OUR SPIRITUAL LEADER: MICHAEL FELDMAN
Meet Michael
An Invitation to Connect
An Invitation to Connect
Michael J. Feldman became the Spiritual Leader of Temple B’nai Emet in early 2025 and performs both rabbinical and cantorial functions during services. His dedication to connecting prayer with a sense of community has led him to deeper study of liturgy for many years, while also teaching and giving drashot/sermons.
An Invitation to Connect
An Invitation to Connect
An Invitation to Connect
“I invite everyone interested in learning and growing in the Jewish tradition through warmth of community at Temple B’nai Emet,” said Feldman. “I understand that many among our communities may feel disillusioned with religious life, and that prayer and other ritual can feel hollow or disconnected from our daily lives. That’s why, rather
“I invite everyone interested in learning and growing in the Jewish tradition through warmth of community at Temple B’nai Emet,” said Feldman. “I understand that many among our communities may feel disillusioned with religious life, and that prayer and other ritual can feel hollow or disconnected from our daily lives. That’s why, rather than just recite the historic words, it is important that we connect beyond words so that the depth and benefits of the Jewish liturgies are personally meaningful, impacting with strength of faith and the confidence to question what can make us the best version of ourselves.”
Talmudic Tradition
An Invitation to Connect
Talmudic Tradition
Spiritual Leader Feldman is currently on the ordination track at Ziegler School for Rabbinic Studies, with a passion for finding common ground and emotional validation between diverse, even conflicting views. He is always looking for opportunities to help people reconcile their own practical and spiritual needs. Spiritual Leader Feldman i
Spiritual Leader Feldman is currently on the ordination track at Ziegler School for Rabbinic Studies, with a passion for finding common ground and emotional validation between diverse, even conflicting views. He is always looking for opportunities to help people reconcile their own practical and spiritual needs. Spiritual Leader Feldman is married, with three children, and a member of the California Bar Association.
a message from our SPIRITUAL LEADER
ADAR / NISSAN 5786
Dear Temple B’nai Emet family,
Passover is coming! Read on for the various dates and what we can do in our synagogue and in our homes to prepare for and celebrate them. It is my mission in these pages to explain the timing and practices and help you understand their significance—but if you find any of this overwhelming, know that your sanity comes first! I will help you find which practices most work for you. And I am building in multiple learning and questions and answer dates.
I recommend that you keep this guide handy, either by hard copy or online (I’ll send both!). This is information that you can come back to as necessary and do not need to read all at once.
Between Purim and Passover
18 Adar–11 Nissan Sat., March 7–29
18 Adar Saturday, March 7: 9:30 am
Temple B’nai Emet morning services (including Parshat Parah)
19 Adar Sunday, March 8: 9:00 am
Miller Intro to Judaism Class on Passover (in person, with model Seder)
25 Adar Saturday, March 14: 9:30 am
Temple B’nai Emet morning services (including Parshat HaChodesh)
26 Adar Sunday, March 15: 9:00 am
Passover Question and Answer Session (Zoom for all)
10 Nissan Saturday, March 28: 9:30 am
Temple B’nai Emet morning services (Shabbat HaGadol)
11 Nissan Sunday, March 29: 9:00 am
“Shabbat HaGadol” Drashah – spiritual Passover teaching (Zoom for all)
Just like we had before Purim, there are two more special readings in addition to the regular Shabbat Torah to help us prepare for Passover:
Parshat Parah features the parah adumah, the entirely red heifer, and the enigmatic way it was used to purify those that encountered a dead body. In Temple times, the Pascal sacrifice was the one offering in which every household participated, and purification before Temple worship became a matter of community. Nowadays, we read about these ancient practices, while devoting ourselves to purification in other ways, including cleaning our homes, and readying ourselves spiritually for the momentous holiday. This reading is always the first Shabbat after Purim, when our seasonal focus is fully set upon Passover.
