poet, already confessed that he let many things pass rather than make an enemy of the irritable genus of poets; and poets, are irritable still.

Reading of the famous chess match between Karpov and Korchnoi in Baguio City, Phillipines, 1978, where they silently tore each other limb from limb, we realize that chess players and poets share the same irritability.

The adepts of the noble game claim that there are strong commonalities between poetry and chess: a game of chess, even if played by dilettantes, is an austere metaphor of life and a struggle for life. The chess player’s virtues, reason, memory and invention, are the virtues of every thinking man.

The stern rule of chess, according to which the piece that was touched must be moved, and it is not permissible to redo a move of which one repents, reproduces the inexorability of the choices of life.

A grandmaster will never cheat, and a poet, cannot. Yet, many of us attempt to cheat at the game of life. We want to know the future so that we can plan. We search for psychics, mystics, Tarot Card readers, Kabbalists, holy men and prophets, who can predict the future so we can play the game without having to resort to our reason, memory and invention.

“And the person who shall turn to the sorcery of the Ovot and the Yid’onim, to stray after them – I shall concentrate My attention upon that person and cut him off from among his people.” (Leviticus 20:6) God wants us to play the game without cheating. He wants us to place everything on the line when we make a choice.

All this in the portion of holiness, for there is no holiness in cheating, only in playing the game.

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“The majority of poems one outgrows and outlives, as one outgrows and outlives the majority of human passions: Dante’s is one of those which one can only just hope to grow up to at the end of his life (T. S. Eliot).”

The Haggadah has changed for me from the basic children’s story of my childhood, to a sophisticated perspective of Jewish history and applying its lessons, as did the Rabbis in Bnei Brak, to our times. I have outgrown the Haggadah of my childhood, and find that it is the perfect indicator of how much I have developed since the previous Pesach.

There is one constant: No matter how profound its lessons, I still aspire to be able to read it as did my father zt”l. We would all come to the Seder armed with ideas, questions, and explanations, but our father would read the words with such simple beauty that he answered all our questions just with his reading. (This was true of the way he read everything; a verse, Gemara, Rashi, Rambam, or Halacha; he saw in the basic text far beyond all the commentaries.) I hope to grow up to his reading of the Haggadah by the end of my life.

This year I understood that it is not only my reading of the Haggadah that indicates my growth, but the aspiration of my reading; the deeper my understanding, the more I appreciate my father’s clarity, and the more I aspire to grow up to read as did he.

There is a bittersweet quality to such aspiration; Almost twelve years after his death, I am still discovering more of his greatness. I realize that, although I revered him while he was alive; I revere him far more now, and I am pained that I did not have such reverence while he was alive. My father is still teaching me, touching me, guiding me. So, while most others outgrow their desire to be like their fathers, I hope to grow up to be like him by the end of my life.

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I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and

self-contain’d,

I stand and look at them long and long.

They do not sweat and whine about their condition,

They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins,

They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God,

Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with the mania of

owning things,

Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that lived thousands of

years ago,

Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth.

”Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman

It was clear to them that God could take them out of Egypt in an instant, but for some reason, He had chosen to take His time. The Plagues had already lasted more than six months. Six months of no work. Six months of no abuse. Six months of self respect. Six months of not knowing what was next. They were becoming impatient.

Finally, Moshe summoned them, and began to speak. It was his first speech to them since they stormed away from him after his first meeting with Pharaoh and things got worse. He had tried to speak, but the people were too exhausted from their increased work load to even listen to him. Things were different now. They were willing to listen. Most of all, they wanted to know what was next. They were impatient.

Moshe presented the laws of Passover and the Pesach Offering. He instructed them to take the animal on the Tenth day of the month and and wait until the 14th. Most understood that this simple act was a declaration of Spiritual war with the Egyptians who worshipped these animals as gods. The Children of Israel were going to fearlessly slaughter the Egyptian gods in front of their former masters, and the Egyptians were helpless to stop it.  People understood the point. Perhaps they even appreciated it, but, “five more days?” More waiting? They were impatient.

