Friends of Itamar

Pesach – The bitter coated treasure 2025       –          Leah’s Blog

Tradition has it that we have collectively been sitting down to seder night for thousands of years. Our daughter in law, whose parents are from India and Yemen, as well as the mix that has flavored this family, all from around the world did the same seder centuries ago. What is the magic that calls to us to remember the great pyramids and the miracles of leaving? Codifying the Haggadah in the times of the Mishnah (complied in 20 C.E.) kept the tradition during a time Hellenistic culture raged, a time we were banished from our Land by the Romans. Forever the line, “Next year in Jerusalem” on our lips.

It was a bitter banishment from our Land and it sears into our memory. Lest we become too comfortable in exile- the seder imprints on a collective consciousness that Israel belongs in Israel.

Anyone coming to a seder for the first time would be perplexed at what goes on. Before the banquet of the seudah, a good stretch of time passes. Finally after breaking Matzah and making “Hamotzi” we eat maror (bitter herbs). Strange huh? Or not. As our souls are now in full charge of our hungry bodies, just a tad of harsh seals that part of the seder before the real eating begins. Our sages long ago taught us that the world is not a sugar coated place. We have to “rise above it”- through humble recognition that we are being rectified. From the very beginning we learn about the trials Abraham had to endure even when he was promised the Land, all of our forefathers have stories to tell of struggles in owning who they are. Many of our Matriarchs had to yearn and endure the wait until a baby finally came.

It is a long haul but it accelerates towards the climax of our story. Like now. Israel, like no other place is not “just” a property, it is a super natural place that you have to earn by personally leaving Egypt. When we are having a bitter moment and pass through the fire- as all of Israel did in the exodus- we are ready to celebrate life. Now too, pinch me- we are back after centuries that this land laid waste and no nation could make it fruitful.

In an age of bible criticism, warped ideas prevail, when prayer books are changed to even exclude Israel (yes- there are those), when Israel has become a bone to pick in Hellenistic circles, our old return to wine stained Haggadahs from the past are made to jolt in mind body and soul. Prior to Pesach, many of us boil out our everyday vessels, purging chametz from our pots and pans as the cleansing of nefesh and all of this hard work has us thinking- are we slaves or are we truly masters of ourselves, not letting other identities take over, rise and puff down over us squashing and conquering us. As we deflate internally, leaving no room for alter ego, a new season of budding begins in us. We have risen above it.

This Pesach we hope to witness the true return in all aspects to what Hashem wants from us as we have already entered this Land with so much more to do. We pray our hostages all come home and be able to sit at the table of complete redemption. Amen

“Let my people go!”

I want to personally thank all of those who have been so caring and supportive in our mission to get Pesach food to the needy all over the Shomron with a special thank you to Alan Hirsch and the Matzoh Fund for again pulling it off. Awesome!

Chag sameyach and Shabbat Shalom dearest friends! Xoxoxoxo BLESSINGS! Leah

Pekudey 2025 – Leah’s Blog

“Lord save me”, I mumble under my breath as there is a huge balagan in our house now. Our fridge died last week unexpectedly but better now than if it would happen the week before Pesach! As Moshe pulled it out of its nook, he quickly brought paint and started brightening the wall no one will ever see. Getting carried away, saying “this tint of white is a shade darker than what we have here, he continued like a stroking wave into the kitchen proper. Unscrewing shelves, taking down cups, glasses and saucers, one thing led to another. “Leah, bring an old sheet for the stove. Now!” I couldn’t mobilize fast enough. Eventually the entire kitchen quickly became a revolution. But I thought everything before that was just right- ooof.

The mess is just piling up.

At the time of my personal challenge, another uprising is surfacing here in Israel. The deep rises and chaos prevails, to the point where the very foundations of what this State was built upon shakes and rattles. Something, like my fridge that went on me, went wrong. A trace of rotting scent fills the air here and we must clear it out. For too long the old hegemony has persisted, an aging and obsolete ruling minority class that persisted, chugging away on its last breath until its durability to hold up in the circumstances surrounding October 7^th have crashed. They thought all the wrong things like evacuating all settlement on the Golan Heights in surrendering it to Syria (sounds insane now ah?), making Judea and Samaria judenrein completely with the country’s border on Kfar Saba, here comes the best part (!)- arming the Palestinian Authority with guns in order to “keep the seder (order)”. Biding time while charming the enemy, thousands of Israelis have been murdered but the defiance to logic evaded them in the drool for power.

So the messes pile up here. The foundational attempt at governance, like the Golden Calf, had only a small segment enamored in offering to a foreign god, praising false idols. It threw Israel into turmoil and disarray just as Moshe Rabbeinu was about to deliver the Torah. What timing!

As the bulk of our brothers and sisters abroad balked at the idea of stubborn adherence to Jewish places and customs, to the endurance of the Jewish settler – against all of this we stood and stand and pushed back. Now it is toppling, and not soon enough as we bring in a new view of integrity in who we are, where we are and what we need to do.

Pekudey- The time the Tabernacle becomes completely ready- the curtains hung in place, the tiny screws, the knobs, the accessories, all of it in complete order. We have what to aspire for now- in our homes and for our Land. The dance between Hashem and Israel takes place in a perfected state, everyone must partake of it. Some do the actual building, some do the actual carrying, some make the ornaments- all contribute in their way. The Tabernacle was a tikkun for the mistake of The Golden Calf. We read and reread the Torah to know it’s going to be ok. There is always tikkun after havoc. Here too in my own home.

Shabbat shalom dearest friends! Xoxoxoxoxoxox Leah