It's still not quite Purim, but today I am working on my bulletin article about Pesach. Rather than entirely repeat what I've written in the past, here are my two previous years' columns about Pesach. Also, go to my Pesach page or browse through the whole site here for teachings, printables, kashrut guie, and melodies!
5770/2010 — Making a Great Seder
The essence of every Seder is telling the story of Yetziat Mitzrayim, the going-out from Egypt, in a way that is meaningful to as many participants as possible. Though the story is historical, it is not merely history. As the Haggadah says, quoting the Mishnah: In every generation, a person is obligated to view oneself as having personally experienced the Exodus from Egypt.
One way to add to the Seder is to get yourself one new Haggadah this year. You don't need to buy a set! Whether you're leading or not, you'll get a new angle. Two of the best recent Haggadot are A Different Night and A Night to Remember. Both have interesting quotes and contemporary art relating to passages in the traditional Seder.
The Haggadah we use is called On Wings of Freedom — less art but great discussion material. Another wonderful book of ideas is David Arnow's Creating Lively Passover Seders.
A Seder is almost always a diverse gathering. Different ages, different perspectives. Here is one idea for making the telling of the story engaging for everyone.
Before the Seder, clip or print out pictures that represent different moments in the story. Decide where to begin — with ancestors, like Avraham and Sarah? With the beginning of slavery? Choose an ending point — is it the crossing of the Sea of Reeds? Getting the Torah? Reaching the promised land? You decide.
Number the pictures, and give them out to participants of all ages before the Seder. It even works if you give them out at the beginning. The instruction is: Present your picture. Say anything you want about what it means.
When you get to Maggid, the part of the Seder where the story is told, put aside the text of the Haggadah and let the participants tell the story in order of their pictures. What will emerge is a tapestry — some matter of fact reports, some creative imagination, some interpretation. Let people ask each other questions, for more information or explanations.
Everyone will ask or answer at her or his level. What's guaranteed is that you'll all hear the story fresh, in a way you've never heard it before.
Whatever you do, make sure before or during Pesach to make the story an experience of today. Think about liberation in our world, or your life. For Jews, for others, for the world. From slavery or more subtle oppressions. From Pharaohs on a large scale, or the symbolic Pharaohs that enslave or trap us in our individual lives.
And may we all see ourselves in a journey of freedom toward Torah, growth, and lands of promise.
Chag kasher v'sameach,
Rabbi Jon
2009 — The Never-Ending Story
Four questions, four cups, four children. Tradition links the fours of the Seder with the "four languages of redemption" in Exodus 6:6-7: I will take you out…I will rescue you…I will redeem you…I will take you.
Rabbi Yehudah Leib of Ger, the Sfat Emet, asks: Why four words to describe one thing, the Exodus from Egypt? Because, he explains, the experience of the Exodus was so rich that its meaning could never be contained in one interpretation. Even in their own lifetime, the Israelites themselves could not finish unpacking it. It takes all the generations talking and adding to even approach a complete understanding of the Exodus.
That's why the Haggada says early on: Everyone who adds on to the telling of Yetziat Mitzrayim, the going-out from Egypt, deserves praise.
We build our tellings off the many tellings that have come to us. Here are just four — but our responsibility is to take one or more and deepen them, apply them in our own time and lives.
The first Exodus. Our people and our faith were born more than three thousand years ago, as we prepared to cross the Sea of Reeds. Even now, the memory of the narrow escape from Pharaoh's chasing army is dramatic, a reminder that our existence as Jews can never be taken for granted.
Exodus repeated. Esther and Mordechai in Persia. Mattathias and Judah Maccabee against the Seleucids. In our own day, the establishment of the State of Israel and the rescue of Jews from the Soviet Union, Ethiopia, and other lands. At times of danger, Jews have always believed that Exodus could happen again.
A spiritual Exodus. The Sfat Emet teaches that each of us has a "Pharaoh" force that tries to trap us in place. Each of us needs to find a "Moshe" or a "Miryam" voice inside to help us cross the sea, toward a promised land of healing, inner strength, and reconciliation.
Exodus as modern liberation. The biblical story has inspired people throughout the Western world. The American founders against the British; abolitionism and the civil rights movement after them. In Central America, Catholic liberation theologians and progressive leaders have been inspired by the text in their struggles against dictators and poverty.
We never stop needing to talk about the Exodus. Our identity as Jews, as individuals, as world citizens is bound up with the themes, the characters, and the journey from Egypt toward the promised land. In the bustle of Pesach shopping, cleaning, and travel, find some time to think about the Exodus. Does one of these "languages of redemption" have a special meaning for you? What questions and insights can each of us add to enrich the telling?
Chag Sameach,
Rabbi Jon
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