Free from Bondage: Pesach Spiele 2018

(This was my first ever religious commentary, written to be read in 3 parts, with extra questions for the table)

Hello everyone. I would like to begin this Seder by stating the fact that this is my first time leading a Seder. Many of the ideas I have had are inspired by other Seders and Shabbat dinners or sessions that I have attended. I will however, be putting in a fair deal of my own interpretation, so please do feel free to criticise or question what I say.

I am very proud for the opportunity, nevertheless I have tried to accommodate for the table around me. I have written 3 spiele which should take about 15 minutes including this one that is about to follow, to go at the beginning, middle, and end of the Seder in a way that should hopefully give a better understanding of the Haggadah and the Seder generally.

As requested, I have not delved into the theology except only very slightly at the end, but I would be more than happy if people have thoughts or questions afterwards to discuss that or any other ideas, theological or otherwise.

I am not a theologian—I am not even a Shaliah really—but we all do our bests.

An Introduction:

What we are about to read is the story of Exodus. However, the reason that you have in front of you a Haggadah instead of a (Sefer) Torah is because there is always more to this story than simply a history. There is also a reason that we read this story at home, rather than in a Synagogue. The answer may appear evidently: we have food before us. This is clearly wrong however, because on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur we still fast and feast, but we also have far more of a responsibility to go to shul. My belief—which you will not necessarily hear directly elsewhere—is that Passover does not exist in isolation. This is a continuation of Purim which we celebrated this year over a month ago in shul. There, we read a similar story in which the Jews persevere through adversity and attempted total-genocide and find power as a nation and as individuals. One day the Shoah will be among these; of this I am certain: absolutely certain. An adage that I remember growing up hearing around this time of year was “they tried to kill us; we survived; let’s eat”. However, not only is this obviously a gross oversimplification, but also it overlooks many of the core senses that we should have about Passover, and while you will see many of them throughout the Haggadah, I would like to bring your attention to a few: one of its relation to other events during the year an its theological significance thereof, one of its obvious history, and one of the significance to its role in a Jewish view of activism and civil rights.

1)     Purim is of man. In the book of Esther we see what happens when man takes action against injustice without The L*rd, whom I shall henceforth refer to as Hashem. To be clear, this is not to say that Esther and Mordecai etc. acted in spite of Hashem, but He was not mentioned whatsoever. What do we see as a result of this? (leave a moment for audience-response, if not:) the Jews murdered 75,000 Persians—many of whom were innocent civilians—in two days, and many of them felt the need to convert out of fear. Of course, conversion is great—it’s beautiful—(shrug at goyim) but not under coercion or fear. That—I will say—is false love. Passover comes as a direct follow-up: for instance, we are expected to clear our homes for Passover directly after Purim—both are spring-feast holidays with lots of drinking—but most importantly, you will see similar activism against those who “tried to kill us” but this time we were assisted directly by Hashem. I do not mean to suggest that the story of Purim or the book of Esther is a godless, lawless, murderous story and Passover’s isn’t, because there is beauty and nuance to both. Why I say this is that I want to be acutely aware of where we see the role of people, and where we see Hashem. I invite you to ask over the course of this reading how much of the story is moved by one or the other? Is it equal? If not, should it be in your own life, or do you see the value in whatever imbalance you notice.

2) The second point is that it gives context to history. Ever since the destruction of the second temple, we were in exile. Spoiler alert: we wandered for 40 years in desert, but we could just as well tell the story of sac of Judea when that all began, but we don’t. Why not? Aside from the incredible theological importance of Pesach, Judea is not in Exodus, and we need to hear the story of Moses, but that story. Basically, unless the sac of Judea was framed really well, is not a story of the movement from slavery to nobility (Eretz) on the backs of the Jews, and with the hand of Hashem. There are so many stories of victimization throughout history, but the point of the story is not that we were slaves so only cry over us. We acted.

3) This brings me to my final addition. This story does not only relate to Jews thousands of years ago, nor does it only relate to Jews—that’s why invite goyim—as it relates to all suffering, all global injustice, and all infringements of freedom. We acted; we will continue.

Yes, the month of Nisan, the first month of the religious year, is a month of joy—we are commanded to be joyful—but it is also a month of growth, not only a growth of the flowers in spring, but a growth of the self through rest and study. Indeed, we are commanded to study and by thoughtful, which can be a good reminder to some that the two are certainly able to go hand-in-hand. We will talk today, and study this book; you may choose to pray and to rest, and observe Shabbat, but you will also eat this delicious food, and hopefully engage in some entertaining conversation. With that, let’s begin.

