Today's Pesach Miracle

(via R' Gil) Fantastic message in advance of Pesach from South African Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein, featuring Shwekey's V'hi She'amda. 

People With Questions

R' Yitzchok Adlerstein has a fantastic response to the Ami piece discussed below, with the rather straightforward title People With Questions Are Not Sick. While it's possible to nitpick a couple lines, the basic thrust and points of the piece are right on target. Excerpts: (emphasis mine)

The first is that until recently, we had major talmidei chachamim well versed in the intellectual challenges of the day who devoted much time and energy battling the mockers and skeptics on their own turf. Think R Saadia Gaon, the Rambam, R Yehuda HaLevi hundreds of years ago. Think R Samson Raphael Hirsch, R Dovid Tzvi Hoffman, R Yitzchok Isaac Halevi, and the Malbim in more recent times, battling Higher Criticism or the platform of Reform, or the extremes of Jewish Wissenschaft. These figures studied and mastered the challenges from the inside, offering real counterpunches, rather than glib bromides. They did not, and could not, “prove” their case, but they could show that alternatives existed that were as attractive as any other. We do not have such figures today.

The second factor is the appearance of wrong answers. Sending serious seekers to vaunted “experts” is worse than allowing them to struggle on their own. Once a person meets the acclaimed “answer people,” the people everyone around him tells him or her are the greatest and deepest minds and finds their answers inadequate, he no longer has any reason to wait. He has gone to the top, and knows he cannot live with their approach – often with good reason.

The world of kiruv is populated with many wonderful people. Some of them are deep thinkers, and have taken the time to read and understand the genuine questions and doubts. Others, however, have swallowed the Kool-Aid. They are so convinced that answers are there, they imagine that they have found them, despite the fact that they are remarkably similar to the orthoprax subjects of the article, who are described as ignorant of both Torah and the secular challenges. Often, they are hopelessly ignorant of the literature and of the complexity of the challenges. (The embrace of the Bible Codes, the often shallow way in which the serious body of evolutionary evidence is dealt with, the use of oddball minority approaches to science, and the complete unawareness of issues relating to biblical studies are examples that come to mind. A good way to tell if you are dealing with one of them is if he tells you he has spoken to “the biggest scientists” – whatever that means.)

Even better:

It is vital to understand that there are many others whose questions are sincere, and whose situation is worsened by putting them in contact with purveyors of superficial and simplistic “answers.” There are far more of them than we think. [...] Rather than to meet well-meaning people who provide simplistic, facile and unsatisfactory approaches, it would be better to have them meet frum people of deep intellectual ability who also struggle, without detracting from their shemiras hamitzvos. There are many, many of them. They will provide some answers, but more importantly, will be models of how to live with questions.

Amen. For a bit of a Pesach vort, one aspect of the Hagaddah I've always found intriguing is that while we ask four questions at the beginning of the seder, and are encouraged to continue asking throughout, the discussion we have doesn't exactly answer those specific questions - and certainly not in the most straightforward fashion. There's a much higher level of complexity involved, and while certainly there are explanations given, there's always the aspect of a person needing to understand and determine for themselves what exactly is meant by it all and what to take away from the night.

We here at SerandEz would like to wish a wonderful Chag Sameach to all our family, friends, supporters, and readers. May we all merit to have our questions answered, and may we celebrate next year in Yerushalayim Habenuya.

EZ Reads 4/12/11

Today was a good, busy day, with some exciting possibilities. This is opposed to my fantasy baseball team, which currently has a 1 in every hitting category, 5 guys on the DL (and another couple hurt), and is barely above the Mendoza line. Ugh.