Parshat HaChodesh refers to the month (HaChodesh), that is, what we now call Nissan, the first of the months in the Hebrew calendar. Rosh HaShanah marks a new year for the world, but our journey as a people begins with the month of our origin story. The reading features the special designation of this month along with details of the coming Passover rituals. Naturally, if the first of Nissan lands on Shabbat, that is when this portion is read. However, during most years, including this one, that date falls on a weekday, and instead read the portion on the Shabbat that immediately precedes Nissan.
During the weekdays (including Sundays) of this preparatory time, I strongly encourage everyone to try to rid their homes of “chametz” (leavened products with wheat gluten or oats). It’s a good excuse for spring cleaning! It is also a good time to stop eating away from the table. And there are special ways to “kasher” (make kosher) certain types of kitchenware that came into contact with chametz so that they can be used on Passover according to tradition. Talk to me if you are interested in doing so—it can be used for getting your home generally kosher too!
Another key procedure is to arrange for the temporary sale of any chametz you might continue to have in your home during Passover. All such goods should be stored in designated spots where they are not seen during the holiday and become legally not yours—making it theft if you were to take any. The synagogue will help you conduct such a sale—please see the form in this Newsletter and available on the website.
Yes, this is a lot. Keeping kosher for Passover (i.e., keeping everything free from chametz) is actually more traditionally significant than other kosher rules like separating meat and milk. It is a clearer sign of devotion to peoplehood, explicitly tied to our origin story. But, again, this should not compromise your sanity! If you are new to any of this, please contact me and I will assist you as best I can. There are many resources. I would only have you do what you are ready to do, selecting practices of greatest importance to tradition and to yourself.
To help with all of this, I am reserving Sunday morning learning time on March 15 for a Passover question and answer session by Zoom, instead of the usual Intro class, and open to all.
The last Shabbat before Passover is “Shabbat HaGadol”, the “great” Shabbat, featuring a special Haftarah to get us more in the Passover mood, and traditionally featuring a special “Drasha”, a sermonic Torah lesson in the late afternoon. We will instead have a special Zoom lesson the next morning (in place of the normally scheduled Intro class, but open to all), helping everybody get the most meaning out of their Seder tables and the Passover holiday generally.
Erev Pesach (Passover Eve)
14 Nissan Tues, March 31, 7:13 pm to Wed, April 1, 7:13 pm
Tuesday, March 31: 7:41 pm
Earliest time to conduct formal search for chametz
Wednesday, April 1: Time varies (between about 6:30 am and 9 am)
Morning services and “Siyyum Bekhorim”
Time to no longer eat chametz: 10:50 am
Time to no longer possess chametz: 11:53 am
Time to finish lighting new flames: 6:55 pm
The 24 hours before Passover begins is likely the most important holiday prep day and deserves as much time off as you can afford. In fact, it is considered in many ways its own holiday, and is the day when the Pascal lamb was actually sacrificed. Nowadays, it is notable for its many “last moments” for chametz. The final search, held when it is dark (for dramatic use of candlelight or other small light source), employs a token use of about ten pieces of bread. The procedures and blessings are featured in the beginning of most Haggadah’s. (If you need help finding or understanding a Haggadah—the guide to Passover rituals, especially the Seder night and its stories—please contact me.)
The daylight portion of Passover Eve features Tzom Bekhorim—Fast of the Firstborn. Traditionally, this is an obligation on an oldest child if that child is male, in memory of escaping the Egyptian fate in the last of the ten “plagues”. Unlike other fasts, this can be overridden by a Seudat Mitzvah, a “required” meal. It has thus become traditional after morning services to learn the end of a full section of Talmudic text, which prompts a celebratory meal for all (firstborn, male, or not)! Please contact me if you want an option (live or remote) to take part in any of this.
We are only supposed to eat chametz this day during the first third of daylight hours, and we are expected to be rid of all chametz shortly after that. Traditionally, we fully say goodbye to chametz by burning, but burning is not essential and is only done if safe and not interfering with items you will use for Passover. There are further declarations to fully disown chametz, also in the Haggadah. Why the drama around chametz? Technically, this is because of the very stringent wording of the Torah about ridding ourselves of it—we are not to eat it, own it, or see it in our homes. But spiritually, it is also a way of making Passover a truly unique and designated experience, a special time of year for which we make boundaries from the ordinary and engage in the extraordinary, a time when the very things we eat are tied to our deepest religious identity.