A commentary on the question-section,

In recognition of the rhetorical power of questions, I’ve broken the rest of this spiel into four sections all headed by a question.

What was so significant about this section that I wrote a spiel specifically for it?

This section, which can easily be thought of as the middle of the Seder, not necessarily in terms of time but in terms of theme, really sets the tone for how we should view the Seder every year.

Why do I say this so certainly?

• Linguistically there is a shift, from the traditional Hebrew to Aramaic. This is often lost in translation but one thing that we are able to gain from this knowledge is that there is still a place for vernacular at the Seder. Indeed, that is one of two reasons I have not written these commentaries in Hebrew either J. Although we pray in Hebrew, and on holidays we may read in Hebrew, there is recognition without resignation that the ultimate goal is to gain knowledge, in the broad sense of the word.

• Also, the breaking of the matzo is significant, but there are many reasons for this, two of which I will get into now. One somewhat silly reason that the matzo is said to be broken is that it is fun for the children. Literally, is the spectacle of it being done by the Father, or in this case the Son (which is a crazy inversion that I’ve a lot of thoughts about), and the hiding of the Afikomen, but also the act itself is a change from the standard of reading; I am no longer holding a book but a piece of food to be shared as a religiously significant snack. It promises food and games, and a minute of mental rest.

• Moreover, there is a reason that the matzo is broken at the table, rather than beforehand. Easily enough we could have laid it out alongside the rest of the items on the Seder-plate, but this splitting is—as many scholars and myself take it to be—symbolic of the separation from history to modernity: from the plight of Jews 3,000 years ago to the plight of all enslaved people now. (There is a reason that all of the great communists were Jewish). This break—in matzo and in reading—is used to mark the most notably shift in the Haggadah.

What do I mean by this besides the language-use?

The section is remarkably different from the rest of it. Not only is the section a break from the reading of Exodus, but the question-section is not simply to write about which is the most stupid of the children in the family in this text, and indeed the different children are not more foolish than the others outright. We review the questions and discuss which is the best to ask not in order to shame the children who ask poor questions, hopefully, but as a way to teach people how to think critically and then articulate this scepticism and naivety that the guests today—and children generally—should have. Questioning is a skill to be learned and sharpened over time, but it should never feel out of reach, never too grand for the vernacular, never too complicated even for children. More importantly however, this question-section tells us never to take something as merely tradition; nothing should be done simply because it has been done before.

Then, why do we do any of the things that we do? ;)

Why keep kosher just because of Leviticus, but not condemn homosexuality? (If you don’t care about Leviticus on the other hand, why not just go around adulterating?) Why keep Shabbat when it isolates me from my family most of the time? Why get into a relationship which may be even more emotionally exhausting than otherwise? Why avoid eating a bagel only available at one store in New York, or even pretzels generally, during the one week you’re back in America just because it’s not kosher for Passover?

You may have your own questions that may seem to lack sense but follow tradition and I think we would all love to discuss those afterwards. I bring up my own to show the questioning applies to traditional issues and modern ones, but I have also deliberately brought up questions from my own life that probably do not relate to you because while the wise child and the foolish child may have different questions, sometimes a question that is good for one child is not useful for another. 

A Summation

Now that we’ve finished reading all that about Passover, I’d like to read a little bit about Purim. The goal of Passover is Shirah (giving thanks to Hashem for Exodus). How do we deliver Shirah?: Hallel. What’s Hallel: prayer following the story. We do not say Hallel for Purim, and while there are a number reasons for this, including the notion that Hallel is only said for miracles that happened in the Land. We can see that one is a miracle and one was not, but we still celebrate both. Why is this?

I will get back to that in a moment

One thing that you are all super lucky about is that both nights of Passover this year happens to line up the Sabbath. This is so unbelievably awesome, that the first year I get to lead the Seder is also the Sabbath, because not only does it mean that it means we can double-up on prayer and restful obligations—a small convenience—it also means that I get to talk about Shamor V’Zahor Observe and Remember (so hold onto that a second) which raises its own theological questions, pretty much the same as between Purim and Passover. For the Goyim: we are told by Hashem to observe and remember the Sabbath (meaning that we cannot change anything about the world, including working, writing, cooking or using electricity) quote “in a single utterance”, also sometimes translated as “in a single breath”. This is widely taken to mean that we have to hold two contradictory ideas in mind while doing something for those reasons. But I hear the Goyim asking, “Emmett, these don’t sound that contradictory”. At first glance, no they don’t, but looking at the passages that discuss observation and remembrance more thoroughly do so separately; the section on Shamor ‘observe’ discusses that we do this to commemorate the seventh day; the work of Hashem is done, the work of us must also be done. We are told to imitate The L*rd—in everyday life too—as a way to better ourselves, so we observe Him. However—and why I am so excited that the two line up this year—is that when we are told to zahor ‘remember’, we are reminded of the forced work when we were slaves in Egypt. We are no longer forced to work; so we remember this and take a day off from work, and also extend this day of rest to our family, servants, and animals.