• Scott Adams has a great piece in the Wall Street Journal on how to get a real education, with some fantastic, funny stories. Excerpt: (not the stories, read the whole article for those)
  

  Attract Luck. You can't manage luck directly, but you can manage your career in a way that makes it easier for luck to find you. To succeed, first you must do something. And if that doesn't work, which can be 90% of the time, do something else. Luck finds the doers. Readers of the Journal will find this point obvious. It's not obvious to a teenager.
  Conquer Fear. I took classes in public speaking in college and a few more during my corporate days. That training was marginally useful for learning how to mask nervousness in public. Then I took the Dale Carnegie course. It was life-changing. The Dale Carnegie method ignores speaking technique entirely and trains you instead to enjoy the experience of speaking to a crowd. Once you become relaxed in front of people, technique comes automatically. Over the years, I've given speeches to hundreds of audiences and enjoyed every minute on stage. But this isn't a plug for Dale Carnegie. The point is that people can be trained to replace fear and shyness with enthusiasm. Every entrepreneur can use that skill.
  Write Simply. I took a two-day class in business writing that taught me how to write direct sentences and to avoid extra words. Simplicity makes ideas powerful.

• On a related note, Lifehacker's piece on what lucky people do differently is entertaining and spot on. Ironically, despite being a rather large proponent of themes in both pieces, I've been rather unlucky in many ways, but I think those can be attributed to some really bad flukes (and people).
• Bad4Shidduchim on singles events dynamics.
• Interesting piece on Freakonomics discussing how fixing the typos and errors in online reviews boosts sales.
• A funny, clever video on Cross Currents called "Kiruv with Sechel" but which also is a great Pesach kashering primer.

EZ Reads 4/11/11

I will be at the OU's offices tomorrow for all those who work there - email me and I'll try to stop by to say hi.

Some more general stuff for today...

• Yad Vashem has posted the videos from Eichmann's trial on YouTube on the 50th anniversary of them.
• The New York Times on anorexia in the Orthodox Jewish community (HT: iPay). I have not read the book, but Naomi Feigenbaum's memoir "One Life" mentioned in the article is supposed to be quite good. (I grew up a few houses down from Naomi's family and used to play basketball on their hoop every day.)
• ProfK questions why the Star-K charges specifically for the Kosher for Pesach medications list.
• Nice piece in Smithsonian magazine on Cleveland's reinventing itself. (HT: Rebbetzin Rocks)
• RafiG with a hilarious video called "killing bureaucracy".
• Doghouse with a funny truism on how people view their own voices.

EZ Reads 3/29/11

• An incredible back and forth of letters to the editor in the 1890s Jewish Standard on head coverings for women. (On The Main Line) It's pretty funny to see much of the same back and forth as 120 years later, though with the caveat that it seemed completely accepted then that within the walls of one's own home a woman does not need to cover her hair. While I know some people now who do this, for the most part people don't seem to know about it. It's worth reading the whole back and forth, it's quite entertaining.
• LYING IS BAD. (And destroys lives.) Just thought y'all should know that. Some halachos of it are here. (Hirhurim)
• Really good sound/music video for JudaBlue's song Falling, which is about David vs. Goliath. (RafiG)
• Public school math doesn't teach kids how to reason. (Freakonomics) I don't understand how you can teach math without logic and reason - it's just horrible education. 
• Jameel with a cool and crazy video of a blackout sandstorm in Kuwait; he compares it to the 9th plague. (Muqata)
• Shira Dicker with an interesting essay (hat tip: ED) entitled Why I Am A Conservative Jew; the most interesting is what she decries, which is the "graduation" of many to (mostly Modern) Orthodoxy or the shift away from Judaism by most. This is part of what I'll be discussing when continuing the series on the future of Judaism.
• ProfK on Minhag and Mishagas when it comes to making Pesach. Nice quote:

  Personally, I think all the varying customs, both group and individual, are interesting. To me many of them speak of family life and lore being recreated many generations down the road since those customs sprung up. Telling me that I don't have to do something just because my great grandmother did it misses the point entirely. Isn't it wonderful that I actually know what my great grandmother did and that I can connect to her through doing the same thing.

EZ Reads 3/25/11

Yesterday, Elianna turned five years old. That's pretty crazy.

