From Rabbi Craig Mayers
April & May 2024
FROM THE RABBI: PESACH 5784/2024
As I write this, on the cusp of Purim with Pesach looming just over the horizon, I can’t help but think that this Passover is different from all other Passovers. And I’m not alone in my thinking. A recent article posted on the Jewish Telegraphic Agency’s website is titled, “Can Jews sing ‘Dayenu’ while there are hostages? The Passover seder gets a post-Oct. 7 rethink.” According to the article, many Jewish groups including the Rabbinical Seminary and other institutions are developing haggadah “add-ons” and insertions to wrestle with the reality of Pesach during a time of war and with hostages still in captivity.
As I write this, on the cusp of Purim with Pesach looming just over the horizon, I can’t help but think that this Passover is different from all other Passovers. And I’m not alone in my thinking. A recent article posted on the Jewish Telegraphic Agency’s website is titled, “Can Jews sing ‘Dayenu’ while there are hostages? The Passover seder gets a post-Oct. 7 rethink.” According to the article, many Jewish groups including the Rabbinical Seminary and other institutions are developing haggadah “add-ons” and insertions to wrestle with the reality of Pesach during a time of war and with hostages still in captivity.
In Israel, at the Conservative Schechter Rabbinical Seminary, rabbis and Jewish community leaders met to develop a version of the haggadah that adds text about the ongoing situation. It enables families to express their feelings in a way that both honors the old traditions and recognizes the reality of this year’s holiday – that as much as we celebrate our freedom, we cannot fully do so while our brothers and sisters remain held hostage. Some of the added text poignantly reads as follows: “On all other nights, we think that we have answers. Tonight, we all just stay silent... on all other nights, we remember, sing and cry. On this night, we only cry.”
(Note: The Rabbinical Assembly has not yet developed an insert for this year; the meeting to do so is being held on April 1. I’ll be sure to spread the news and/or a link when any haggadah supplements become publicly available, so you can consider adding them to your seders.)
(Note: The Rabbinical Assembly has not yet developed an insert for this year; the meeting to do so is being held on April 1. I’ll be sure to spread the news and/or a link when any haggadah supplements become publicly available, so you can consider adding them to your seders.)
The seder, which most often takes place in our homes, has been a unique ritual in that it follows ancient time-honored traditions yet also allows space for new ones. Like Miriam’s Cup (seen at left) and other relatively new symbols added to our seder tables. Some are leaving empty chairs and place settings at their tables to honor the hostages. The beauty of Passover may lie in how we continue to make the story relevant to our lives each year as we commemorate the Exodus and miracles associated with it. And even while doing so, we update and add content to reflect the world we live in now. We thank Hashem for the miracles performed for our ancestors – even as we await more miracles. “Mah Yishtaneh Ha-Layla Ha-Zeh?” we may ask. “What Will Be Different This Night?”
In Israel especially, but certainly for Jews everywhere this year, we don’t necessarily need maror (the bitter herbs) to remind us that life was bitter – we feel it now with the war, the rise in antisemitism, the insane denial of facts and the continued vilification of Zionism as a “dirty word” – life is plenty bitter for Jews everywhere this year. And when we read the powerful “vehi sheamda” prayer at our seders and lift our glasses, reiterating that in every generation enemies rise against us, but Hashem delivers us - we may wonder: just when is that deliverance coming? When will this war end, the hostages return safely to their families, and peace finally prevail? That’s one of the questions we don’t have an answer to. But to look forward and ask that question, to hope for that deliverance also requires us to recognize that we have survived and arrived at this moment by the grace of Hashem. If we hadn’t been saved in the past, we wouldn’t be here at the seder today praying for relief from our current bitter times. That is our challenge this year – to be able to say “Dayenu” even though there is still more we need.
Ultimately, the message of Pesach is and always has been - hope. When we say “Next Year in Jerusalem” it’s an aspiration, certainly. But perhaps it will take on new meaning this year. Maybe we really can fulfill that hope, expressed at our collective seders around the world. As some of you know, I had begun looking into putting together a congregational TBS trip to Israel just before October 7th. While the war continues, those plans are temporarily on hold. But my wish this Pesach is that it may be Hashem’s will that next year we can travel safely together as a community to experience the Holy Land, in peace and in safety and in health. May the coming year bring us and all our Jewish brothers and sisters a granting of those aspirations and hopes.
From my family to yours, I wish you a chag kasher v’sameach.
Rabbi Craig Mayers, Terry, Julian, Zachary and Ryan
From my family to yours, I wish you a chag kasher v’sameach.
Rabbi Craig Mayers, Terry, Julian, Zachary and Ryan