Dear Friend,

We all love singing this song at our Pesach Seder.
"ברוך המקום ברוך הוא ברוך שנתן תורה לעמו ישראל ברוך הוא.. כנגד ארבעה בנים"
“Blessed is the Omnipresent, blessed be He! Blessed is He who gave the Torah to His people Israel, blessed be He! The Torah speaks of four children.”

On Pesach, we invite all the four types of children to the seder. Since the Torah addresses all of Israel, we must say that we all possess the “four children” within ourselves. We are in essence speaking to the wise, wicked, simple, and “unable to ask” elements that exist within every one of us. Our job is to positively influence and bring blessing to all of their lives. Therefore the word “Baruch” blessed is repeated four times near the four sons. [From the Rebbe's Haggadah by Chaim Miller]

Every Pesach, we receive the power to be truly free.

How can we break free from our past pain? In the past, we may have been apathetic like the wicked child or perhaps silent instead of speaking up for ourselves or others. This passage in the Haggadah reminds us to recognize that we are each Hashem's precious child and every experience in our lives is a blessing from G-d, [Yes, even from the time we were children]. We can recognize that it shaped us into who we are today. Let us learn from the past, accept ourselves and embrace every part of who we are to give us strength today.

In a letter of thanks, a JGR counselor [who had a rebellious history when she was a teenager] wrote to Susan, “One of the things that I remember you saying to me is: "You are not getting rid of that sixteen-year-old girl inside of you! Why would you? She's the one that gives you power, the one that pushes you forward and the one that helps you interact with fellow teenagers today!

At that moment, I realized that my strengths lie in the very challenges that seemed so dark at the moment. And it is because of the self-acceptance and validation that I was able to truly approach my campers this summer and accept them as well. As a result, they felt comfortable to open up and accept themselves! I thank you very much for that breakthrough and the 16-year-old girl in me is thankful to you as well. I finally stopped battling her and I've come to a place where I can hug her and fully accept her."

May we all have a truly liberating Pesach to breakthrough all of our limitations from our past and present and create a future of freedom and joy!

With much thanks & Shabbat Shalom wishes,

Nechama Laber
JGU Global Director

P.S. Please enjoy the Parsha inspiration by Tzipporah below.