• An amazing video by the Jewish Federations of North America as part of their Passover fundraising. Two minutes will bring a tear (or more) to your eye. (Also, Vervel, doesn't she look like your eldest a bit?)
• Searching for Bright Light discusses the 6:30am phone call from her son studying in Israel saying he's all right and how she reacted. A few hours later my sister tells us rockets hit a town over from them, and they live in Central Israel. Pretty crazy what we put up with as a people.
• The NFL has an awesome 6-minute video highlighting the 2010 season.
• Orthonomics hosts KoaB for part III of how to shop for Pesach on a budget.
• A really interesting story written by a Cornell student turned Israeli basketball player in Sports Illustrated. (via Josh)

  In order to be cleared or get an exemption from the army, you first have to go through the daylong army placement system. This process, which makes a trip to the DMV look like a day at Disneyland, was a nightmare. First, I was interviewed. Among other things, they prodded me about my family history and asked me to read and write in Hebrew (which I hadn't done since I was Bar Mitzvahed at age 13). My interviewer then really caught my attention by asking me to whom I would like to give my pension if I die in battle. I was then given a physical, where I scored a 93 (out of 100) on the army's official medical exam. This meant I could choose any division of the army I wish to participate in (this is considered a huge honor for most Israelis). After a computer aptitude test, the two basketball team managers accompanying me saved me from near enlistment. If it wasn't for them and their somewhat pushy tactics (Israelis have a knack for making every conversation seem like an argument), I could have easily been drafted right then and there.

• If you haven't yet seen The Thin Jew Line (a daily show sketch on an eruv battle in the Hamptons), watch it. It's freaking hilarious.
• Via Freakonomics, Joel Rose has left the New York Department of Education and is trying to take the School of One to scale. If he can do this, it would be quite something for education in general.
• Harry is not lamenting the co-opting of chazzanus by the Conservative.

Have a great Shabbos!

EZ Reads 3/23/11

It has been a busy week at Casa SerandEz, as we hosted a potluck Purim with about 30+ awesome friends and friends of friends at our house, then took Kayla for a second round of tubes this morning. I'm hoping her recovery is quicker than some of the people from Sunday...

A few interesting reads out there (wish I could remember the people who I found these from), and a really interesting clip from Pakistani TV:

• The New York Times says it's a must to believe in free will.
• BeyondBT with a great essay on The Pursuit of Truth. I loved this short summation of mussar:

  What does mussar teach us? Rav Dessler, an influential Rabbi regarded for his contributions to Jewish thought, defines mussar very succinctly. He says that people need to question their ability to reach valid conclusions and decisions. We’re not necessarily in a position to exercise good judgement because we are, unfortunately, likely to be swayed from truth. Our wants bias our judgement. What we want shapes the way we view any given situation and the way we think through decisions. Our character flaws and self interest shape our wants and help to distort our perspective. To reach truth we need to refine our character traits (our middos) and develop an intense desire for truth. This is mussar.

• Post #2 on how to shop for Pesach on a budget.
• Most people know I'm generally optimistic-realistic (if a bit sarcastic on occasion), but here's a good post on how rational pessimism can save your day.

We should be back in the swing of things shortly. Enjoy!

EZ Reads 3/21/11

Purim is always a good time to find out what people "really" think of you, so it was great to read yesterday and this morning about myself. Apparently, I am a brain-intruding, disheveled, pushy, annoying, sex offending stalker robot (I just know this is going to show up on Google). Congratulations to Diana on pulling the series off and to all the writers for the absolute hilarity; it's amazing how much of those posts were true (er, not the descriptions of me! Mostly...)!

Anyway, there are some really interesting reads out there from the weekend as life returns to normal and the world slowly ceases spinning.

