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Rabbi Yehuda {Leonard} Blank MS, BCC
Vice President of Professional Development and External Affairs
Chair of the Chaplaincy Commission
Rabbinical Alliance of America/Igud HaRabbonim
917-446-2126 rablenblank@gmail.com
<><><> April 3, 2025, Nisan 5, 5785<><><>
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Before I begin, I join Klal Yisrael in offering our Tefilos for a Refuah Sheleima for Pinchas Rephael ben Sara. We offer our nechama to Mr. Sidney Saada, husband of Natasha (Sara) Saada A”H, father of 7-year-old daughter Diana A”H and 5-year-old daughter Debra A”H. Aside from her son who needs a refuah, the niftar leave behind two surviving sons, Philip and Jacob. The unbearable loss is also felt by Natasha’s parents, Jack and Shahin Assil, and her siblings, Anoshka Saada, David Assil, and Sammy Assil.
Tremendous Hakaros hatov must be given to Mayor Eric Adams, to CAU Commissioner Fred Kreizman, Deputy Chief of Staff, Menashe Shapiro, NYPD Deputy Chief Richie Taylor, and Rabbi Raphael Netanel, a leading Sephardic askan, all who have been at the forefront of supporting the family since the moment tragedy struck. Of course, much gratitude to Hatzalah, Misaskim, Chesed Shel Emes, Shomrim, Chaverim and others who have been involved in many different ways. There are many other organizations and askonim who are involved in one way or another such as Chai Lifeline Sephardic Division for all of their vital work especially with the youth and their families on dealing with such challenging situations. All of the above, Mayor Adams. Commissioner Kriezman, Chief of Staff Shapiro, Deputy Chief Taylor and Rabbi Netanel displayed heartwarming, caring and devotion wanting to help in any way possible with humbleness and sincerity. The Yeshiva World reports that Rabbi David Ozeri, one of the leading Sephardic Rabbonim, broke down in tears as he described the depths of tragedy and expressed his gratitude to Mayor Adams for his compassion and for personally visiting the bereaved family.
We offer our nechama to the entire Saada mishpacha and to the entire community at large. As mentioned in the hespeidim, only Hakadosh Baruch Hu knows the reason of what happened and as difficult as it might be, there are millions of questions being asked WHY? We can only say I don’t know why but we can all share our grief and our tears together, sharing the loss of of three pure neshamos. The lives of an entire mishpacha and an entire community will never be the same. Hopefully with continued tremendous support, with hope, with emunah and betachon their lives will heal. However, the person who tragically caused this calamity to happen, the rest of her life will never be the same. Could this have been prevented?
At this time it is important for Klal Yisrael to continue to be mispallel for Shalom al Yisrael, for refuos, for simchas hachaim, for parnasah, for good health, for shidduchim and for all the good things we are mispallel for throughout the year. Let us continue to seek Chaveirim kol Yisrael and Am Yisrael Chai. Let us be mispallel that when we open the door for Eliyahu HaNovi, he will actually be by the door to tell us that Moshiach is on his way.
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Nostalgia- Remembering When It Were Just Like Yesterday.
Remembering the past or Living in the Past.
What will our grandchildren and great grandchildren
remember of this Pesach season.
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When I speak of the Pesach season, I am referring to all the days leading up to the Yom Tov of Pesach which includes all the shopping and other preparations. I would like to share some of my own experiences from my youth and on. But first I want to address what I mean by living in the past.
As a rabbi of a shul and a chaplain, it would not be unusual for someone to share how he or she misses the days of old with such vivid recollections. Those days were what we call the “Golden Years” that seemed to some so much better than present. I recently met such a person who asked me to share everything I remember from the Lower East Side and how much better life was. He told me every time he would reminisce brought him closer to those years when everything was so much better. He did share with me why he felt that way but it would certainly need some intervention. It is important to recognize the difference between remembering the past and living in the past. It is important for a rabbi, rebbetzin and of course a chaplain to take note and explore various aspects including body language who we are ministering to and why the past is more important than his present life. What is also important to know is what to do and who to refer him if necessary. We are not always able to “fix” life but we can be of tremendous help even by listening to him. There could be various reasons why a person is “stuck” in the past and unable to move. In the short time I spent with him he shared his difficulty physically and how much more he was able to do years before. He shared with me some of his difficulties with his spouse and the happiness he had before his marriage.
Fast forward, after listening to him, we touched upon positive areas from the years before and some of the positive aspects of his life at the present. We spoke about how he could make the forthcoming Pesach holiday as joyful as possible. Most of all it is important to find activities they would both enjoy. Actually, they found common ground watching their budget and ordered prepared meals and other items they could use and afford. They actually were able to combine different parts of Pesach similar to their past and have fun doing so. I also gave some suggestions of minimizing preparing the kitchen and dining area and showed (ok this might seem funny) how the bathroom was an area with less items or none that were not chamatzdik.