By the time you move into the second half of the day, hopefully you are no longer concerned with chametz and are now ready to prepare for the holiday! If you are conducting your own Seder table, there’s plenty left to do. If you are new to a lot of these practices (or just have a lot going on), it would be good to give yourself a break ahead of time and seek help finding a host for a Seder table. There are plenty of community Seders in West Los Angeles. Contact me and we can see about a personal or public host for you. Similarly, if you would like to welcome fellow TBE members to your table, I would be very happy to assist. One should save the specialness of matzah for the Seder. This creates a purposeful culinary no-mans-land of no bread product at all for much of the day. Proteins and veggies are your friends! Seder meals tend to be late, so a healthy late lunch or snack is a good idea.
Note that, unlike on Shabbat, one may light holiday candles even after a holiday starts, as long as one keeps a different fire burning to use. (No new flames, but using fire is fine.)
Pesach (Passover) Day 1 - 15 Nissan Wed, April 1, 7:13 pm to Thurs, April 2, 7:52 pm
FIRST SEDER:
Wednesday, April 1: 7:41 pm
Earliest traditional time to begin Seder night rituals
Thursday, April 2: 12:55 am
Latest time to end Seder night rituals
Thursday, April 2: 10:00 am
Temple B’nai Emet morning services (including annual prayer for Dew)
SECOND SEDER:
Thursday, April 2: 7:42 pm
Earliest time to prepare for second Seder night rituals
The Seder night is the ultimate religiously Jewish meal experience. If feasible, per tradition, we wait until it is truly dark to say Kiddush and other formal blessings and rituals of the night. This is in keeping with the excitement and rush of the midnight Exodus. However, starting the entire evening at that point is difficult for many. Even the most traditional and timekeeping families will often read parts of the Haggadah before dark, or even before Passover officially starts, so that everyone can have a leisurely discussion about them without worrying about delaying food. Please consult with me or other resources for more information about the best things to do only at the “official” table, but the short answer is, save the official blessings (lines that start with “Baruch atah…”) and save (or repeat) at least enough of the story that the official table has a sense of our sorrowful beginnings and our hopeful journey to freedom and praise. But if you find other ways of engaging that are genuine and meaningful to you, most in our Movement (including myself) endorse the spirit of the law as more important than the letter. The Haggadah is an incredibly deep work – don’t expect to “get” it all. Have fun with it!
TBE will start services 30 minutes later than usual the next morning, at 10:00 am, to allow a little recovery from a heck of a night! Please be on time, as this is the one Passover day where we say the full version of Hallel, our joyous, song-filled extra praises. The Torah reading captures the drama of the last “plague” and our forceful Exodus, and their connection with matzah and other aspects of Passover rituals. And our Musaf Amidah repetition features the unique, annual, and musically beautiful Tefilat Tal, Prayer for Dew, marking our seasonal transition away from heavy rain and toward the need for every precious natural droplet.
Pesach (Passover) Day 2 - 16 Nissan Thurs, April 2, 7:52 pm to Fri, April 3, 7:14 pm
SECOND SEDER:
Thursday, April 2: 7:52 pm
Earliest time to begin Seder night rituals or count Omer
Friday, April 3:
Latest time to end Seder night rituals 12:55 am
Time to light candles for Shabbat 6:56 pm
There has long been a tradition to observe the restrictions and requirements of the big holiday assembly days—including the first and last days of Passover—for a full additional day to compensate for ancient confusions about the actual start times. Nowadays, for many reasons, many, including in our Movement, no longer keep this practice. TBE does not generally hold services on these additional days. However, if you find spiritual meaning or obligation in keeping the additional days, I encourage your practice. The second night of Passover is an opportunity to have an entire additional Seder. Just be mindful that pretty much every rabbi agrees, whether they advocate for the additional days or not, that no “additional day” observance should come at the expense of your observance of the original, Biblical day (or your wellbeing).
