A Very Special Passover Email
Tech Tribe Dispatch #101
💡 Think
Passover is a journey. We leave the constraints of our inner Egypt, of the boundaries and limitations we set on ourselves, to sojourn to the promised land of the inner expanses of personal growth . . . Only to find that what was once our goal, has become our status quo, to further transcend for newer stages of growth.
🏃 DO:
🤝 Sell your Chametz online! It’s a super easy way to prep for Passover. Don’t wait!
🍪 Get your Seder in a Box or pick up some locally sourced hand made shmurah matzah! Orders are close Thursday evening!
🍷 Get a seat at the table! Join us for the Tech Tribe seder with the Lightstone family in our socially distant Tech Tribe HQ backyard space!
🎶 Join our special online concert on March 30, at 8pm!
💸 Please consider supporting Tech Tribe today.
🎧 Listen:
The meme may be old already, but this version slaps.
🐦 Tweet:
🎬 Watch:
The latest video I produced for Chabad.org
✍️ Letter:
A New column: Words of Wisdom and Letters of Thought from Chana Lightstone
It was towards the end of the summer. A friend said something to me about my patience when it came to the umpteenth set of clothes that one of my children had gotten filthy... I chuckled and replied, "Thank G-d for a fantastic washing machine - but favor, if you want to daven for the demise of my oven- it's been on its last leg for ages & I'm too stubborn to replace it until it's actually dead."
I thought nothing more of the conversation and continued cheerfully cooking despite severely damaged console buttons, several of which could no longer he pressed - such as the two used to adjust the temperature. But have no fear - we discovered that if you just press the "bake" button twice, it sets itself to 350 - and that's what we've been doing. Turning the oven off has been another ordeal as that button rests in another state of disrepair - yet we've also managed to game that system - a utensil pressed into the hole where the button used to be would activate the switch so that cooking could conclude - especially as the console had been discontinued and was not replaceable.
Pretty ridiculous with the amount of cooking done in this house, no? Mordechai gently suggested a replacement months ago. But I wouldn't hear of it. I'd mastered all the tricks and I would use my oven until the end - mark my word.
Finally erev Shabbat this past Friday, it happened. First thing in the morning we baked the challah. Then made chicken and gefilte fish and lokshen kugel. After a brief lunch break, it was time to pop in the potato kugel... We pressed "bake" twice and the oven lurched into action, the temperature lazily climbing to 100. But then... it failed to climb any more. The clock kept ticking but alas the oven temperature did not rise.
By now it was almost Shabbat. Here we stood in the kitchen with a raw kugel batter and a broken oven. Weren't we in quite the pickle? So whatever should we do, how could we possibly proceed?
First a moan and groan of frustration- whoever has the time to start researching ovens in such close proximity to Pesach (Passover)?
Pesach... Pesach...
And my lips turned up into a smile. "For everything there is a season..." Pesach when we scrub and scrub and scrub some more. But guess what doesn't require even the lightest dusting? A brand spanking new oven. And so I jumped for joy & screamed yippee. The children peeked in & I grabbed their hands, twirled them around in our very own little tango. They likely wouldn't be particularly excited about the prospect of a new oven - but children masterfully mirror moods. So we waltzed for a while and then turned the kugel batter into crispy latkes on the stovetop.
After Shabbos we ordered an oven that will greatly enhance the joy of Pesach. Mordechai celebrated my stubbornness and I thanked my friend for her prayers.
My blessing for one and all this Passover is that every challenge, small and large, should ultimately lead to greater good and greater joy. Every seeming setback should hold within it a springboard to leap to greater heights than previously imagined. Just like our forefathers left the shackles of Egypt, we should each actively work towards freedom from the modern day shackles of ego and pride. Lean over, crunch that matzah and internalize its message of humility and faith. And just wait for Shulchan Orech, the main meal. I cannot wait to share the meal with those of you who will be joining us in person for our outdoor, socially-distant Sedarim - and hopefully as more and more of us are vaccinated, we can join together for Shabbos meals at Tech Tribe HQ!! Sending love & wishes for a kosher and freilechn Pesach.
📚 Read:
✨ #ChaiSociety Members don’t miss Marc Chagall & The Rebbe: How Chabad Chasidic Thought Inspired Jewish Art
🎖️My memories about the Soviet General. What happens when you make a Seder for the last Jews of Šiauliai, Lithuania?
📺 Tech Tribe friend Alexandra Schwartz writes about The Haredi Jewish Family of “Shtisel” Returns for a Third Season.
🍪 Shmurah Matzah, Made in Texas Lone Star State now home to only handmade matzah bakery outside of the Northeast.
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