Except, that is, for one child staring out the window from morning till night at the sheep in its pen in front of the house. He couldn’t stop staring.

His parents were initially pleased. He was staying out of their way and, unusual for him, wasn’t causing any trouble. By the third day; they were concerned. Television would be better. Wii would be okay. But a sheep! How can someone stare at a sheep all day for three days?

“I love watching how peaceful they are,” he said in response to their question, “everyone  is nervous, agitated and impatient, but the sheep is perfectly content, placid and patient. I wish you guys could be like that even for just a few minutes!”

His parents joined him on the couch, staring out the window at the sheep. They felt themselves relax. The kid had a point.

Pesach is Pesach. The adults could not afford to sheep watch all day. They had to clean the house, prepare for the guests, and pack everything they wanted to take with them on their journey. Back to work it was! They were too busy to be impatient.

Pesach began. They offered their Pesach sacrifice. They rushed through the meal. They finished and began to hear the screams from the Egyptian neighborhoods. They were waiting. They were impatient again. That is, except for a little boy and his parents who had learned patience from the sheep in the yard.

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“His mother had often taken him out after dark and shown him the sky. On such occasions her weary face would break into a smile. The stars provided some consolation for the hard life she led. She normally lived with her face pointed down to the ground, which embraced her rice plants as if it were waiting for her to join them there one of these days. When she gazed up at the stars, just for a brief while, she didn’t need to look at the brown earth beneath her.” (“The Man From Beijing” by Henning Mankell, p.89)

I imagine that the slaves in Egypt had a similar experience of consolation when they looked up at the stars after a day of laboring for Pharaoh on the brown earth of Egypt. The night sky was a way of looking up, not down. It was an escape from the earth that was waiting for their bodies.

And then came the commandment, the first to the people as a nation, the Mitzvah of Kiddush HaChodesh, the Sanctification of the New Moon. Looking up at the sky would no longer be an escape, but a call. It would no longer be a consolation, but a challenge. It was no longer a far away distant place where there is no suffering, but an immediate presence in their lives.

God made them the masters of the heavens, and they began to taste the possibilities of freedom.

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In his book, “Insects as Human Food,” Dr F. S. Bodenheimer, professor of zoology at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, describes his efforts to identify the biblical manna. Some scholars have thought that it was a lichen, Lecanora esculenta, which grows on rocks in many parts of the Middle East, producing pea-sized fruiting bodies that are prized as sweet delicacies. These fruiting bodies are light enough to be blown about, so they could conceivably form a manna rain. But it would be a unique event, and the Bible reports a regular appearance of the manna every morning. Furthermore, no one has ever found this lichen in the Sinai region.

There are, on the other hand, may reports from travelers in the Sinai region of a “manna” associated with tamarisk thickets. This granular, sweet manna appears every year for a period of some weeks in June, although it varies greatly in abundance from year to year. It has generally been assumed to be a secretion of the tamarisk itself, but Dr Bodenheimer, who visited the Sinai to study this “manna,” found that it was the product of two species of scale insects living on the tamarisk shrubs. His argument that this insect is the source of the biblical manna convinced Marston Bates, one of my favorite essayists, and who almost destroyed his marriage by his insistence that all his guests and his wife sample all sorts of tasty insects. Dr Bates believes that this is why the Torah allows us to eat certain insects; to acknowledge their role in producing manna!

I hope both Drs Bodenheimer and Bates are wrong! Their theory kind of ruins my appetite for manna, and that, I believe, is exactly why the Torah allows us to eat certain grasshoppers!

