Happy Chanukah!

HAPPY CHANUKAH!!

I know you think I copied and pasted this post from a few months ago and forgot to change the holiday. But really if you think about it, without Passover - there is no Chanukah! Or Purim! Or Rosh Hashanah! Or Yom Kippur! Or Sukkot! Or Shavuot!

So tonight we will say in the opening of the Haggadah, "If G-d had not taken us out of Egypt, we, our children and our grandchildren would be slaves to Pharoah in Egypt." The Exodus made it all possible.

So tonight we celebrate not just the individual holiday of Passover; we are celebrating Judaism itself. This is the celebration of our existence as a People, and as a Chosen, sacred People with precious, divine, timeless holidays and traditions - all thanks to the Exodus of Passover.

So tonight, as you munch the Matzah, gasp over the Maror and recline and enjoy the four cups of wine, raise your voice with no inhibition and declare your gratitude for everything Passover made possible:

1. Shofar and apples in honey
2. End-of-Yom-Kippur euphoria
3. Sukkah building and Lulav shaking
4. Simchat Torah dancing and twirling
5. Kiddush, Havdalah, Shul, Benny Friedman
6. Chanukah Gelt, Latkes and Jelly Donuts
7. Hamantaschen, costumes, Megillah readings and Mishloach Manot
8. Chametz burning, firstborn fasts, Matzah balls and Afikomen jackpots
9. Omer counting, Shavuos cheesecake, the ten commandments
10. Chupahs, Bar Mitzvahs, Bat Mitzvahs, Brits, Kippahs, Tzitzit, Shabbat Candles
11. Jewish day camp, birthright trips, Israel vacations, alef-bet charts, Lag Baomer bonfires
12. Jewish names, Jewish birthdays, Yiddishisms, Hebrew language, Hebrew School
13. Kosher delis, Kosher sushi, Kosher chinese, Sandy Koufax, Hank Greenberg
14. Mezuzahs, Tefillin, Torah scribes, Torah dedications, Torah readings, Torah crowns 
15. You fill in the rest, the list is endless...

Yes, all of the above is only because tonight, 3,326 years ago, we celebrated the first Seder and the next day G-d took us out of slavery, to freedom, to Mt. Sinai and to Yiddishkeit.

Wishing you a Kosher and happy Passover, and an exuberant and celebratory "Jewish always!" 

Rabbi Eli Friedman
Chabad of Calabasas