Good morning and happy weekend!
PASSOVER
This evening marks the first night of Passover. And on the second day of Passover is Easter Sunday. I am uniquely unqualified to comment on Easter, but let me say a few words about Passover.
Passover is a holiday with a great deal of meaning to me, and it’s not just because of the abundance of food—but I’m not going to deny it—that’s important! Like Thanksgiving, it is a time when family comes together around the table to share stories, catch up, laugh, play games, and enjoy each other’s company. These annual gatherings serve as milestones in the passing of years. Each of them is special, but all of them together reflect upon each other. As the years go by, people so familiar at the table leave our midst and others join our tables. The feeling, however, remains the same.
Here are some thoughts that stand out to me about Passover:
The basic story of Passover is pretty well known—the Israelites were slaves of Pharaoh, God freed them, and they began their wanderings in the wilderness to the promised land. The story of freedom resonates in the plights of oppressed people throughout history. At our Passover table over the years, we have shared readings that speak to the universality of the story, including the words of Nelson Mandela, Thomas Jefferson, Anne Frank, Martin Luther King, Jr., Abraham Lincoln, and others. We have spoken of the genocides of the Armenians and the Rwandans. They all share stories of struggle, bravery, and the fight for freedom, often against difficult odds. It is hard now not to consider the struggles of our Ukrainian brethren—Jew and non-Jew alike—as they struggle to retain the freedom they spent decades in the last century to reacquire.
This is not a story solely based upon God’s greatness. While the Israelites were given the means to be free, it was incumbent upon them to act. They took control of their own lives and had the temerity to step away from the known world toward an uncertain future. Had they not acted and had they not recognized a great leader (despite increasing doubt, about which we learn later in the story…), the story would be quite different.
This is one of the most important holidays on the Jewish calendar. Yet it differs from most other religious celebrations in several important respects. It is not celebrated in a house of worship. There is no clergy member officiating. There is no fixed holy book (or scroll) from which one reads. And it can vary greatly depending upon the leader and the interests of those assembled. It is a celebration in the home and, as such, it is deeply personal. Because it is “self-directed” it can be celebrated anywhere in any form. Indeed, it was celebrated in the concentration camps and is being celebrated in bombed-out cities in Ukraine.
Despite the fact that Passover is about freedom from constraints, it still has a structure. The word “seder” actually means “order.” Yet beyond covering a few basics, one can be as creative, iconoclastic, even irreverent, as one wants. There is no magical “approved” Haggadah. In fact, a Haggadah of wide usage from my childhood was published by Maxwell House Coffee. Now one can go on-line and retrieve any number of Haggadot (that’s the plural), accessing someone else’s curated version or create one’s own. There are Haggadot for everyone—gay couples, Jews of color, geared toward young children, tied to current events, eco-friendly, social justice, sit-com and comedy versions, and myriad other examples.
The event is interactive. Like most people, we go around the table to share readings and reflections. Everyone gets to read. In fact, the seminal event of any Seder is the participation of the youngest person present, who recites the Four Questions. These begin with “why is this night different from all other nights?” And then the assembly takes turns answering.
We were all there. The story is personal and transcends time. According to tradition, one must tell the story as if it is a personal reflection—as if each person was present in Egypt and participated in the story’s events. The events of the Exodus happened centuries ago (or perhaps only metaphorically), yet they also occur in our “present” as well. While perhaps trite, the message is that we are not telling and retelling someone else’s story. We are each year telling our own story. The Passover story is timeless and is intended to include all of us, however we choose to observe the holiday.
It’s all subject to interpretation. No matter where you get a group of Jews together, one gets lots of interpretations. I’ll never forget a seder I used to hold in my bachelor days for Jewish and non-Jewish friends alike. At one point, one of my non-Jewish friends in attendance asked the meaning of the egg on the Seder plate. Howard Kroll and Darryl Schall quickly opined as to its meaning—yet their two explanations didn’t match, with each quoting their own “definitive” source. One of the great things about the Seder is the various meanings one ascribes to it and its various rituals.
Although there may be interpretations galore, and whereas Seders may vary widely as to their “spin,” their length, their rigidity, they share certain basics. We’ll always have horseradish, matzoh, the Four Questions, the story of the coming out of Egypt, and at least one unusual food that some group of attendees won’t touch. But there will be plenty else available. No one will leave hungry—of body or soul or memories to savor for years.
PERSPECTIVES AND APPLICABILITY TO TODAY
Rabbi Jonah Pesner, the head of Reform Judaism’s Religious Action Center, provides an excellent commentary on the applicability of the Passover story to today’s challenges. This really does encompass it all:
“As we all know, Passover is an annual retelling of our exodus from Egypt. At our seder tables, we practice rituals and pose challenging questions to remind ourselves of our purpose. We eat matzah as a symbol of the urgency of redemption, we eat maror to remember the bitterness of oppression, and we recline to experience the ease of freedom and privilege.
Let us remember that urgency still exists for so many of our siblings who face oppression from racism, antisemitism, and anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. The bitterness of oppression is still felt in our criminal justice system, unequal educational opportunities, lack of abortion access, and discrimination in housing. Let reclining not make us complacent; creating a fair and just world requires continuous work. As we celebrate our ancestors’ flight from bondage to freedom, let us recommit to the work of creating a more whole, just, and compassionate world.”
AND LET US PRAY FOR UKRAINE
This Passover will be much different for the Jews of Ukraine. This Easter will be much different for the Christians of Ukraine. Slavery is not just forced labor. Slavery also is present in unprovoked violence—indeed murder—committed by one group against another.
INTERPRETATIONS, REDUX
Andrea and I attended two beautiful weddings over the past two weeks, both in the Coachella Valley. Each ended with one of the most symbolic events in Jewish tradition is the breaking of the glass. In both instances, the officiant described what it means for the groom to break a glass. Some say it is to remind us of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. Others say it is symbolic of the fact that “single lives” are extinguished and for a shared life to begin. Some say it is a reminder that, in every event of gladness, there is the reminder that there is sadness and tragedy. Others say it is symbolic of the fact that the world we inhabit is imperfect. Whatever the interpretation, at a wedding, things change.
The actual meaning hardly matters—it’s all subject to opinion and interpretation, just as I may derive a lesson from a book that is different from that of another readers. I choose to believe the breaking of the glass is, indeed, a reminder that the world is imperfect—often damaged, and that others are not sharing in the joy of the event we celebrate. And in that reminder, we should reflect that there is work to be done—by the bride and groom and the children they bring into this world, children who will chant the Four Questions themselves a few years hence.
Happy Passover to all! And to my Christian friends, a meaningful and Happy Easter. And to my Muslim friends, I know Ramadan is tough during the longer days this time of year, but Eid-al-Fitr is but a couple of weeks away…!
Glenn
PS: Happy birthday, Little Stevie!
From the archives:
Happy Passover Glen to you and the family.