The Kosher Bookworm: Alan Jay Gerber

Our pre-Pesach review (part three)

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With Pesach just around the corner, we conclude this year’s review of what’s new to read for this most glorious of all festivals.

One of the most read liturgical works of our faith is Ya’ale V’yavoh, which is recited in every festival prayer service as well as that of the concluding grace at each festival meal. This prayer is the subject of an interesting commentary by Rabbi Shaya Cohen in his booklet, “Pray with all Your Heart: A Guide To More Heartfelt Tefilla.” Rabbi Cohen observes:

“We mention ‘remembrance’ five times, parallel to the five times Israel is mentioned in a verse in Bamidbar, 1:19.

“This phenomenon, says Avudraham, is comparable to a king who is asked about his son, and he answers, ‘My son was sleeping, my son awoke, my son went to school, my son came home from school.’ So G-d craves to recognize the children of Israel every moment. We take advantage of His craving desire [so to speak] and invoke our remembrance before Him....

“The special days are days that represent our special relationship, as indicated in the prayer, Atah Bechartanu, and in the prayers of those days we refer to our special relationship with Him. We ask that the remembrance which we ask of G-d should be for good, for blessing, and for life. We seem to add an additional request for total salvation and mercy. We ask this in terms of mercy, because we are His creations, undeserved kindness and mercy because he knows our suffering, and total salvation from our exile and all of its suffering and pain.”

Rabbi Cohen surely recognized that G-d’s act in choosing the Jewish people reflects his love for us, and of our responsibility to reciprocate His love by adhering to His commandments. This prayer affirms this responsibility.

In “A Halachik Analysis of the Ma Nishtanah and the Role of Questions and Answers on the Seder Evening,” Rabbi Moshe Walter concludes his learned essay:

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