The Role of the Egg at the Pesach Seder Table

This Year, For REAL - והגדת לבנך | Shabbat HaGadol Drasha 5786

There are years when the Seder feels familiar…and there are years when it asks something completely new of us. This is one of those years. In this deeply personal Shabbos HaGadol drasha, recorded before Shabbos so it could be shared with everyone, Rav Shlomo Katz goes straight to the heart of והגדת לבנך: what does it actually mean to tell over the story this year? Not just to our children… but to ourselves. Drawing from the Beis Yaakov of Izhbitzer and the words of Yeshayahu —  בעשותך נוראות אשר לא נקוה — we’re invited into a different kind of emunah. Not just believing that Hashem can save us, but freeing ourselves from needing to understand how. From war, uncertainty, and unimaginable נסיונות…to the possibility of a ישועה greater than anything we could ever dream of, this isn’t about telling the same story better. It’s about telling a completely different story. One where we stop limiting Hashem and begin to live and teach, with true cheirus. May we be zocheh this year to sit at the Seder as truly free people — and to sing a שירה חדשה. ---------- For more Shuirim and Music from Rav Shlomo Katz, visit: https://ravshlomokatz.com Join Rav Shlomo Katz's WhatsApp Community: https://chat.whatsapp.com/KHKOhhPaeHx5Kb74WL9L9a?mode=ems_copy_t CHAPTERS 00:00 Opening niggun & introduction  03:00 A new kind of Shabbos HaGadol 26:52 A greater salvation beyond expectations 29:12 Two approaches to tefillah: asking vs trusting 30:21 Moving from request to certainty 31:34 War realities & unimaginable yeshuos 33:46 Chinuch: what we really give over 38:38 A new song & vision of freedom

The Fixing of Generations

On Seder night, we don’t just tell the story of leaving Egypt. We repair what Egypt broke. Drawing from a powerful ma’amar of Rav Avraham Tzvi Kluger, this shiur reveals how the four cups of wine are  part of a spiritual tikun that reaches back to the earliest cracks in humanity. From the generation of the flood to the sins of Cham, the raven, and the dog, something broke in how we saw ourselves. Pesach night gives us a chance to fix it. Rav Shlomo Katz walks us through this multi-generational healing, showing how the act of drinking on this night reminds us of who we became and who we’re still becoming. It’s not about looking back with guilt. It’s about remembering we have the tools to move forward, not just for ourselves, but for the entire chain of generations that came before us.

The Shiur We May Not Want To Hear Going Into Shevi’i Shel Pesach

There’s a difference between leaving Egypt and crossing the sea. One takes you out of slavery. The other begins to teach you how to dream. In this powerful pre–Shevi’i shel Pesach shiur, Rav Shlomo Katz challenges us to look beyond survival. It’s not enough to escape exile. The question is: what now? What do we actually want from our lives, our Yiddishkeit, our future? Drawing from Rav Shlomo Carlebach, Rav Itchie Meir Morgenstern, personal stories, and a raw letter from a doctor during the early days of COVID, this shiur confronts us with the uncomfortable truth: maybe we’ve been aiming too small. Maybe Hashem is asking us to want more — not just for ourselves, but for the whole world.

The Role of the Egg at the Pesach Seder Table

It’s always there, sitting quietly on the Seder plate. A simple egg. But what’s it really doing there? Rav Shlomo Katz delves deeply into the soul of this mysterious symbol, following Rav Kluger's teachings. Why is the egg a sign of mourning, yet placed front and center on the night of redemption? Why does Tisha B’Av always fall out on the same night of the week as the Seder? What’s the deeper connection between exile and geulah, between heartbreak and hope? The egg whispers a hidden truth: Hashem’s love was never severed, even as we were sent into galut. On this night of freedom, the egg invites us to remember that every shattered moment holds the potential for reunion, for rebirth, and for love that lasts forever.

Hilchot Pesach: When Seder is Motsei Shabbat

What happens when Pesach begins on Saturday night? This opens up the door to many different halachot that we generally are not accustomed to. In this class, we covered many of the possible issues that may come up,