Will
The
Wicked
The Holy Temple - Its
prosper While The
History, Importance
righTeous suffer?
Structure
and
The
seder
plATe: A kAbbAlisTic
‫ב”ה‬
And hAlAchik ApproAch
hAndouT
Topics To be Addressed
1. And Jacob awakened from his sleep, and he
“Indeed, the Lord is in this place, and
• said,
TheKabbalisticSederPlate
6.Rabbi Eliezer said: The Divine Presence never
departed from the Temple…Even when [the
I did not know [it].” And he was frightened,
Temple] is destroyed, it remains in its sanche said, “How awesome is this place! This
tity... Even when it is destroyed, God does
• and
KabbalisticsignificanceofplacingtheSederPlateonthematza
is none other than the house of God, and this
not leave it. Rebbe Acha said: The Shechina
the gate of heaven.”
(Divine Presence) will never depart from the
• isThedifferencebetweentheenergyandrecipient
Western Wall.
Genesis, 28:16-17
• Thewho,what,whereandwhenoftheSederPlate
Midrash Rabba, Exodus 2:2
2.A person must stand facing Isreal…He should
have the intention of facing Jerusalem, the
7.It is universally accepted that the place on
Temple, and the Holy of Holies…all Jews direct
their prayers to one place Jerusalem and the
Holy of Holies, because this is the “gateway
to heaven,” since all prayers rise up in this
direction.
which David and Solomon built the Altar, the
threshing floor of Ornan, is the location where
Abraham built the Altar on which he prepared
Isaac for sacrifice. Noah built [an altar] on
that location when he left the ark. It was also
[the place] of the Altar on which Cain and
The Abel
Festival
sacrifice
was
eaten prior
brought
sacrifices.
[Similarly,]
Adam, the
to the
Pesach
sacrifice.
Why?
Soand
that
first man, offered a sacrifice there
was
created at
that verybe
spot.
the Pesach
sacrifice
eaten after the
sources To be ciTed
TexT 1
Shulchan
alludesKitzur
to the
keili Aruch 18:10
The matzah
(receptacle).
What is placedis atop
3.
It is from the Shechinah which
clothed in
the
to]Holies…that
ohr (Divine
thematzah
shrine of[alludes
the Holy of
light
and
vitality
are
extended
and
diffused
energy). It is therefore customary to
tothe
whole
world
and
the
creatures
contained
use concave-shaped matzah (so that
therein, the souls, angels, and so forth.
the
matzah can serve as a receptacle to
Tanya, Chapter 51 & 52
Divine energy).
(L T
i Ku
i Ta’a were
mi m u
’mi n h agifor
m,our
Y i Sade
r)
4.
en Te
miracles
performed
forefa-
thers in the Holy Temple: …They stood crowded but had ample space in which to prostrate
themselves. Never did a snake or scorpion
The
maror
be placed
on
theever
cause
injuryshould
in Jerusalem.
And no
man
said
to hisoffellow
“My lodging
in Jerusalem
left
[side
the Seder
Plate]
since it is
cramped for me.”of] harshness and
is too
[a representation
TexT 2
discipline?
Pirkei Avot 5:5
When
a person cries out of the
5.
The measure of the Aron HaKodesh was not
bitterness
his
heart,
how[of
hethe
is span
far from
included inof
the
total
measure
of
G-d
[and wants
to rectify the situation],
the Kodesh
HaKadoshim].
he elicits [from Above] abundant
mercy.
Tractate Yoma,
21:A
(L i Ku Te i Ta’a mi m u ’mi n h agi m,
Tac hTaY hem )
TexT 3
appetite is satisfied.
Maimonides, Beis Habechirah, 2:2
(T racTaTe Pe Sach im, 70 a)
8.Why was the first Sanctuary destroyed? Because of three [evil] things which prevailed
TexT
there: 4
idolatry, immorality, bloodshed… But
was the
second
Sanctuary
destroyed,
Andwhy
on this
night,
they
shall eat
the
seeing
that
in
its
time
they
were
occupyflesh, roasted over the fire.
ing themselves with Torah, [observance of]
precepts, and the practice of charity? Because therein prevailed hatred without cause.
That teaches you that groundless hatred is
considered as of even gravity with the three
sins of idolatry, immorality, and bloodshed
Andtogether.
I will redeem you with an
(e xo du S, 12 : 8)
TexT 5
outstretched arm.
(e xo du S, 6: 6)
Tractate Yoma, 9:B
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2
3
5
6
4
7
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