An interesting and brief ritual that begins on this day, regardless of whether you keep the “additional day” of the assembly, is the counting of the Omer. This originally refers to a seven-week Biblical harvest ritual that led up to the holiday of the first fruits, the holiday of Weeks—Shavuot. Nowadays, even without the harvest ritual, we connect Passover with Shavuot as a sacred period between Exodus and Revelation, saying a special blessing and counting each day, preferably at night when the “day” begins. I can say more by email when it comes.
Shabbat, Pesach (Passover) Day 3 - 17 Nissan Fri, April 3, 7:14 pm to Sat, April 4, 7:54 pm
Saturday, April 4:
Temple B’nai Emet morning services 9:30 am
(including Song of Songs)
Earliest time to say Havdalah 7:54 pm
The first chance we have to come together for the wonderful, more relaxed remaining days of Passover will be on Shabbat, at our usual 9:30 am time. This features a shorter version of Hallel and our annual reading of Shir HaShirim, Song of Songs, a work of romantic and erotic poetry celebrating springtime and an allegorical relationship between Israel and God.
Pesach (Passover) Days 4-6 - 18-20 Nissan Sat, April 4, 7:54 pm to Tues, April 7, 7:18 pm
Sunday, April 5:
Special Temple B’nai Emet learning “Chol HaMoed” morning services 9:00 am
Tuesday, April 7:
Time to finish lighting new flames 7:00 pm
The more “ordinary” days of Passover are still Passover! Unlike the first and last days of the holiday, it’s traditionally okay to work as reasonable, although one is highly encouraged to take vacation days and have fun if you can afford it. Our prayers on these days include many of the beautiful holiday additions, while maintaining the core weekday requests that keep us in touch with our longings. How exactly does that work? Come on Sunday morning and do it with us! We will have a strictly timed 2-hour block to learn and pray together (in person if enough interest, with a Zoom option regardless). The goal is to have you can walk away with ways to find meaning for the rest of the holiday and throughout your weekday prayers the entire year.
Pesach (Passover) Day 7 - 21 Nissan Tues, April 7, 7:18 pm to Wed, April 8, 7:57 pm
Wednesday, April 8:
Temple B’nai Emet morning services
(including Yizkor) 9:30 am
The last Biblical assembly day of the holiday features a special reading of the Reed Sea split and Song of the Sea, the culmination of the Exodus story. As with the end to each of our harvest festivals, we take time to say Yizkor, to remember those we wish we could still celebrate with in this life. Passover Yizkor has taken on additional meaning within the last century, as Holocaust Remembrance Day follows soon after. A deeply meaningful service, one where we can be honest about our deepest sorrows while still finding paths to joy and celebration.
Pesach (Passover) Day 8 - 22 Nissan Wed, April 8, 7:57 pm to Thurs, April 9, 7:58 pm
Wednesday, April 8:
Earliest time to say Kiddush or Havdalah 7:57 pm
Thursday, April 9:
Earliest time to say Havdalah 7:58 pm
Earliest time to eat chametz that you owned before Pesach (Passover) 8:28 pm
As with Day 2, this is another opportunity to repeat the observances of the previous Biblical assembly day (Day 7). Some no longer consider this day “Passover” in their prayers, as the holiday is Biblically seven days. However, because of the communal importance of the matzah and chametz separations (discussed above), it is proper for everyone to continue to refrain from eating chametz until the end this day. And if you used our synagogue chametz sales, which cover eight days, it is still a legal obligation not to eat anything you temporarily sold.
Then, pizza and bagels again! Again, this guide is not to press everything at once, but to connect with and understand what practices are most key to our tradition. I happy to explain more to clear up confusion, deepen understanding, and help you choose what to adopt. Please reach out! Passover is worth our best selves.
I wish you all a very Happy and Fulfilling Passover.
Michael J. Feldman
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