As my wife will attest, as will every person who has ever cooked for me, I am a finicky eater. Debbie, as I was writing the first paragraph above, brought me a plate of gluten free polenta, “which,” she said, “is similar to foccacia,” (I never heard of polenta or foccacia before!)transformed into a slice of pizza. The problem is that it has a huge mushroom on top. Yuk! What shall I do? What’s worse; a grasshopper or a mushroom? But, here I am, writing about the Torah teaching us to overcome such (refined) tastes; so, here I go… (I’m removing the mushroom)

The Torah pushes us to overcome our initial reactions to things; to take a second look, to experience all we are permitted, to enjoy God’s creation, even polenta.

I’ll stay away from grasshoppers, but I will take a second bite of this “pizza,” Yuum….

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What are some of the  life lessons we learn from kosher? To answer the question we need to make a D.A.T.E.

D stands for do a double take. There are two signs we look for in animals to see if they are kosher. Why two signs? Why not one? Why not three? What does the number two tell us?

It teaches us to not be in a rush, but to check what we are doing. If you are going to buy a rug, measure the room twice. Make sure your first conclusion was correct. The expression, “Measure twice, cut once” says it all.

A stands for the act before the act. Before an animal can be fit to eat you have to kill it in an approved fashion. Most things need preparation. If you are running a meeting, there is a lot to do beforehand. You need an agenda, handouts, speakers, visuals and other details put in place. The act before the act is essential for success.

T stands for treat people with extreme sensitivity. This is one explanation why we do not boil a kid in its mother’s milk. Many years ago I was in a social club with a man named “Bob”. Bob was a fun guy but also liked to gossip and was boisterous. One evening some members of the club met for dinner at a restaurant. Bob was raucous, loud and annoying. Everyone in the restaurant was looking at him with disdain. My fellow club members and I were so embarrassed we felt like crawling under the table. We never went to dinner with Bob again.

A few years later Bob called to invite me to his 50^th birthday party. It was to take place at a bar and I agreed to attend. He then told me his wife just found out she was pregnant and I said congratulations. But he said to me, “Don’t mention it tonight at the party because a couple will be there and the wife recently had a miscarriage.” He did not want to bring up his happiness about his wife’s pregnancy because they might feel bad.” This was an extremely sensitive act, and that night he was my moral mentor.

E stands for enjoy. The example I vividly remember was a talk by Rabbi Yaakov Weinberg ztl. He said it was okay to enjoy doing a mitzvah. He talked about his duty when he went to visit his mother. She enjoyed cooking for him, so his job as a good son was to eat as much as he could without being a glutton. He told us even if his mother was not a good cook, he needed to eat as much as he could because it made her happy. Then, with a twinkle in his eye and a smile on his face, he told us his mother was a great cook. The food was delicious, he enjoyed eating as much as he could and that was perfectly all right.

So make a date with the lessons of kosher:

D o a double take and check everything.

A ct before the act means preparation is vital.

T reat all people with extreme sensitivity.

E njoy.

“And the flesh of his feast thanksgiving peace-offering must be eaten on the day of its offering; he shall not leave any of it until morning (Vayikra 7:15) We may not leave over any of the flesh of the Korban Todah (Chinuch 144).

If the Todah is but a variety of a peace-offering, why should it not be eaten for a day and a half, like all other peace-offerings? A Todah comes to thank God for a miracle, but we are surrounded by miracles all day long! As we say in our prayers, “We thank God for Your miracles that are with us every day (Modim); thus, when we bring an offering, it is only because we happened to be aware of one miracle, while we remain oblivious to so many others. Therefore, a Todah may be eaten for only one day; tomorrow there will be other miracles for which to be grateful. (Imrei Emet)

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“An eternal decree for your generations in all your dwelling places; you may not consume any fat or any blood (Vayikra 3:17).” “Any person who consumes any blood; that soul will be cut off from its people (7:27).” We may not consume the blood of a domesticated animal, wild beast, or bird (Rambam, Hilchot Ma’achalot Assurot – The Laws of Forbidden Foods).

