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Hachnasas orchim, inviting guests into one’s home and around their table, is a beautiful mitzvah with a powerful message. Following his bris milah, Avraham Avinu experienced tremendous discomfort, yet our formative father stood focused on opening the doors of his tent to others in need of hospitality. One can discern that a tzadik is never satisfied from past accomplishments and always seeks new ways to make a lasting impact. This concept is true of the sages from every generation, giving us an impetus to act similarly.

When Yaakov Avinu was told that his brother Eisav was plotting to kill him, he ran from his father’s home and prepared for an extended stay in exile. Along the way, he davened and asked Hashem for a number of things, including: “I should return to my father’s house in peace.”

One day, a young boy came home from school with a note for his mother. He gave it to her with a smile, and said, “My teacher gave me this paper and told me to give it only to you.”

In 1927, Boruch Frankel left his wife and three children in Poland and made the transAtlantic journey by steamer to the New York harbor to try to earn a living and support his family. It was quite a sacrifice. Boruch was a scion of a great chasidic lineage, and his roots were firmly planted in the old country. Yet, he realized that there was greater financial opportunity in America, and together with a fellow immigrant he met in New York started an import business that did rather well. For three years, Boruch and his partner labored in the business and, with Hashem’s grace, they raised more than enough money for their families back home. Soon they would head home and be hailed as models of industrious success.

Every night in Maariv, we say, “v’haseir satan milfaneinu u’mei’achareinu.” This can be understood as follows. When we desire to perform a mitzvah and are stopped, this is the direct action of the satan standing upright before us.

Chag HaPesach celebrates the birth of our nation, and it may offer us the key to its continued survival. The korban Pesach, the first sacrifice offered as a nation, underscores the need to create and nurture close familial relationships. Faith exists in the intellectual realm, but it comes alive in community, when families unite around common causes. Perhaps that is why one of the most important things families can do on Pesach night, both when the actual korban Pesach was offered as well as in our contemporary model of Pesach Seder, is come together.