• If Purim is over, are you starting to get ready for Pesach? Kosher on a Budget has you covered.
• A convert through the Vaad HaRabbonim of Queens is one a number of Orthodox converts whose conversions are not being recognized in Israel.
• Why do we let girls dress like sluts? Interesting excerpt:

  I have a different theory. It has to do with how conflicted my own generation of women is about our own past, when many of us behaved in ways that we now regret. A woman I know, with two mature daughters, said, "If I could do it again, I wouldn't even have slept with my own husband before marriage. Sex is the most powerful thing there is, and our generation, what did we know?" [...]
  
  So here we are, the feminist and postfeminist and postpill generation. We somehow survived our own teen and college years (except for those who didn't), and now, with the exception of some Mormons, evangelicals and Orthodox Jews, scads of us don't know how to teach our own sons and daughters not to give away their bodies so readily. We're embarrassed, and we don't want to be, God forbid, hypocrites.
  
  Still, in my own circle of girlfriends, the desire to push back is strong. I don't know one of them who doesn't have feelings of lingering discomfort regarding her own sexual past. And not one woman I've ever asked about the subject has said that she wishes she'd "experimented" more.

• R' Gil posts the "secret" rules and guidelines most rabbonim follow when it comes to paskening halacha. Nothing too surprising, but still a good basic breakdown.
• Ha'aretz on the rising stakes of Kosher certification. Such politics, unsurprisingly, but also really interesting and the most in-depth piece I've read on the subject.
• Life in Israel has Netanyahu's interview with CNN on peace.
• Those French (Chassidish?) twins who do wedding routines do an ad for Jeunesse - not bad. I'm just wondering if they're 18.
• Hilarious cartoon on ADD vs. jerks at Doghouse... and xkcd has a great rejoinder to the "Year X called, they want their ____ back" line. I'm totally using that one next time.
• Crazy video from Spanish basketball - announcer is as good as the video.
  

Enjoy, and I hope everyone recovers from Purim well.

Don't Pass Over

From the time I was born until I finished high school, I spent every Pesach at my parents' home in Cleveland, with fond memories of my sister somehow getting drunk on the four cups of wine and singing "Who Knows One" in a drunken yell, or the constant re-stealing of the Afikoman by my father, brother, and myself, or the hidden notes planned a year prior by Vervel for when she'd be in Israel asking if we missed her. The next two years, I split the sedarim in Israel: One at my cousins with many other cousins (figure 17 kids + the adults) and my aunt, and one with my friends from OJ at one of the rebbeim. Since then, it's been a mix of Cleveland and Monsey as we shuttle between my parents and Serach's - enjoying the dramatic difference between the two styles (my father-in-law is Sephardic, my father Litvak-American) and weather (like the drop from 80 to 28 + 8 inches of snow in one day in Cleveland).

One thing I've never done, however, is go to a hotel for Pesach... and neither have either of my siblings... until now. My dear older sister Vervel will be spending this Pesach at the stunning Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay Resort by Chesapeake Bay, Maryland (I just found out the hotel is only 7 years old - wow). The company she works for started an annual Pesach hotel there and from what I've heard from people it's absolutely amazing. In one of those 'all worlds come together' things, one of the owners of HLF Leisure Tours is an old friend who went to OJ shortly after me and who has done an amazing job of putting this together with his partners. Perhaps interesting for regular readers here is that R' Yaakov Horowitz of Monsey is a main draw and will be spending the whole Yom Tov there. I also really like the whole presentation and approach - I was told it's a really family-friendly hotel and people really get to feel like they're a part of everything, and when my sister was telling me about the place and asking me to tell people about it I couldn't help but notice how they presented it - from their families, and from themselves:

Dear Friends,

HLF Leisure Tours is excited to once again host Passover at the Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay Gold Resort, Spa and Marina in Cambridge, Maryland. We look forward to having you and your family join us for Passover. Please contact us with any questions or concerns. We can be reached at 877-HLF-TOURS or info@hlfleisuretours.com. Please check out our website at www.hlfleisuretours.com for more information.