A reason for the prohibition against eating blood and fat is suggested by the juxtaposition between the prohibition and the commandment to place them upon the Altar. Since they can be used in God’s Temple service, it would be disrespectful for us to eat them. When the Jew in exile refrains from eating such foods, he demonstrates his yearning for the restoration of the Temple and its Holy service. (Rav Samson R. Hirsch; Vayikra 3:17)

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“The flesh that touches any contaminated thing may not be eaten, it shall be burned in fire (Vayikra 7:19) We may not eat from offerings that have become impure (Rambam, Hilchot Pisulei ha-Mukdashim – The Laws of Disqualified Offerings).

“Hatred arouses strife, but love covers all offenses (Proverbs 10:12).” The hatred that the Children of Israel inserted between them and their Father in Heaven (With the sin of the Golden Calf – Matnot Kehuna) stirs the harshest expressions of Din/Justice against them. However, “love covers all offenses,” meaning God’s love for Israel, as the verse says, “I love you’ says God (Malachi 1:2).” [Vayikra Rabbah 7:1]
The idea is that Israel as a whole has a deep love for God, a spark of which is found in the heart of each individual Jew, as the verse says, “Numerous waters could not extinguish the love (Song of Songs 8:7).” However, sins can displace this love. As long as that spark of love burns in a person’s heart, he could not sin with his whole heart, but only through a moment of insanity; hence, “Love covers all offenses.”  Many ask how God allows His love to cover all offenses if He is the True Judge; but it is the spark of love inside our hearts that covers the offense, that dilutes our passion to sin, and removes our core from the offense: Our Love covers the offense, and God’s Din/Judgment then covers it as well. (Sefat Emet)

An offering represents this spark of love inside the sinner’s heart, a love that connects to, and is empowered by, the intense inextinguishable love of Israel as a whole unity has for God. The sinner’s offering will be shared by the Kohanim, who represent God’s love, as represented by the Clouds of Glory protecting Israel in the merit of the Kohen, Aharon. The Kohanim must seek out that spark of love, carefully nurture it so that it intensifies and leaps out to connect to the Whole love of Israel.

Therefore, it cannot be eaten if it has the slightest impurity.

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“This is the Torah of the feast peace-offering- Shelamim – that one will offer to God (Vayikra 7:11).” We are commanded to follow the procedure of the Peace-Offering (Rambam, Hilchot Ma’aseh ha-Koranot – The Laws of the Sacrificial Procedure).

“He who offers Todah – understood as either confession or Thanksgiving – honors Me – yichabdanni (Psalms 50:23).” Rabbi Huna said in the name of Rabbi Acha, it does not say, as we would expect, “yichabdeini,” but, “yichabdanni,” to teach us that he does one act of honor of God after another (Vayikra Rabbah 9:1)

We can explain this Midrash based on a teaching of the Holy Sanzer (Divrei Chaim, Emor) on the verse, “When you slaughter a feast thanksgiving-offering to God, you shall slaughter it to gain favor for yourselves (Vayikra 22:29).” We bring a Korban Todah in response to a miracle, such as, “Those who go down to the sea in ships; Let them give thanks to God for His kindness (Psalms 107).” However, how much better it would be if God would guard the person from being in a situation that demanded a miracle, and, “Only the Holy One, Blessed is He, in His compassion and kindness, makes him happy in his home with all the best,” and the man thanks God with his entire heart for every breath (Bereishit Rabbah 14:9) and constantly ponders God’s compassion and kindness expressed in all he has. This is the meaning of “a thanksgiving-offering to find favor,” the favor to live with this level of happiness rather than surviving through miracles. He should learn from his offering to live at such a high level of favor.

We can apply the Sanzer’s teaching to the idea that, “He does one act of honor of God after another.” He brings his offering and derives this lesson of constant thanks, and now lives at such a level that he constantly brings increasing honor to God. He is becoming a Shaleim – a reflection of his Korban Shelamim. (Belzer Rebbe)

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