Chag kasher v'sameach to all of our members and friends. We are honored and privileged to bring you this Pesach bulletin.
As we approach this holiday, I would like to bless you that Hashem will fulfill all of our desires, and you will succeed in all of your endeavors.
This month, the month of Nisan, which is the head of all months, should be a new start for all of us to look to the future and try our best to bring peace and love in our community. We should pray for complete redemption, since this is the right month for redemption. As chazal taught us "just as we were redeemed from Egypt, we will also be redeemed in the future".
During the two seder nights we drink four cups of wine. As it's known, the reason for the four cups of wine is that they correspond to four types of redemption: v'hotzaiti, that Hashem took us out of Egypt, v'hitzalti, that he rescued Am Yisrael, v'higalti, he redeemed us, and v'lakachti, he took us as a nation.
There are many explanations for those four categories, and I would like to suggest an explanation from a philosophical perspective. The first salvation is by physically taking a person out of prison, in this case taking the nation out of Egypt. The basic salvation is the changing of location. The second salvation is to change the mindset of a slave, especially a slave that was burdened for many years under the Egyptians, him, his parents, his grandparents, and his great grandparents, for 210 years. It is very difficult to change the mindset of a slave after so many years that feel they are second class citizens. Eventually, he comes to the realization he is not a slave anymore, in location and mindset. The third salvation is his goal in life. He starts thinking long term, since he can accomplish his goals in life freely. Finally, the most important salvation is that we are under the control of God. We belong to the nation of God, and nobody can harm us without the permission of God, as it is said multiple times in Chazal. If God forbid something happens, we know that it only happens because Hashem loves us.
Wishing you all the good in the world,
Rabbi Tal