SHABBAT PESACH 5779
TENSIONS IN OUR LIVES
April 25, 2019
20 Nissan 5779
Then there are four sons… one wise, one wicked, one simple and one who does not even know what to ask… (The Haggadah)
I often pose the question: who is the opposite of the wise son? Invariably the answer is the wicked. Yet the wicked son can also be wise; the answer obviously is the one who knows not what to ask. When asked who the opposite of the wicked son is, the answer often given is the simple son; the common translation of the Hebrew word tam is simple. Such a son may be very placid and cooperative. The Bible, however, describes Jacob as being an ish tam, an upright man, based on an alternative translation of tam.
The Four Sons thus introduce us to contrasts based on intelligence and morality. This is but one of the contrasts that are built into the Seder. The matzah symbolizes the bread of freedom and the bread of affliction that was the fare of our enslaved ancestors. Wine symbolizes both the joy of redemption and the blood the Egyptians shed as they drowned the new born Israelite sons in the Nile, and also the blood of the Egyptians that was shed during the plagues, especially with the slaying of their first born. Our sensitivity to the latter is why we flick drops of wine as we recite the plagues. A perfect world would be free of evil and without bloodshed
The Haggadah and the Seder thus reflect the tension of living with contrasts. We are reminded that life is seldom all white or all black; there inevitably is some white in black and some black in white. Rather, life is colored by various shades of gray. Life is a struggle to resolve the tensions of balancing good with bad, success with failure, happiness with sadness.
At services this Shabbat, the eighth Day of Pesach, we pause to recite Yizkor, a time to recall loved ones who are no longer at our side. We began the holiday last week gathered with family and friends at the Seder table. Pesach begins with the Seder where we rejoice in and with family; it concludes with Yizkor when we are reminded of the sad loss of family members and friends, dear to us in life, for whom we now pause to lovingly recall.
We thus conclude the Festival that began with warmth and joy of a family gathering, and ends with our remembrance, with devotion and love, of those who are no longer with us. May we have the strength and the wisdom to resolve, and to live with, the tensions that are invariably present in our lives.
—
From Newton my best wishes for a Shabbat Shalom u'Mevorach and a Chag Sameach, a joyous and festive Pesach celebration.
Rabbi Arnold M Goodman
PESACH 5779
BLESSED TOGETHERNESS
April 12, 2019
13 Nissan 5779
Moses then summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, "Go, pick out lambs for your families, and slaughter the Passover offering" (Exodus 12:21).
The very night the Israelites were to leave Egypt in freedom, they were commanded to sacrifice the Passover lamb that had been kept in their homes for three days. Preparing, sacrificing and eating the lamb with matzah and bitter herbs were a shared family experience. The memory of this ritual is kept alive by placing a roasted shank bone on the Pesach ritual tray.
Family, as a source of love, support, and strength, is one of the great gifts and significant indicia of freedom. There are, of course, many occasions for a family gatherings and celebration, but the Pesach Seder has special meaning and significance.
During slavery, African Americans lived with the reality and the fear that their family and generational ties could be easily severed at their master's whim. The slave was a commodity whose owner was free to use or disposed of he wished. Husbands, fathers and children were often sold to other owners, thereby separating spouses, children, parents, siblings – all never again to see one another.
In 1938-39 the Kinder-transport brought over 10,000 Jewish children from Nazi-dominated Western Europe to Great Britain, where they lived with foster or adopted families. The children were unaccompanied by their parents, many of whom never again saw one another. I can visualize the pain of the empty seat at all times.
Freedom at its best is family harmony and togetherness. An absent child, a deceased loved one, and an alienated family member impact upon family reunions and celebrations. It's often a constant struggle to maintain the solidarity of the mishpacha.
To this day, separating children from parents is viewed as wanton cruelty. This undoubtedly accounts for the public outcry following the Administration's decision to separate children from their parents at our Southern border. Jews, aware of the relatively recent history of enforced family separations during the Holocaust, have been in the vanguard of today's protests. Tearing children from the loving and protecting arms of parents is an act of violence that is rightly condemned and resisted.
The observation rings true that every family is unhappy in a different way, but a family confronted with the absence or alienation of a child or any loved one, is especially pained at family gatherings and obviously at the Seder table.
May the blessing of family togetherness continue to enrich our lives on Pesach and throughout the year and years.
—
From Newton, my best wishes for a Shabbat Shalom u'Mevorach and a Chag Sameach, a joyous and festive Pesach celebration!
Rabbi Arnold M Goodman
