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Positive Mitzvah 157: Telling the Story of Pesach
Exodus 13:8 "And you shall relate to your son on that day"

If something very special happened to you, you would want to tell others about it.

Especially on the date of the event, you would tell the story over and over again each year and share your exciting experience with others.

The story of Pesach commemorates a very special event in the history of the Jewish people.

On Pesach, we became a nation; G-d led us out of Egypt in order to receive the Torah.

Each year, on Pesach, we are commanded to retell this story.

As we tell the story, we appreciate the great miracles HaShem did for us, selecting us as His chosen people and making us into His nation.

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For the text of the Hagada, see the Rambam inside.

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Positive Mitzvah 170: Hearing the Shofar Blown on Rosh HaShanah
Numbers 29:1 "It shall be a day of blowing the Shofar for you"

Rosh HaShanah is the beginning of the new year.

On this day, we proclaim HaShem to be King over the entire Universe.

Just as a king's arrival is announced by trumpet blowing, we sound the shofar on Rosh HaShanah, declaring HaShem the one and only King.

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Let's say you are an astronaut, far beyond the earth on a very long journey. Let's say you get fed up with the constant barrage of instructions coming in on your radio from home base. So you shut it off. With no regrets. And you relax, enjoying the awesome scenery out the window. And time flies by... But eventually, you realize you have no clue where you are. Or how to get back to where you want to be. And you remember that you had a mission, but you can't quite get straight exactly what it was. You panic. Finally, you remember the radio. You reactivate it. You hold the hand piece and call, "Home base? Astronaut calling home base! Answer me!!" A faint reply is heard. It is the sweetest sound you've ever come by. Now you can get back on course.

We are all astronauts. We took off from Mount Sinai over 33 centuries ago with a plan to follow and a mission to accomplish. We've got to reconnect to our home base.

From: Bringing Heaven Down to Earth by Tzvi Freeman - tzvif@aol.com