Weekly Message 04.11.2025 Parashat Tzav

Parashat Tzav (command) Leviticus 6:1 - 8:36

HafTorah Malachi 3:4 - 24

Pesach 2024 at Beth Tefillah

Dear friends,

Passover is upon us! We will hold Shabbat services as usual tonight at 7:30 pm and tomorrow (Saturday) at 9:30 am both in-person and virtually on Zoom.

This Shabbat, the final one prior to Yom Tov is known as Shabbat Gadol, the Great Sabbath, a time of final reflection and preparation and reading in our Haftorah from the prophet Malachi about the coming of Elijah before the "great and awesome day of the Lord". This serves as a foreshadowing of the role Elijah plays at our Passover seder as a harbinger for the coming of the messianic age with its deliverance of all oppression, both physical and spiritual will occur. Elijah is considered to be the advanced messenger of this utopian age and will announce it during Passover. Thus, we open our door to him at our seder. The Haftorah is preceded by our weekly triennial Torah reading of chapter 8 of the Book of Leviticus (Vayikra) which details the ordination of Aaron and his sons as priests and the preparation of the Tabernacle as a holy place.

Ron and Chris Becker

Then on Sunday, April 13th at 9:30 am, we will hold a Yom Tov Pesach service beginning at 9:30 am and including the special liturgy for Yom Tov. We will chant the songs of praise (Hallel) and a special Torah reading from the Book of Exodus (Shemot) 12:21-51 which recounts the last of the 10 plagues, the departure from Egypt, and regulations concerning the observance of Passover. It is followed by a reading from the Book of Numbers (Bamidbar) 28:16-25 which describes the sacrifices ordered for Passover and the special Haftorah from the Book of Joshua which details the celebration of the first Passover after entering the Holy Land after the many years of sojourning in the wilderness. And we begin the Musaf service with the haunting Tefilla Tal (prayer for life-sustaining dew in its proper season) at which time the spiritual leader dons the Kittel which is only worn on this day and on the High Holy Days and Shmini Atzeret when we pray for rain in its proper season. You will find the text at the end of this message.

Pesach 2024

Following our 1st day of Passover service, we will hold our unique daytime community Passover seder starting at approximately 12:30 pm.

Then on Tuesday, April 15th at 6 pm at New Port Richey City Hall, 5919 Main Street in downtown New Port Richey, all are encouraged to attend the annual Holocaust memorial proclamation reading by Mayor Chopper Davis, my brief presentation, and a photograph of all our congregants and friends attending this important event. We are honored and fortunate that our mayor and council representing our community continue to memorialize this period of our remembrance, part of what makes our city and region such a great place to live. So please, let's have a big showing on that day!

Then on the following Shabbat (April 17th and 18th ), we will hold Shabbat/Passover services at the usual 7:30 pm and 9:30 am times and on Sunday, April 19th we will hold our last day of Passover service which includes the Yizkor memorial prayers at 9:30 am.

Looking forward to sharing this awesome time of the year with you all.

! חַג פֵּסַח שַׂמֵחַ

Ron Becker,

Spiritual Leader

Tefilla Tal—-Prayer for life-preserving dew

Our God and God of our ancestors:

Dew, precious dew, unto Your land forlorn,

Pour out our blessing in Your exultation,

To strengthen us with ample wine and corn,

And give Your chosen city safe foundation

In dew.

Dew, precious dew, the good year’s crown, we await,

That earth in pride and glory may be fruited,

And that the city once so desolate

Into a gleaming crown may be transmuted

By dew.

Dew, precious dew, let fall upon the land;

From heaven’s treasury be this accorded;

So shall the darkness by a beam be spanned,

The faithful of Your vineyard be rewarded

With dew.

Dew, precious dew to make the mountains sweet,

The savor of Your excellence recalling.

Deliver us from exile, we entreat,

So we may sing Your praises, softly falling

As dew.

Dew, precious dew, our granaries to fill,

And all our youthful excesses pardon.

Beloved God, uplift us at Your will

And make us as a richly watered garden

With dew.

Dew, precious dew, that we our harvest reap,

And guard our fatted flocks and herds from leanness.

Behold our people follow You like sheep,

And look to You to give the earth her greenness

With dew.

You are Adonai our God

who causes the wind to blow and the dew to fall.

For a blessing, not for a curse, Amen.

For life, not for death, Amen.

For abundance, not for famine, Amen.

:אֱלהֵינוּ וֵאלהֵי אֲבותֵינוּ

טַל תֵּן לִִרְצּות אַרְצָךְ

שִׁיתֵנוּ בְרָכָה בְּדִיצָךְ

רוב דָגָן וְתִירושׁ בְּהַפְרִיצָךְ

קומֵם עִיר בָּהּ חֶפְצָךְ

:בְּטַל

טַל צַוֵּה שָׁנָה טובָה וּמְעֻטֶרֶת

פְּרִי הָאָרֶץ לְגָאון וּלְתִפְאֶרֶת

עִיר כְּסֻּכָּה נותֶרֶת

שימָהּ בְּיָדְךָ עֲטֶרֶת

:בְּטַל

טַל נופֵף עֲלֵי אֶרֶץ בְּרוּכָה

מִמֶּגֶד שָׁמַיִם שבְּעֵנוּ בְרָכָה

לְהָאִיר מִתּוךְ חֲשֵׁכָה

כַּנָה אַחֲרֶיךָ מְשׁוּכָה

:בְּטַל

טַל יַעֲסִיס צוּף הָרִים

טְעֵם בִּמְאודֶךָ מֻבְחָרִים

חֲנוּנֶיךָ חַלֵץ מִמַסְגֵרִים

זִמְרָה נַנְעִים וְקול נָרִים

בְּטַל:

טַל וָשובַע מַלֵּא אֲסָמֵינוּ

הֲכָעֵת תְּחַדֵּשׁ יָמֵינוּ

דוד כְּעֶרְכְּךָ הַעֲמֵד שְׁמֵנוּ

גַּן רָוֶה שימֵנוּ

:בְּטַל

טַל בּו תְבָרֵךְ מָזון

בְּמַשְׁמַנֵּינוּ אַל יְהִי רָזון

אֲיֻמָה אֲשֶׁר הִסַּעְתָּ כַצּאן

אָנָא תָּפֵק לָהּ רָצון

:בְּטַל

שָׁאַתָּה הוּא ה’ אֱלהֵינוּ מַשִּׁיב הָרוּחַ וּמורִיד הַטָּל

:לִבְרָכָה וְלא לִקְלָלָה. אמן

:לְחַיִּים וְלא לַמָּוֶת. אמן

:לְשובַע וְלא לְרָזון. אמן