Sincerely,

Ed Hoffman Josh Lewis Jacob Fader

Anyway, the place looks absolutely gorgeous, the food is supposed to be amazing (anyone who has ever had Hoffman Catering knows this to be true), it's such a relaxing, fun getaway, and perhaps more importantly, the people who go that I know are all really great, nice people. It's not far from New York/New Jersey or Baltimore, and the prices are really reasonable for something like this. There's even a Facebook page (which already has over 100 fans - geez) for it. Plus, if you go there for Pesach, you can probably keep an eye out for my dear old sister and her grape-juice buzzed shenanigans. Trust me, it's worthwhile entertainment.

Meanwhile, I'm hoping it won't be snowing in Cleveland again.

Here's the PDF for those interested [click to enlarge]:

Beautiful Song

I loved that song (above), having seen it on a couple blogs...

Also, RafiG has Colbert's piece on Birchas HaChama - very funny.

Pharaoh the Mitzri: A Suess-esque Poem

This poem by Erachet is amazing.

Birchas HaChama Pictures from the Kotel

Aish has a beautiful album up.

Jacob Richman has wonderful pics as usual as well, from Ma'ale Adumim.

As for me, I wasn't planning on saying it, but a little after we finally arrived in Cleveland after an 11-hour stop-for-snow-and-drive this morning the sun came out. For Cleveland, that is a ma'aseh B'reishis, so I stopped for 3 seconds and said the bracha.

We'd to wish all our friends, family, and readers a wonderful chag sameach!

This Is Really Good

In honor of Pesach, here is a recent inspirational email from Rabbi Ron Yitzchak Eisenman (Rabbi of Congregation Ahavas Israel, Passaic, NJ).

My Chassidishe Friend.

I have a real funny Chassidishe friend. He always tells me interesting Vortlach (the plural of Vort) which although not always grammatically accurate, are always inspirational and often entertaining.

One of the best ones he told me, which now I have co-opted and added to my own repertoire of wisdom is the following: When some is in need, getting married, sick, or just down, I offer them the Brocha of ‘Gefen’. Gefen? Wait, doesn’t gefen mean grape-vines? What type of Brocha is that to offer a person a grape-vine?

My Chassidishe friend explained that what you are really wishing them is:

• Gezunt – health
• Parnossah – a livelihood
• Nachas – joy and satisfaction

Meaning the three first letters of the word Gefen - should be broken into three separate words; the Gimmel is for Gezunt, the Peh is for Parnossah and the Nun is for Nachas. Therefore I love giving people the Brocha of Gefen! It’s an all inclusive Brocha!

Yesterday, my friend called me and I asked him for a remez - a hint - for the word Chometz. Meaning, we are commanded this Wednesday to destroy all of the Chometz in our possession, and we all know that the physical Chometz must represent some greater sublime spiritual message. So, therefore, I asked my Chassidishe friend for a remez - a hint for the word Chometz!

This is what he answered me - (indeed, lately; this is answer I have been getting more and more from people). “Rabbi Eisenman, when you first used to ask me about Chassidishe Vortlach- that was years ago before you had your own kehilla. Now, you yourself are a big Rebbe, go figure it out on your own! Hashem will guide you to find the remez for Chometz.

Armed with my friend’s brocha and my new crowned title of Rebbe, I allowed my mind to plummet to the depths of the human condition. My mind raced as it re-enacted hours and hours of pre-Pesach counseling sessions. My head throbbed as I attempted to visualize what Brocha I would want someone to wish me and which aspects of the human condition would I like to be eradicated together with the burning of the Chometz?

Therefore what follows is my brocha to me and to all.

I give a brocha that all of us this year (and of course myself as well), that we should truly be able to rid ourselves prior to Pesach of all of our Chometz. The physical Chometz and the spiritual Chometz as well: What is the spiritual Chometz that I am referring to? Chometz is spelled - ches, mem, and tzadik.