Does this mean that one is better than the other? Big no, because we were told both in a single utterance. I would to extend this to the problem that we see with the differences between Purim and Passover. Is one better than the other? Should we only ask Hashem to solve our problems, or can we also use seduction, coercion, networking, violence, etc as a means to attain our goal. In the case of the only one I am truly opposed to—violence—it is one that both stories have, but they also both have their benefits and setbacks. In one we save hundreds of thousands of Jews, gain power, and convert people to Judaism but by horrendous means, and in the other, we have the favor of Hashem but are also forced to flee in such a hurry, and as a result we wander for 40 years (but also thousands of years). Still, there is only one miracle. What I would like to suggest is that we say Purim and Passover in a single utterance, as it were, and see the benefit in acting for yourself, but the need also for divinity.

And if you begin to wonder whether or not this relates to your life at all now, and wonder if you would choose to take anything from what I just said, consider that there is still work to be done; there is always work to be done. We are, none of us, truly free, but we do have the power to help to try and reach this goal with everyone else in the world. We must end human-trafficking and very literal slavery, but we must also aim to limit idol minds from the influence of others (politicians and organizations especially), we must protect the religious and ethnic rights of people where we can. If you take anything from what I have said here tonight, please, I implore you, be active!—and do not forget that we were slaves in Egypt!

Now let’s eat.

What does it mean to be free?

-What does it mean to be free within a community?

       -Can anyone be free within a community?

-If freedom is defined by a lack of restrictions and oversight (maybe it isn’t anyway) can people ever know freedom in a non-relativistic sense?

       -What is individual freedom if there are communal norms and restrictions e.g. capitalism, nationalism, religion, family, language

What would Passover (Pesach) be without Purim?

-(esp. for the goyim): do we need to see the effect of deliverance without G*d directly to appreciate the deliverance directly provided by G*d.

-(also) how much of self-motivation do we need in balance (or in lieu) of the work of Hashem (i.e. how much do we need to do for ourselves, even with the support of Hashem)?

What does it mean to be free?

-What does it mean to be free within a community?

       -Can anyone be free within a community?

-If freedom is defined by a lack of restrictions and oversight (maybe it isn’t anyway) can people ever know freedom in a non-relativistic sense?

       -What is individual freedom if there are communal norms and restrictions e.g. capitalism, nationalism, religion, family, language

What would Passover (Pesach) be without Purim?

-(esp. for the goyim): do we need to see the effect of deliverance without G*d directly to appreciate the deliverance directly provided by G*d.

-(also) how much of self-motivation do we need in balance (or in lieu) of the work of Hashem (i.e. how much do we need to do for ourselves, even with the support of Hashem)?

What does it mean to be free?

-What does it mean to be free within a community?

       -Can anyone be free within a community?

-If freedom is defined by a lack of restrictions and oversight (maybe it isn’t anyway) can people ever know freedom in a non-relativistic sense?

       -What is individual freedom if there are communal norms and restrictions e.g. capitalism, nationalism, religion, family, language

What would Passover (Pesach) be without Purim?

-(esp. for the goyim): do we need to see the effect of deliverance without G*d directly to appreciate the deliverance directly provided by G*d.

-(also) how much of self-motivation do we need in balance (or in lieu) of the work of Hashem (i.e. how much do we need to do for ourselves, even with the support of Hashem)?

What does it mean to be free?

-What does it mean to be free within a community?

       -Can anyone be free within a community?

-If freedom is defined by a lack of restrictions and oversight (maybe it isn’t anyway) can people ever know freedom in a non-relativistic sense?

       -What is individual freedom if there are communal norms and restrictions e.g. capitalism, nationalism, religion, family, language

What would Passover (Pesach) be without Purim?

-(esp. for the goyim): do we need to see the effect of deliverance without G*d directly to appreciate the deliverance directly provided by G*d.

-(also) how much of self-motivation do we need in balance (or in lieu) of the work of Hashem (i.e. how much do we need to do for ourselves, even with the support of Hashem)?