Numbers in the Haggadah
1 sandwich, 2 times saying Hallel and 2 times washing hands, 3 matzot, 4 cups of wine and 4 sons, 5 books to the Torah, 6 items on the seder plate, 7 days celebrating, 8 -it’s beyond the natural realm, 9 months of pregnancy to tell a child the Pesach story, 10 plagues, and infinite ways to tell the story of leaving Mitzrayim. Join Rabbi Avraham Shira as he explores numbers in the Haggadah.
Access our full pre-Pesach Seder 2023 special program schedule HERE.
Numbers in the Haggadah: Numbers in the Haggadah Event
Shalom and welcome to a two part series on Numbers in the Haggada of Passover.
Tonight we will explore the nature of numbers through the Kabbalah, in ways that we might not have heard before. At the symbolic level how do numbers perform their jobs, how do they serve us, how do we conceive of numbers too great for the mind to conveive, and how do numbers play a role in the great festival of freedom, Pesach? We will, as is our custom, attempt to meditate on these ideas after the learning and invite you all to a pre-Pesach taste of freedom, for once we understand numbers, they can no longer ‘rule’ us, but become tools to further our understanding of the greatness of our Creator and the Jewish role in the world.
Look forward to seeing you all there.
Numbers in the Haggadah: Numbers in the Haggadah Event
Welcome to our second class on Pesach and Numbers.
Let’s call it, “The Exponential Pesach” and tonight we will explore why. The names and numbers of the Haggada demand understanding.
In last week’s class, we discussed the significance of the numbers four and seven in the Haggada, the four cups of wine, four sons, four directions, four states of reaching for Expanded Consciousness. Each of these ideas is embedded in its series, that all of us contain all four levels.
Tonight we will take this idea further, to ask the question about the expansion of miracles at the Yam Suf, Sea of Reeds, and the different ways the Sages of the Haggada understand the counting of miracles, perhaps this will bless us with a new understanding of miracles in general. The final question is, what is the deep connection between miracles and Freedom/Redemption.
Look forward to seeing you there.
Avraham Shira
Rabbi Avraham Shira received smicha from Rabbi Benayahu Shmueli, Rosh Yeshivat HaMekubalim, Nahar Shalom, in Jerusalem. He has been a student and teacher in the Yeshiva since 1993. Since 1996 he has taught for twelve years at the Berot Bat Ayin Seminary, specializing in Likutei Moharan, and conducting workshops in meditation, and spiritual creative writing. He has also received a Masters Degree in Clinical Sociology & Family Therapy from the University of North Texas, Neve Yerushalayim Campus. Rabbi Shira has published a novel and translates a newsletter for Nahar Shalom. He lives with his wife, Elisheva and their five children in Bat Ayin, Gush Etzion.