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In the early 1990s one of the great medical research exercises of modern times took place. It became known as the Nun Study. Some 700 American nuns, all members of the School Sisters of Notre Dame in the United States, agreed to allow their records to be accessed by a research team investigating the process of ageing and Alzheimer’s Disease. At the start of the study the participants were aged between 75 and 102.[1] What gave this study its unusual longitudinal...

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A traveler once was stopped by a highway robber who demanded his moneybag at gunpoint. “I’ll give you my money!” said the traveler. “But please, if I come home emptyhanded, my wife will never believe that I was robbed, and will accuse me of having squandered the money on gambling or liquor, and she will beat me mercilessly. Please, do me the favor of firing several bullets through my hat, so I can prove to her that I was held up.”...

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The Haggadah is not just about the Exodus from Egypt. Look below its surface and you'll discover a rich subtext that imparts essential lessons about gratitude and how to thank God for Divine benevolence. The Haggadah's name comes from the Hebrew verb, " l'hagid , " "to tell." There are other verbs that mean "to tell," but " l'hagid " implies paying attention to details. On Seder night we go over the fine points of what actually happened. We dwell on...

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The Ten Plagues - Live From Egypt by Rabbi Mordechai Becher --> In the early 19th Century a papyrus, dating from the end of the Middle Kingdom, was found in Egypt. It was taken to the Leiden Museum in Holland and interpreted by A.H. Gardiner in 1909. The complete papyrus can be found in the book Admonitions of an Egyptian from a heiratic papyrus in Leiden. The papyrus describes violent upheavals in Egypt, starvation, drought, escape of slaves (with the wealth...

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In the Haggadah, , barring one reference to Moses repeating something that happened, he appears not at all. Why? Are we not leaving out the most important individual in the whole Exodus? The answer, I think, lies at the very end of the recital of magid , the long account that precedes the eating part of the Seder. We're usually quite hungry by the time we get to this part, which may be the reason why it's often overlooked... We begin...

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Question : I am always puzzled by the beginning of the Haggadah , where we declare, "All who are hungry, come and eat; all who are needy come and celebrate Passover." Being that this is said while sitting at the dinner table, the only people hearing it are those who are already there. What is the point of making grand invitations when the truly needy can't hear it? Answer : That invitation is not intended for outsiders. We are inviting ourselves...

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The Four Sons correspond to the Four Questions. We'll start with the Wise Son. He asks, "What are these statutes?" In the Torah, statutes ( chukim ) are laws which don't have any apparent rational reason. For example, why don't Jews eat pork? Many people think it's because of health reasons, so you shouldn't get trichinosis. But the Torah itself says it's really because of a spiritual reason. Why? The pig is the only animal in the world possessing the outward...