Seder Symbols – New Interpretations Hot Off the Press! (5772/2012)

Created by Or Shalom’s Exploring Judaism class  — a.k.a. “The Rogue Rabbis”

Zroa – Bone. Traditional: Passover Offering. New: Mortality of ecosystems and commitment to sustainability

Beitzah – Egg. Traditional: Festival Offering. New: The growing importance of women in Judaism

Karpas – Leafy Vegetable. Traditional: Spring. New: Canadian Jewish immigrants slaving away on the farm

Charoset – Fruit & Nut mixture. Traditional: Mortar used by Israelite slaves. New: Adhesive connecting past and present

Tapuz – Orange. Traditional: Inclusion of women, gays, and lesbians in Jewish practice. New: Fight “social scurvy” – communal malnourishment from excluding these groups

Maror – Bitter Herb. Traditional: Bitterness of slavery.  New: When dipped in matzah: Two wrongs don’t make a right.

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Where is the God of Justice? Shabbat HaGadol (5771/2011)

On Shabbat HaGadol, words of the prophet Malachi lead us into Pesach. He speaks about his own time, but he might as well be speaking about ours. He speaks directly to the constricted places, the mitzrayim, in people’s lives.

Malachi writes from the land of Judea, after the return from exile in Babylonia and the building of the second Temple, in the late 6^th century BCE. He chastises the rich for making bad loans to the struggling landless poor, the newly installed priests for conducting spiritually empty worship, and the men in mid-life crisis leaving their wives for younger women.

Today, we can absolutely understand Malachi’s question, “All who do evil are good in the sight of the Lord. Where is the God of justice?” Many politicians clothe themselves in religious fundamentalism, and clergy who ally with them belittle any authentic spirituality. In the name of this fundamentalism, women are increasingly oppressed around the globe. Even in countries at peace, rich business leaders rip others off; the poor lose their jobs; unemployment leads to alcoholism, divorce, suicide, and scarring of the next generation; and the rich are rewarded with government subsidies.

Malachi reassures us that justice will be done, and that future generations will not be scarred. He says, “I am sending you the Prophet Eliyahu before the coming of the great, awesome day of HaShem. He will return the hearts of parents to children, and the hearts of children to their parents.”

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Heart of Compassion: Haggadah’s Imaginative Exercises (5765/2005)

A mischievous student once approached the Talmudic sage Hillel, demanding, “Teach me the Torah while I’m standing on one foot.”  Instead of laughing at the student or dismissing him, Hillel replied seriously, “Do not do unto others as you would not have them do unto you.  The rest is commentary.  Now, go and learn!”

The imaginative exercises in the Passover Haggadah encourage us to put Hillel’s teaching into practice.  Over and over again, the Haggadah invites  us to imagine that we stand in another person’s shoes.  The Haggadah invites us to close the distance between ourselves and those whom we consider different.

“Let all who are hungry come in and eat!” declares the Haggadah, before even beginning the story of the Exodus.  Everyday differences are to be set aside.  Hunger is a shared human experience, and anyone who hungers is to be welcomed at a Passover table.

“Originally, our ancestors were idol worshippers,” begins the Haggadah’s telling of the story.   In everyday consciousness, we judge the moral and spiritual level of our companions.  Some live in service of higher values, while others seem obsessed with the idols of money, power, or fashion.  At the Passover table, we put aside those judgments.  No matter what our current spiritual level, we all have idol worship somewhere in our past.

“Spill a drop of wine from your cup at the mention of each of the plagues,” says the Haggadah.  Because the Egyptians suffered great losses as God helped us to freedom, and our cup of rejoicing is diminished.  In everyday life it is not easy to have compassion for those who embitter our lives.  When we are freed from them, we rejoice and turn our backs.  At the Passover table, however, we do not turn our backs.  We remember Egyptian suffering along with Israelite suffering.

“In each generation every person should regard himself or herself as having personally left Egypt,” teaches the Haggadah.  Ordinarily we regard ancient civilizations as foreign times in which people thought, felt, and related to one another in ways we cannot really understand.  On Passover, however, we imagine the thoughts and feelings of ancient peoples to be very much like our own.  We imagine ourselves sharing their journeys into sorrow, fear, hope, and joy.

As another Talmudic scholar, Ben Azzai said, the greatest ethical principle of all is found in the story of creation: “This is the record of Adam’s line.  When God created human beings, God created them in the likeness of God” (Bereisheet/Genesis 5:1). The Passover Haggadah teaches that there is a universal human nature.  People of different social classes, levels of moral or spiritual development, political allegiances, and historical eras share the capacity for joy and sorrow.  At Passover, we are called to remember this over and over again, and to renew our commitment to creating a world lit up with freedom, hope, and joy.

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Filling the Cups of Hope: Youth-oriented “Prophet Page” for the Seder (5763/2003)

Miriam the Prophet could foretell the future when she was only eight years old.  Using this skill, she put herself in the right place at the right time to save the life of her baby brother Moses.  Miriam the Prophet understood human nature and knew how to lift people’s spirits.  When the tired and astonished Israelites collapsed after crossing the Red Sea, she took up her musical instruments and encouraged all the women to dance with joy.  Miriam the Prophet knew how to find water even in the desert.  When she died, all the wells that watered the Israelites dried up.

In honor of Miriam, let us fill her cup with water. Miriam was the spring of hope for the Israelites, both in slavery and in freedom!  Let us learn from her example.

Elijah the Prophet lived in troubled times.  King Ahab and Queen Jezebel ruled over Israel.  These greedy rulers killed people just to get their money.  They killed anyone who complained about them. The Israelites became sad and afraid.  They stopped believing in God.  But Elijah was not afraid.  He wandered through the countryside, teaching about God, feeding the hungry, and healing people.  When the time was right, he helped lead the rebellion against King Ahab and Queen Jezebel.  Because of his extraordinary life, he was taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire.  Our legends say that one day Elijah will come to earth to announce the coming of the Messiah — the Mashiach — a leader who will teach all creatures on earth to live together in peace and freedom.  In the meantime, Elijah wanders the earth checking to see if we are ready for peace and freedom.

Let us fill Elijah’s cup of wine and prepare a seat of rejoicing in case he visits us tonight!