Ches - stands for Chutzpah. May I be privileged this year to remove and to burn from within me all of the Chutzpah which I can sometimes display towards others. Chutzpah in all of its forms is insidious and damaging, it destroys families and marriages. All of us should do our best to rid ourselves of this venomous character trait of being Chutzpadik. Do not think this malady is limited to the children of the community; not true, all of us must work and work hard to eliminate this trait from ourselves!

Mem - Stands for Machlokes. How we go into Pesach when in certain families the fire of Machlokes is raging? How can we stand and burn the Chometz when inside we are enraged with the fire of anger and machlokes against our spouse or our neighbor? This year before Pesach we must destroy the poison of Machlokes from among us.

Tzadik - Stands for Tzidkos. (Self) righteousness. We have to rid ourselves of our feeling of self-righteousness. We are constantly declaring ourselves to be righteous and correct. How often when we are involved in our family issues do we become obstinate and self-righteousness, refusing to apologize and forgive and forget in order to make peace. We use our feigned status of tzidkos – feigned piety- to allow situations of Machlokes to continue and fester. We must rid ourselves this Pesach of the false tzidkos - false piety - which interferes with our serving Hashem. We should attempt to be forgiving and not standing on our ‘principles’.

Last night I called back my Chassidishe friend and I informed him of the real remez which is found in the word “Chometz” – the remez of Chutzpah, Machlokes, Tzidkos. I then said, “Nu, so what do you think?”

He paused and then said, “Not bad for a Litvishe Rebbe, not bad at all.”

Rav Ron Yitzchok Eisenman has lead Congregation Ahavas Israel since 1997.
Visit their website: www.ahavasisrael.org

Remember The Point

If you have one last blog post to read before Yom Tov, make it this one at Adventures in Chinuch: What's the Deal with Mah Nishtana? Teaching by Example. Excerpt:

Interestingly, the four questions of the mah nishtana are focused on pointing out the strange things we do at the seder, and we don't even answer why. Imagine the following scenario:

The bell rings

Teacher: Okay class, today in halacha, we are going to learn some strange things about Judaism. Isn't it weird that on Succos we walk around in circles with branches and fruit? That makes no sense! And what's about Tzitzis? Boys are supposed to wear strings on a shirt that has four corners? Stu-pid! Anybody have other examples?

Jerry: Oooh! Pick Me!

Teacher: Yes, Jerry.

Jerry: What's the deal with Shabbos? We are supposed to rest, so why can't we turn off the lights? How do I rest with the lights on? I mean, come on!

Teacher: Beautiful Jerry! That is a great example of how strange our religion is. Okay everyone, have a wonderful Shabbos! Don't forget to share what we learned at the Shabbos table!

Not exactly the paradigm of chinuch.

So, what is the deal? Why are we encouraging questions that we don't answer (at least not directly?

Go read the answer.

Soft Matzah?

I was reading R' Aviner's latest SMS responses, and I found this one to be particularly interesting:

Q: Is it permissible for Ashkenazim to eat the soft matzah made by the Sefardim?
A: Yes, it is not chametz or kitniyot.

That's a rather good reason, but I feel like most Ashkenazim would still feel uncomfortable or "weird" eating soft matzah. But in truth, why shouldn't we? Would we hold that perhaps it is chametz, at least to us? Assuming that we wouldn't (since it would in essence be accusing Sephardim of transgressing a core commandment), then why not eat it as well?

EZ Reads: Pesach Cleaning

It's going to be a busy day here as we get ready for Pesach, running errands, getting a rack for our car (any suggestions? Roofbag.com wouldn't get to us on time...), and all that fun stuff. At least we don't have to make Pesach this year, though it will likely be the last time that's true. Instead of posting, I'm scheduling a bunch of EZ Reads to go up over the course of the day.

Typically, these roundups are composed by dropping into a folder any pieces that seem interesting. When there are a bunch in the folder, after checking which ones still seem interesting after another glance, they get shared here for anyone to take a look at. When times are busy, though, the folder gets to be a little fat; Pesach is a good time to clean it out a bit, and since we don't have an apartment to clean {ducks}, this - and our car - will be my Pesach cleaning. Since some people enjoy these and some people don't care for them at all, preferring when I write stuff (clearly, this is my Mom), everything will be divided into sections for y'all (a post for each type, scheduled over the course of the day) and only available on expand or by going to the individual post pages.

