This blog was published on April 10 but for some reason Word Press distributed to some subscribers, but not to all. Hopefully everyone will get it this time.
Candle lighting time is 7:36 pm
Passover – the story of the deliverance of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt. And then our ancestors began their incredible journey through the wilderness to the Land of Israel, receiving the Ten Commandments and Torah along the way. It wasn’t an easy journal – the people did not always behave as they should have – they built the golden calf and were sometimes rebellious, and of all the people who began that incredible journey only Joshua and Caleb were allowed to enter the Promised Land.
On April 21 my step-son, Joshua Hyde, will set forth on an incredible journey of his own as he makes Aliyah to Israel. Although their will surely be challenges along the way, just as their were for our ancestors, I pray that God grants him the wisdom to overcome those challenges and that his future in Israel will be one of much joy and happiness.
Since it’s establishment as the Jewish homeland in 1948, the State of Israel has faced numerous threats from its Arab neighbors, but Israel has always prevailed. With the current round of Middle East peace talks at a crisis point, let us offer this prayer for the continuing welfare of our Promised Land:
Our Father in Heaven, Rock and Redeemer of Israel, bless the State of Israel, the first manifestation of the approach of our redemption. Shield it with Your loving kindness, envelop it in Your peace, and bestow Your light and truth upon its leaders, ministers, and advisors, and grace them with Your good counsel. Strengthen the hands of those who defend our holy land, grant them deliverance, and adorn them in a mantle of victory. Ordain peace in the land and grant its inhabitants eternal happiness. Lead them, swiftly and upright, to Your city Zion and to Jerusalem, the abode of Your Name, as is written in the Torah of Your servant Moses: “Even if your outcasts are at the ends of the world, from there the Lord your God will gather you, from there He will fetch you. And the Lord your God will bring you to the land that your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will make you more prosperous and more numerous than your fathers.” Draw our hearts together to revere and venerate Your name and to observe all the precepts of Your Torah, and send us quickly the Messiah son of David, agent of Your vindication, to redeem those who await Your deliverance.
Manifest yourself in the splendor of Your boldness before the eyes of all inhabitants of Your world, and may everyone endowed with a soul affirm that the Lord, God of Israel, is king and his dominion is absolute. Amen forevermore.
Passover Services’ Schedule
This year, Passover begins on Monday evening, April 14, 2014; it ends on Tuesday, April 22, 2014. The first seder will take place on Monday evening, April 14, after Maariv; the second seder will take place on Tuesday evening, April 15, after Maariv Traditionally, the first two days and the last two days of the holiday are subject to Yom Tov restrictions. Services at the Carnegie Shul will be held as follows:
Tuesday, April 15, 2014: Passover, 1st day — 09:20 am
Wednesday, April 16, 2014: Passover, 2nd day — 09:20 am
Tuesday, April 22, 2014: Passover, 7th day — 09:20 am
Wednesday, April 16, 2014: Passover, 8th day — 09:20 am
Please note that Yizkor (memorial service) is a part of Wednesday morning services on April 16.