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But first I don’t think I mentioned this in my dedication to my mother on her yartzeit. Both she and my sister would say the three stars are out and it is time to recite “Gut foon Avraham” every Motzei Shabbos. They knew every word by heart. From Artscroll. “It was customary in many European communities for the women to recite the following prayer for a successful week, before Havdalah. Since women generally did not recite the Maariv service, they would follow this prayer with Baruch Hamavdil Bein Kodesh Lchol”, Blessed is He Who separates between sacred and secular, as a substitute for Ataw Chonantanu, You have graciously given.” While preparing this article I thought of the past and remembered it being recited with immense kavanah. When I was growing up my parents A”H would share with me the beautiful things that meant so much to them in the Pesach season. Every year for Pesach my mother had the kitchen painted white. It was not a large kitchen but enough to hold all the necessary kitchen items and appliances. The seltzer man removed all the used seltzer and most of the seltzer bottles were already used up. Interestingly enough, though we had an elevator the seltzer man insisted on climbing up the stairs. Practically, everything was homemade and kept separate until Pesach time. We used to drink Kedem Raspberry syrup with cold water. Later on, as the going says, came Cott Soda the very first soda kosher for Pesach. Of course there was the Batampte Delux jar of kraut and sour tomatoes plus some other items many used to purchase. Everything had to have a well known hashgacha or was made at home. Unlike today where there are thousands of items to be bought. Our handmade shmurah matzah came from the Dembitzer Rebbe who we were close to and to whom we sold our chametz to. I always went with my father to sell the chametz and would watch in amazement as the Rebbe took out his sheets from the year before to ensure nothing was missed. He was extremely meticulous and took a long time to ensure everything was strictly AOK and then he would give us handmade shmurah matzah that was wrapped up in brown paper. All the time the Rebbetzin was either cleaning or baking some cookies (pesachdick of course) or would want to speak to my parents or myself. She only spoke Yiddish as did the Rebbe. For special Pesach shopping we went to Horowitz Margareten in Long Island City. Machine shmurah was special, with each matzah in a separate sleeve in a box. For a special treat we bought a piece of cake by the local kosher bakery. Pesachdika cake was often brittle and sometimes crumbing and so on. Through the years Pesachdika cake and cookies came a long way to being almost more like regular bakery items. Time does change – for the better and for the tastier and of course more expensive but now there are so many kosher for Pesach supermarkets with great sales. Competition is healthy. I once read an article about a mother and a daughter who went shopping for Pesach items together. The mother told her younger daughter to pick out those items she would like to have as real comfort food. Well she did, and her mother laughed put back almost all the items onto the shelves. The daughter collected pizza, challah, blintzes and all kinds of pasta with cream and tomato sauce. It was as if it they were shopping for the regular week not for Pesach. Even going places for Chol Hamoed has changed. What started out as simple family gatherings ended up now going to concerts, theme parks, amusement parks and so on. I was part of whatever my family preparing for Pesach. By the way, my mother made her own gefilte fish. We went to the kosher fish man (monger) to pick out fresh live fish that got clobbered on the head until it stop flipping around. Sometimes my mother would purchase different fish. The fish man would clean the fish. Only rarely did my mother bring home a live fish which was swimming in the bathtub and that in itself is a story to be told.
Pesach is for children (of all ages) especially the young ones. For me it was always a Yom Tov I looked forward to. I suppose my parents made my Yom Tov feel special even when we did not spend tons of money. I almost forgot about purchasing wine. On the Lower East Side there was Ganeles Lenger Wine and Hirsh Wine on Norfolk Street, on the other side of Delancey Street was Kedem Wines and on Rivington Street was Shapiro Wine – “the wine you could slice with a knife”. There was also part of the wine history Royal Wine and of course Kedem which my father and I went to. Going into their large store with very high ceilings and huge gallons of casks of wine that I suppose were fermenting. There was a table of different wines to taste (none from the connoisseur wines of today). There was mead wine from honey, wine with different types of alcohol, Malaga, Concord, Eggnog Wine and so much more. The original Mr. Herzog used to come by and sit in his office often speaking to the customers. I have to call Kedem to find out if they still make the eggnog wine. It was yellowish and kind of tasty. There are so many things to reminisce about and that is what makes Pesach so special. What will our present day children, grandchildren etc. remember about their Pesach experiences?
Please invite those who are alone for the Sedorim and any of the Pesach meals. Please seek volunteers who could help with any of the preparations, especially for the elderly and those who are not mobile
Thank you. Have a wonderful Pesach.
Sincerely, Rabbi Yehuda Blank