PESACH 1 & 2 5783

: 11 April 2023

PESACH 1 & 2 5783

: 11 April 2023

PESACH 1 5783

On the 1^st Day of Passover, I like to share an insight about the Seder so you can share it at your Seder tonight. So today I offer an incite that I suspect you may not have heard … and that is that there are real heroes of the Passover story that we probably don’t know about because they’re not mentioned in the Haggadah. And yet, without them the Jews would not have come out of Egypt and we would not have survived. And what they brought to the Jewish people, and gave us, is something we could use in massive doses now in our world.

My friends, we’re living through very trying and challenging times as Americans and as Jews. There’s hardly a day when we don’t hear bad news. I found this article by David Brooks in the NY Times (1/13/23) called, “America is Falling Apart at the Seams.” He writes: Teachers are facing a rising tide of disruptive behavior…The drug epidemic just keeps getting worse…CNN ran a story titled: “Hate Crime Reports in US Surge to the Highest Level.” … The number of gun purchases has soared ... As Americans’ hostility toward one another seems to be growing, their care for one another seems to be falling.

Whatever you’re reading or watching to get the news, doesn’t it seem that no one has anything positive to say about the future?

What should I say about us as Jews? In America the rate of intermarriage and assimilation among Jews has hit the stratosphere. There is no end to stories about anti-Semitism. And in Israel? Everything you hear about Israel these days is summed up in this headline from an Israeli newspaper: “Netanyahu is Leading Israel to Civil War.” So, even though it is Passover, how can we be in a festive mood? How do we rejoice when hear such bad news?

That’s where our unsung Pesach heroes come in. The Talmud (Sotah 11b) tells us: Bischar nashim tzidkaniyot niglu avoteynu miMitzrayim (It was in the merit of righteous Jewish women we were redeemed from Egypt). You’d never know it from reading the Haggadah—where there’s no mention of women. And yet, the Talmud tells us that it’s because of them we were redeemed. What did Jewish women do to deserve such praise? They gave us hope.

The Torah tells us (Ex. 2:23): Vayeyanchu v’ney Yisrael min haavoda vayizaku (And the Children of Israel groaned from the burden of work, and they cried out). Pharoah also decreed (Ex. 1:16) that all newborn male Jews be killed. The Jewish men became dejected and lost heart. They had no desire to procreate—not wanting to subject their children to the hardships of this life of oppression.

The Midrash (Ex. Rabbah 1:13) tells us that Amram, who was one of the leaders of the Jewish people said: “‘We are toiling for nothing! All our boys will be killed anyway!’ He then separated from his wife. When other men saw this great man divorce his wife, they followed suit.” Why? because there was no hope for the future. They gave up!

Do know what happened next? A woman came along—Miriam, the daughter of Amram. She said to him, “I know how you feel—downtrodden, demoralized. Your self-esteem has been shattered. But, if we have no more children, then Pharoah will be the victor for sure.” She convinced her father to remarry his wife and they gave birth to a son named Moses!

What did the other women do? They prettied themselves up, dressed in their best, and put on whatever makeup they had then by using their copper mirrors … And they went out to the fields where their husbands were working … and seduced them! And in doing so, they perpetuated the Jewish people.

So, because of Miriam, because of the midwives Shifra and Pua who refused to kill the Jewish babies, and because of all the other women who did not give in to despair, who practiced hope, the Jewish people survived.

You know, we could use a massive dose of that hope these days. I think back to a speech from 1991 by Avram Harman, who was a former ambassador to the UN, president of Hebrew University in Israel, a distinguished and eloquent spokesman for our people. He said: If I have one regret, of all that I have done for this country, it is the many times over the years that I addressed Jews and said to them: ‘This is the most challenging time in history. This is the most dangerous time in Israel’s history. I’ve said that so many times over the years, in ’48 and then in ’67, with the PLO and Lebanon, and the Intifada. I regret having said it because the truth is, right now is the most difficult and challenging time in the history of Israel.

