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Passover Reflections

Tomorrow night we celebrate one of our most central and widely observed Jewish rituals, the Passover seder. The seder is, first and foremost, an experience in storytelling – the story of our collective redemption from slavery and God’s miracles in bringing us through our journey in the desert. There are so many themes in the Hagaddah and the seder invites us to explore them. The text can simply be read, but how much richer it is if we stop to discuss and debate, and if we bring our experiences and issues of today to bear on the questions that flow from the text.

One of the most powerful images of redemption in my life is from my trip to Ethiopia five years ago, which I shared with 10 other members of our community. While there I saw people literally carrying their suitcases in hand and balancing baskets on their heads as they made their way to buses to take them to the Addis Ababa airport – that image is forever riveted in my brain. It was during that trip that both Gary Segal and I met Dr. Rick Hodes, the Joint Distribution Committee’s extraordinary medical director in Ethiopia. Over the past five years Dr. Hodes’ connection with Gary and with our community has deepened, and this week that relationship was cemented with the extraordinary Bring Back Hope event. More than 750 people from all walks of life across the Lower Mainland attended the event and generously pledged their support for Dr. Hodes’ life-saving work in Ethiopia, as well as built a connection between his work there and the UBC Branch for International Surgery.

Representing the Jewish Federation and our community I was proud to share the Jewish value of tikkun olam (repair of the world) with so many people beyond our community. It was a truly extraordinary evening.

The experience of slavery and oppression is ingrained in our collective Jewish consciousness. Our redemption from Egypt and wanderings in the desert forged a national identity through which we could overcome the experience of slavery. The powerful message of the seder is that we are to live as if we ourselves stood at Sinai, redeemed from captivity and receiving God’s Torah. That moment was the time when we were most together, most united. We cannot, of course, live that moment every day and all the time. To do so would be overwhelming and probably not healthy, given our great diversity. But we can be reminded that underneath our beautiful diversity is a common history and experience. There are moments that call out for us to come together in common purpose. And when we do, we can overcome anything.

Shabbat Shalom v'Chag Pesach Sameach!