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Question of the Week:

At my seder no one understands Hebrew, so we read the Haggadah in English. My cousin who is fluent in Hebrew says that we miss much of the richness and depth of the story by reading it in translation. Apparently there are deeper lessons that can only be found in the Hebrew. What does he mean?
 
Answer:
 
In every English version of the Haggadah that I have seen, there is one word that is always translated incorrectly.
 
When listing the Ten Plagues that smote the Egyptians, second one in Hebrew is called Tzefardeya. This is always translated as Frogs. But the original Hebrew is in the singular. The translation should be Frog.
 
Now indeed, it is a little awkward to translate it literally. One frog hopping around does not seem like much of a plague. And to be fair, in many languages the singular form can denote a group, so perhaps Frog can mean Frogs. But there must be a reason why the Haggadah calls this plague the plague of a frog. Lice is in plural, so why is frog singular?
 
The talmudic tradition answers that actually, the plague of frogs started with one single frog. A large frog emerged from the Nile River. The Egyptians saw it, and knowing that Moses had warned them there would be a plague of frogs, attacked the giant frog with sticks. As they struck the frog, it started spewing hundreds and thousands of little frogs, which quickly spread over the entire land. The more they hit, the more frogs appeared.
 
So indeed the plague started with a frog singular. It was the Egyptian reaction that caused frogs plural.
 
Those foolish Egyptians were attacking the frog, but ignoring its root cause. The plagues were only coming because the Egyptians refused to let the Israelites go free. But rather than taking a hard look at themselves and changing their cruel behaviour, the Egyptians looked at this big frog and tried to kill it. Which only led to more frogs.
 
There is a deep message behind this rather odd episode. Because so often we do the same silly thing as those Egyptians did. Rather than deal with our problems, we try to take away the consequences. We attack the symptoms but not the cause, the outside manifestation of an issue rather than our own part in it. And things only get worse
 
We get upset at our spouse for pointing out our flaws, rather than facing the flaws themselves.
 
We lose patience with our kids who are misbehaving, while the main reason for their playing up is because we don't have patience to really listen to them in the first place.
 
We throw sharp objects at our computer for taking too long to warm up just when we need to view an important document for a meeting starting in two minutes. And then for some reason the computer doesn't work at all.
 
We hit these frogs, and all we get is more frogs.
 
The Haggadah is full of such powerful lessons. It is worth studying it in detail, and there are many excellent English translations with commentaries that bring out the deeper meanings.  The above is just an example of how even one word in the Haggadah can teach us volumes. Don't look at the frog. Look at yourself.

Good Shabbos,
Rabbi Moss



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SHABBAT SERVICES TIMES AND COMMUNITY INFO
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Friday, 31 March, 2017 | 4 Nissan 5777
Candle Lighting............. 6:34pm (*Earliest 5:45pm)  
Mincha......................... 6:15pm
Friday Evening Service.... 6:30pm
Followed by
Kiddush in honor of Karen Uziel's grandmother, Chaya Handelsman, who passed away one week ago today. 
She was a kind and loving person, always devoted and doting to her family. A Holocaust survivor, she was an extremely resilient and strong woman, both physically and emotionally. We love her, will miss her, and hope she will finally be reunited her late husband, Yisroel. 

Shabbos, 1 April, 2017 | 5 Nissan 5777
In depth Parsha Class............... 9:00am
Children's program ................. 10:45am
Shabbos Morning Service ........ 10:00am- 12:20pm  
Kiddush in honour of Josh & Orly who are returning to the U.S, and to celebrate Orly's 30th birthday!- Mazal Tov! Sponsored by their Nefesh friends. 
Also sponsored by Greg & Simone Moshal in honour of the birth and naming of their daughter Alexa (Esther)- Mazal Tov!
 
Mincha followed by Seudah Shlishis ........   6:30pm
Gematria and story by Rev Amzalak........... 6:50pm
Shiur with Rabbi Moss, The Lost Haggadah ... 7:10pm
Shabbos ends and Maariv........................ 7:27pm
Followed by Havdalah
 
WEEKDAY SHACHARIS SERVICES
Sunday............................. 8:00am (Daylight saving ends)
Mon- Fri............................ 7:00am
Latest Shema this week....... 10:00am
 
WEEKDAY CLASSES
Monday Chassidus Class ......... 8:00-8:45am

MAZEL TOV TO
Dovi and Janine Diamond and families on the birth of a baby girl!
 
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO
Shaul Creighton........ 6 Nissan/Sunday 2 April
Ben Cohen............... 6 Nissan/Sunday 2 April
Natalie Cromer.......... 7 Nissan/Monday 3 April
Nisya Richman.......... 9 Nissan/Wednesday 5 April
 
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO
Elana Castle & Grant Smuts... 8 Nissan/Tuesday  4 April
David & Joanna Landau......... 9 Nissan/Wednesday 5 April
Sarah & Matt Michael............ 9 Nissan/Wednesday 5 April
Monique & Daniel Krochmalik ..12 Nissan/Saturday 8 April

CONDOLENCES TO
Karen Uziel on the passing of her grandmother last week in Israel- Long Life.
 
LONG LIFE TO
Jaqueline Eliovson for her late mother Bessie Behrman
Basha Bat Yaacov............... 7 Nissan/Monday 3 April

Brent Maksimovich for his late grandfather Alexander Mekler
Alexander ben Yaacov v'Sima.... 8 Nissan/Tuesday 4 April

David and Rene Bermeister for their late son Wayne Bermeister
Zeev ben David.................. 9 Nissan/Wednesday 5 April

Gail Simpson for her late mother Freda Kloss
Fruma Hannah bat Avraham...... 9 Nissan/Wednesday 5 April

Judi Berman for her late mother, Ellen Schuftan
Leah Bat Yehuda..... 11 Nissan/Friday 7 April     Friday 7 April

Leslie Tanchum for his late brother, Nathan Tanchum
Natan Nota ben Bentzion............ 12 Nissan/Saturday 8 April
 
PLEASE NOTE- FRIDAY NIGHT SERVICES RETURN TO WINTER TIMES 
FROM NEXT WEEK  

FRIDAY EVENING SERVICE 6:00PM