And that was in 1991! And that’s the way it is with our people. We always think that today is the worst! So let me remind you. Israel survived its war of liberation where it lost 6,000 people—1% of its population. It’s like America today losing 3 million in a war! Israel survived the Yom Kippur War losing 2500 of its best and finest. Israel survived terrorist attacks, bus bombings, suicide bombings. Israel will survive!

And on the other side of things, let me share something I recently read about how Israel doesn’t just survive, it thrives: Israel is a country that is a source of ingenuity for global partnerships in arts and education and health and high-tech and biotech and energy and environmental tech. Israel sizzles with creativity.

And do you know that according to this year’s happiness survey that came out last week, Israelis are among the most happy people in the world! You know why? What’s Israel’s national anthem called? Hatikva (The Hope)!

Despite the unprecedented attack today by the minority secular Left on the majority Right/traditional coalition with tens of thousands marching in the streets, the Jewish people, living in the Jewish land after 2,000 years of oppression—Left or Right—have hope and a common purpose.

Let us learn hope from the Jewish women who left Egypt. In the Torah we’re told something fascinating about them. After Moses and the Children of Israel sang the magnificent Song of the Sea in praise of Gd for their miraculous delivery, the Torah (Ex. 15:20) tells us: “Miriam, the prophet, sister of Aaron, took her tambourines in her hand, and all the women went forth after her with tambourines and dances.”

Yes, the women also sang a song. But where did they get the tambourines from? The Jews left Egypt so quickly, they didn’t have enough time for their bread to rise. Remember, they could only take what they could carry. And yet, the women took the time and packed their tambourines because, as the Midrash tells us: “They were so confident that they would be redeemed, that they prepared tambourines for the day when they would sing a song of thanks for their redemption.” They had hope and faith that someday they would be rejoicing and singing. That’s a faith we could certainly use today.

Yes, women many not be very prominent in the Haggadah text. But also note that except for a brief passage in the Hallel section which really isn’t part of the Haggadah, Moses is not mentioned either. It seems that the most important don’t always get mention; perhaps because it “goes without saying.”

But it is fairly safe to say that it is women who play a leading role in making our Seders possible and Passover as wonderful as it can be. Let me end with a Pesach poem:

A Peon to Jewish women:

Wouldn’t you think that the person who plans,

The person who changes the pots and pans,

The person who suffers the elbowing crowd,

And brings home the matzah meal, bloody and bowed,

Who battles the butcher; accumulates plates,

And races the clock to those Passover dates.

Who polishes silverware, commandeers chairs,

And goes around muttering, “nobody cares.”

Who fixes charoset and karpas and eggs,

And winds up with headaches and cramps in her legs.

Wouldn’t you think that when the matzah is hid,

She merits the prize, not some smart-aleck kid??

So, my friends, tonight share at your Seder how there would not be a Passover or the Jewish people without our Jewish women. Let’s go home and hug and kiss our wives, mothers and/or other women who play a significant role in making our Pesach and our lives as joyous as it is, and perhaps surprise them by asking: “Is there anything we can do to help.” For they are the ones who bring hope and joy into our lives. Have a happy and joyous Passover. Amen!

PESACH 2 5783

If there’s one thing that Jews enjoy, it’s a good story. In fact, one might say that Jews are the original story-telling people. Judaism is analogical more than logical. Long before we theologized, philosophized, we told stories. Judaism doesn’t begin with Shema Yisrael or “You shall have no other gods before Me.” It starts with, “In the beginning, Gd created heaven and earth, and continues with, “I am the Lrd your Gd who took you out of the Land of Egypt.”

It’s no accident that Passover begins and ends with a story. On Pesach night, we tell the story of the Exodus. But we also create new stories. Who doesn’t have a favorite Passover story of their own? Who was there when you once opened the door for Elijah? Do you recall the time no one could find the Afikomen? I remember when Jonathan was 5 years old, he begged and we relented to allowed him to hide the 10 pieces of bagel we used for bedikat chametz (the search for the leaven) the night before Pesach. In the excitement of the moment he forgot where he put 5 of them and all through that Pesach, even at the Seder when they searched for the Afikomen, we kept finding pieces of bagel! Perhaps you have stories about a beloved parent or grandparent who made this night so special. These personal stories are as much a part of this holiday as the Exodus.

