Passover
As Passover approached, I wanted to share two readings with you as possible inserts for your Seder. I pray that you have a joyous and hopeful Passover. May God grant us the light in our eyes to pierce the darkness and see forward to hope.
First, something I wrote about the four children:
Today, there are four children. First are the defenders of the Jewish people and Israel. They are vigilant and concerned about every threat that may arise. They ask: When will our people be safe?
Next are the prophets of Israel, calling upon Israel and the Jewish people to act morally and to be an example of ethical greatness. They ask: When will we be concerned with oppression everywhere?
Then come the anti-Zionists, who say: why must we be connected to Israel at all? They wonder why we even want a state. And finally come so many Jews, unsure how to make sense of all that they are hearing and reading.
Perhaps the real message of the Seder is: come, let us sit together and realize we need each other. It is in our shared voice that we can answer our unique questions.
Second, a piece from this years AJR Haggadah, unattributed
Centuries ago, the Spanish Jewish poet Yehuda Halevi expressed both his sense of distance from and connection to the land of his ancestors. “My heart is in the East, and I am in the furthermost West.” Many of us feel similarly today in terms of both space and time. Months have passed, but for many Jews around the world the events of October 7th feel ever present- and in Israel this sense is even more acute. Many of us in the Diaspora feel the emotional connection to Israel as well as the physical distance as much as ever. We are here, but our hearts are there. And we are at the Seder but our hearts are still shivah b’October- which can mean both the 7th of October and the shiva, the mourning period, of October. – AJR Haggadah Supplement introduction
Shabbat Shalom and Happy Passover
Rabbi David Booth