• Sports
• Birchas HaChama & Pesach
  
• Torah, Mussar, & Judaism
• It's The Economy, Stupid
• Cool Jews
  
• Jewish Life & Education
• Random
  

Enjoy!

EZ Reads: Pesach Cleaning - Birchas HaChama & Pesach

Please enjoy the eBook on Birchas HaChama that I was fortunate to assist R' Gil Student of Hirhurim in compiling. It is in printable form here. We certainly found it interesting, and hope you will as well. A few other posts and articles I've seen since which were interesting, either on Birchas HaChama or making Pesach:

• Howard Smith (senior astrophysicist at Harvard) in the Jewish Week discusses Birchas HaChama, from its science to its spirituality.
• RafiG's daughter was asked to bring to class a unique chumrah they have for Pesach in their house. Comments are hilarious; personally, the one not to have any other chumras is the best (not the funniest). Better to laugh than to be sad that this is what goes on in schools, right?
  
• Some fun chumrahs. Gotta boil out that stomach!
  
• On the more normal side, R' Aviner suggets how to cheerfully clean for Pesach in less than one day.
• Chaim links to a great video.
• NMF#7 discusses shopping for meats in Israel, and finds a great site listing all the cuts of meat and their equivalents in Hebrew. She also has a great story contrasting Israel in '67 to now in terms of the abundance of fruit and vegetables.

It'll Be A Fun 3-Day Yom Tov

The last time we went to Cleveland for Pesach, after 80-degree sunny skies on the first day of Yom Tov, we were hit with 28-degree temperatures and 8 inches of snow starting on the second day. That's a 52-degree drop in about 24 hours.

This time, we probably won't see as much of a fluctuation: It'll just be dreary.

Sigh.

I'm guessing we may not be making Birchas HaChama...

EZ Reads, 4/1

I'm shutting down SerandEz after today.* It's been a nice ride, these almost 4 years, but I think it's about time. Elsewhere today:

• ProfK discusses "minhagim" about Pesach and their origins. Really funny while making great points.
• Interesting piece about a Jewish lawyer who somehow ended up training NBA stars.
• Facebook helps a family split during the Holocaust reunite.
• R' Horowitz reprints a letter on Tough Times.
• A beautiful shot via DealBreaker of the media's wonderful coverage of news. The press never impacts the news through their coverage, they only report what is happening. Right.
• Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes is pressing a new crackdown on sexual abuse in the Orthodox community. Yiasher Kochacho.

* April Fool's. Duh.

The Facebook Haggadah

Since I've already been sent this a bunch of times... here. "The Facebook Haggadah". Admittedly, it's funny all the way through. Here's the beginning:

The Passover Seder, the oldest continuously observed religious ceremony in the world, tells the story of the Jews' Exodus from Egypt. Jewish tradition says that people of each generation must imagine that they personally had departed from Egypt, and the sages say that each generation must tell the story in its own terms.

The sages probably did not intend this.


Moses is Departing Egypt: A Facebook Haggadah

Joseph is going to Egypt.

Joseph and Pharaoh are now friends.

Elijah is a bit tipsy, but off to a good start. 30,000 households down, and its only 6:30!

Pharaoh is sad to report that my father has entered immortality. I have taken his place in government and will do my best to honor his name. Joseph Congratulations to you, my master. Pharaoh Who are you, and why are you writing on my wall? Joseph I meant no disrepsect, my master. Advisor He is an Israelite. There are many of them. I do not know whether they are with us or against us. Pharaoh Let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they join with our enemies in time of war.

Rabbi Eleazar ben Azaryah finally figured out why we're supposed to tell the story of the exodus at night. It's because it says "all the days of your life!" Ben Zoma Huh?