Blog
Jewish Communities of Vermont Blog
Our blog shares posts reflecting on Jewish life in Vermont and linking to resources related to Jewish culture, food, family, and leading a Jewish life.
We also highlight Jewish organizations and events in Vermont and beyond!
Blog Highlight
〰️
Blog Highlight 〰️
memorial for Women Wage Peace activist Vivian Silver, killed on October 7, 2023, at Kibbutz Be'eri.
(photo credit: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun)
Passover 2025: A ‘midrashic’ lesson for these days
By MICHAEL M. COHEN
APRIL 19, 2025
“In light of this agonizing and ongoing reality, a quote from the midrash can be a challenge to embrace, as it forces us to think and look outward at our enemies in a different light.
Reb Zalman [a founder of the Jewish Renewal movement in the 1970s] taught that during Sukkot, we go into the mitzvah – the sukkah; while during Passover, the mitzvah goes into us – the matzah. This insight highlights the spiritual dialectic of inner and outer, interior and exterior.
In today’s Torah reading for the seventh day of Passover, we commentate and relive our moment of liberation at the Sea of Reeds. That reading includes the Children of Israel singing, led respectfully by Moses and Miriam, in praise of and thanks to God for our redemption and freedom from slavery.” Read full post on The Jerusalem Post
https://m.jpost.com/judaism/jewish-holidays/article-850544
Eat and be satisfied- explorations on this weeks torah portion By Rabbi Jan Saltman
'second paragraph of the Shma', set there by our ancestors to convey how critical it is that we walk our talk. One of the verses addresses satiety:
וְנָתַתִּ֛י עֵ֥שֶׂב בְּשָׂדְךָ֖ לִבְהֶמְתֶּ֑ךָ וְאָכַלְתָּ֖ וְשָׂבָֽעְתָּ׃
I will also provide grass in the fields for your cattle—and thus you shall eat your fill.
Senate devotional
As human beings, we’re always counting, putting a number on the day, our age, another person’s age, the amount of money we have, another person has, how many friends we have, how many Facebook friends, how many degrees we have, how much we have accomplished, etc.
In the Jewish tradition, we are always counting too. Yet, we are taught to count in a very different way than we often count in the secular world.
A few weeks ago, Jews celebrated Passover. But contrary to popular belief, Passover is not yet over! Passover is intrinsically connected to Shavuot, the Jewish holiday of receiving the Torah on Mount Sinai, which is celebrated 7 weeks after Passover. For 49 days, Jews count each day leading up to Shavuot. Today is the 21st day between Passover and Shavuot.
Why are we counting these days and what is the significance of this counting?
PASSOVER The freedom of many names
Within the special Shabbat morning Torah reading for Passover we read, “You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened, or let the sacrifice of the Feast of the Pessah remain until the morning” (Exodus 34:25). In this verse, the holiday is referred to as Pessah, based on the sentence, “I will pass (ufasachti) over you” (Exodus 12:13). In addition, “pessah” is the name of the lamb sacrificed on the holiday (Numbers 9:2). As with most Jewish holidays, it has more than one name. In this case three more: