Ep. 494: How Do the Miracles and Redemption of Pesach Empower Us in Facing Our Current Challenges?

Rabbi Jacobson will discuss the following topics:What does Pesach teach us today?  How do the miracles and redemption of Pesach empower us in dealing with our current challenges?  What is the main theme of Pesach?  Is it the joy of freedom from slavery or the lessons in humility from eating the matzoh?  Why don’t we do a thorough internal cleansing of any chometz left in our bodies before Pesach?  What is the best way to run a Seder?  Is it better to have an enjoyable experience even if we compromise some of the more stringent details?  Why are we constantly reminded that we were slaves in Egypt and idol worshippers when we’re not supposed to remind someone of their past sins?    Is the Egyptian exile a deeper concealment than that of the tzimtzum harishon?  Why are we not all wealthy today as the Jews were when they left Egypt?  Why are matzos, and Pesach food in general, so expensive? Is there a spiritual reason for this?  Is that why we call matzah “the bread of the impoverished”?!  Since Pesach and Nissan represent freedom and redemption, why are some of us bogged down with financial and other problems that make us feel like slaves? Where are our miracles?   How can we access the energy of Pesach to resolve our challenges and constraints – financial and otherwise?  What do we have to do to earn and deserve the geulah today? What can we learn from Geulas Mitzrayim in this regard?  Which was a bigger miracle, being saved from genocide at the hands of the Persians on Purim or at the hands of Pharaoh and the Egyptians on Pesach?   What can we learn from the way Moshe dealt with Egypt how we should deal with Hamas and Iran today?  What is the best way to thank G-d for the miracles of saving Israel from the Iran attack?  When we say Hallel during the seder can we have in mind the miracles of being protected from the Iranian missile attack?  Should we avoid celebrating the deaths of our enemies, learning from G-d rebuking the angels for singing when the Egyptians were drowning?  What benefit are the prophecies if they're vague and cryptic?  Can we give tzedakah on the condition that the hostages be released?  Is it possible that our prayers for the hostages are being blocked because of our own inequities?  Should we accept teshuva from the Hamas terrorists?   Why do we say that the generation that left Egypt had great Emunah?  Can Rabbi Jacobson please present a synopsis of a Pesach maamar?