Ep. 494: How Do the Miracles and Redemption of Pesach Empower Us in Facing Our Current Challenges?

Rabbi Jacobson will discuss the following topics:
What does Pesach teach us today? 

• How do the miracles and redemption of Pesach empower us in dealing with our current challenges? 
• What is the main theme of Pesach? 
• Is it the joy of freedom from slavery or the lessons in humility from eating the matzoh? 
• Why don’t we do a thorough internal cleansing of any chometz left in our bodies before Pesach? 
• What is the best way to run a Seder? 
• Is it better to have an enjoyable experience even if we compromise some of the more stringent details? 
• Why are we constantly reminded that we were slaves in Egypt and idol worshippers when we’re not supposed to remind someone of their past sins?   
• Is the Egyptian exile a deeper concealment than that of the tzimtzum harishon? 
• Why are we not all wealthy today as the Jews were when they left Egypt? 
• Why are matzos, and Pesach food in general, so expensive? Is there a spiritual reason for this? 
• Is that why we call matzah “the bread of the impoverished”?! 
• Since Pesach and Nissan represent freedom and redemption, why are some of us bogged down with financial and other problems that make us feel like slaves? Where are our miracles?  
• How can we access the energy of Pesach to resolve our challenges and constraints – financial and otherwise? 
• What do we have to do to earn and deserve the geulah today? What can we learn from Geulas Mitzrayim in this regard? 

• Which was a bigger miracle, being saved from genocide at the hands of the Persians on Purim or at the hands of Pharaoh and the Egyptians on Pesach?  
• What can we learn from the way Moshe dealt with Egypt how we should deal with Hamas and Iran today? 
• What is the best way to thank G-d for the miracles of saving Israel from the Iran attack? 
• When we say Hallel during the seder can we have in mind the miracles of being protected from the Iranian missile attack? 
• Should we avoid celebrating the deaths of our enemies, learning from G-d rebuking the angels for singing when the Egyptians were drowning? 
• What benefit are the prophecies if they're vague and cryptic? 
• Can we give tzedakah on the condition that the hostages be released? 
• Is it possible that our prayers for the hostages are being blocked because of our own inequities? 
• Should we accept teshuva from the Hamas terrorists?  

• Why do we say that the generation that left Egypt had great Emunah? 
• Can Rabbi Jacobson please present a synopsis of a Pesach maamar?