As we approach Passover at this anguished moment in our history, we struggle with ways to celebrate freedom.

In the Haggadah we read, “In each and every generation a person — adam —  is obligated to see oneself as if s/he came out of Egypt.” The text uses the Hebrew word adam, “human being,” to underscore freedom as a universal right. It draws on the text of creation, “And God created the human, ha’Adam, male and female God created them, and both were created in the Divine image.” The word adam in the book of Genesis inaugurates universal equality, since the act of creation makes no distinctions. Adam is later used in the Haggadah to re-inscribe freedom not for a particular category of Jews but as a universal right. read more

The Midwives started it.  The Book of Genesis recounts that the midwives refused Pharaoh’s edict to kill the Hebrew baby boys.  A birthing mother followed them.  She saw her baby son and used the word, good, tov, recalling God’s word in creation. God saw creation and “it was good.” The word good gave the mother strength to disobey the Pharaoh; she put her baby on the Nile where high ranking women bathed. What did a mother/all mothers hope when the life of their children is threatened? That people would see a child/all children created in God’s image.  It was the daughter of Pharaoh, the third in the story to act in civil disobedience.  She adopted the Hebrew-forbidden-baby and named him Moses.  The women’s disobedience was how Moses came to lead a slave revolt – Let My People Go. read more

When Israel was in Egypt land. It has never been easy when two peoples live in the same country. It’s very difficult to share a county.  Especially when one of the peoples thinks they are the superior one, and the thinks the other inferior.  Or thinks that they are the masters, and the other people are their slaves, without rights, and that their lives can be trifled with, or ended, with impunity, without repercussions.  The Egyptians wanted to end the situation by ending the existence of the Israelites.  The Israelites only wanted to get out of Egypt. No one thought it possible to live together as equals. read more

We are standing at a strange time in history. We are witnessing plagues of Biblical dimensions; floods, fires, diseases, infestations and climate changes- real life consequences of human impact on the environment. In the Exodus story in Sh’mot, it took taking the life of Pharaoh’s first-born child for the Israelites to be liberated from Egypt. Can we confront these modern plagues in a positive way and impact on the toll they are taking on humans and the environment?

We invite a young family to our house for Shabbat lunch. The cholent is bubbling and the table set with our Shabbat china. There is a little girl in the family and when she sees the table she innocently asks “What are those?” pointing to the china. I tell her that those dishes are my special Shabbat china. She asks a second question “do you mean that other people have eaten off of them?” Suddenly my china has developed a “yuck” factor. Kashrut blended with a new hygienic sense has made my grandmother’s china a little disgusting. read more

The Passover Seder is the retelling of our passage from slavery to freedom, a defining Jewish journey. Tonight at Temple B’rith Kodesh we will celebrate the Seder with families from Iraq and Afghanistan, brought to Rochester by No One Left Behind.

Temple B’rith Kodesh forged a partnership with NOLB, an organization dedicated to fulfill a promise to those who helped the US military and saved lives. The pledge has been to give them and their families visas at such a time when their own lives would become endangered. Tonight we will tell the story of the Exodus and celebrate our/their freedom. read more

I always look forward to the plagues. That part of the Haggadah recited in a singsong ritualistic manner accompanied by the small thrill of putting my finger into the wine cup and marking my plate. It carries with it a memory that despite the power and might and Technicolor special effects accompanying our redemption, we need to be mindful that the Egyptians also suffered. In the exquisite theatre of the Seder, every participant has an active role in this custom. To make out seders lively and fun for the children, we often decorate our table with frogs and beasts and lice- a real table top menagerie. read more

The Passover Seder is the retelling of our passage from slavery to freedom, our defining central journey. We begin the Seder by opening the door and say, “All who are hungry, come and eat. All who are needy come and celebrate Passover with us.” This is the night that we are seated around the table, friends and families, to narrate our history as a people. We raise the Matzah plate and recite, “This is the bread of poverty that our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt.”

The exodus powerful narrative of freedom has produced enduring timeless Jewish values of care, compassion and justice as foundational and compelling. In some communities it is customary to put an empty plate on the table to remember those less fortunate, those who are suffering, those in need of shelter, refugees, asylum seekers, the homeless and the hungry. We who follow the custom, place verbal pledges on the plate and commit to do a mitzvah of our choice to alleviate suffering in the coming year. read more