During the maggid portion of the haggadah, we recite Rabban Gamliel’s tripartite obligation of retelling our redemption from Egypt. Rabban Gamliel says one must refer to three symbolic elements of the seder: pesach, matzah, and maror. Pesach, as represented by the zeroa [shankbone], refers to the korban pesach [paschal lamb] that the Jews sacrificed in […]

Several times each day, we describe God in our prayers as a shome’a tefila, One who hears prayers. “Hear our voice, Hashem, our God…accept our prayers with compassion…don’t turn us away empty…Blessed are You, Hashem, Who hears prayer.”  This blessing of the Amidah prayer paints a nice, neat picture of the relationship between our prayers […]