We’re not the only ones who love stories. Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel writes: “Gd created human beings because He loves stories.” The Zohar, our mystic Biblical commentary, suggests … that when we tell the story of the Exodus at the Seder, we adorn Gd with jewels. We beautify Gd.

Stories are more than entertainment: they’re the language with which we come to understand our place in the world. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, former Chief Rabbi of Britain, writes: As we sit around the Seder table on Pesach, rehearsing the journey from the bread of affliction to the wine of freedom, we commit ourselves to a momentous proposition: that history has meaning.

Stories help us to figure out who we are and what we should be. They reassure us that life doesn’t end at the grave, and that a part of us lives on in the stories others tell about us. Isaac Bashevis Singer—the famous Yiddish writer—put it this way: When a day passes, it is no longer there. What remains of it? Nothing more than a story. If stories weren’t told and books weren’t written, human beings would live like beasts—only for a day. The whole world, all human life, is one long story.

Passover isn’t so much about history as it is about memory. Rabbi Sacks puts it this way: “History is his story. Memory is my story.” We don’t really know too much about the history behind Passover but we do have a story that we tell that has a powerful effect in shaping how we see ourselves and how we understand the world. As we say in the Haggadah: Chayav Adam lirot atzmo k’ilu hu yatza mimitzrayim (Each person is obligated to see himself/herself as if he/she personally left Egypt). We’re not supposed to just tell the story but to experience it and identify with it personally so that it becomes part of us.

It’s no accident that the Torah repeats 36 times: Ahavtem et hageyr, (Be kind to the stranger (and convert) in our midst), ki geyrim heyitem b’eretz Mitzrayim, (because you were strangers in the land of Egypt). Our story should affect how we see ourselves and therefore, the way we treat others. In other words, now that we know what it is to live with oppression, stand up to it every time you see it.

Let’s turn to the Exodus for a guide how to tell a story. The Sages of the Haggadah teach us: Matchil big’nut um’sayem b’shevach (Begin with humiliation and end with praise). In other words, our story doesn’t have to be a pretty one. We were slaves; we suffered, we were humiliated, we were nearly lost in Egypt. But that doesn’t mean that our lives must end that way. We each compose our own story.

Do your children and grandchildren know their family’s stories? Do they know who they are named after, and why their name was chosen for them? I’m always amazed that some of the Bar/Bat Mitzvahs candidates I work with have no idea who they were named for.

Not all of us are fortunate enough to have someone to be named after. I once was instructing a young African American woman for conversion. One day she came to my office and asked: “Rabbi, is it true that Moses was married to an Ethiopian?” I explained that Moses was married to a Midianite woman named Tzipporah. Later, however, the Torah refers to his wife as an isha kushit (an Ethiopian woman), implying that she was black. The rabbis explain that kushit also means beautiful, so this was the 1^st time someone said, “black is beautiful.” She thought about it and then her eyes lit up and she said: “When I become Jewish, that’s the name I want!” I’ll never forget that. It was the moment when I knew that this young woman would become a committed member of the Jewish people—that she had already become part of our story.

The Koran refers to the Jewish people as the “People of the Book,” and much of the world refers to us that way. I think it would be more accurate to refer to us as the “People of the Story.” We are part of a great narrative that began with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and continues in our own day. In some ways we are creating the greatest chapter of all—the creation of a Jewish homeland and a nation reborn. It’s a complicated narrative and we cannot know exactly how it’ll turn out—but it’s up to us to be part of the story.

My friends, at this very moment we are also writing our own personal story. What will our children say about us? Will our stories be worthy of repetition to future generations? How will others remember us: with laughter, with pride, with love? The Seder teaches that we have an obligation to tell our story, but we also have an obligation to be part of the story as well. May we all so live that our stories will be told over and over. Amen!

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