Dear TBZ Community,
It has been a hard week. I am feeling exhausted, and at times hopeless.
At the beginning of the week, we witnessed protests in Israel. Following three months of weekly unrest, people filled the streets at night: Israel went into a full general strike to stand against the current government of Israel, their plan to overhaul the justice system, and their firing of the minister of defense after he said he would not vote with the prime minister. As I spoke to friends in Israel, the feeling of euphoria and hope was palpable on the street. Young and old, religious and secular, all were on the street fighting to protect Israel from becoming a dictatorship. A friend of mine told me, “I am tired, but I feel for the first time in a long time that I am not alone in this fight.” And though it seems that there was a small victory, as the prime minister paused the vote and said there will be negotiations, the threat looms, the protests swell, and the fight continues. I won’t give you the list of everything that makes me feel scared and unhopeful at times; I don’t see this past week as a victory for democracy, not yet. Yes, I hold hands with my Israeli friends and will continue to raise my voice to fight for justice, for democracy, and for the end of the occupation. And as I have said numerous times, I will continue to raise my voice as a Jew, as an American, and as an Israeli rabbi. Standing against this government’s policies is not standing against Israel – it is standing for Israel. It is the best way to support the Israel we dream of, that we don’t want to give up on, whose declaration of independence affirms that we “will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice, and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel.”
Meanwhile here in our own country, we mourn the victims of another school shooting, this time in Nashville. With three children and three staff members killed. There have been 131 mass shootings in the U.S. in 2023, 90 school shootings, and at this point I don’t know what else to say, I just keep crying.
So how do we hold hope and continue to fight for justice? I am reminded by my friend that though this is exhausting and terrifying, we are not alone. And how do we enter Pesach (Passover), the celebration of liberation, when we face challenges? These challenges, all around us, in a world that crumbles down with more injustice, more death, more pain, more tragedy. How do we enter Pesach when we also face challenges in our own personal lives? What does Pesach have to teach us? What can Pesach gift us?
This is what I remind myself, this is the teaching I know I need this year: Pesach invites us to believe that redemption is at hand, and that redemption and liberation is possible.
My spouse, Ebn Leader, teaches us that the main focus of Pesach is remembering redemption and not necessarily oppression. Ebn proposes that “the two mitzvot [commandments], remembering the slavery and remembering the redemption, while deeply connected are also distinct from each other and can at times work towards opposing ends.” Ebn argues that the “over-emphasis of the memory of slavery on Pesach actually undermines the goal of the holiday which is to celebrate freedom, and by doing so undermines the long-term goal of remembering slavery, which is to work against oppression.”
This Shabbat is Shabbat HaGadol, the Great Shabbat, the sabbath before Pesach. There are many different traditions associated with this Great Shabbat, and behind all of them is the need to prepare for Pesach.
Traditionally a great drasha, a great teaching, is given to remind people how to prepare their homes for Pesach – get rid of the chametz (leavened foods), clean up their kitchens – so they can have a Pesach kasher v’sameach, a kosher and happy Passover. One of the sources of this preparation comes from the book of Shemot (Exodus) when, prior to leaving Egypt, the people are commanded to prepare for the Exodus. In Exodus 12:3, the Torah tells us what is known as the first Pesach:
דַּבְּר֗וּ אֶֽל־כָּל־עֲדַ֤ת יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר בֶּעָשֹׂ֖ר לַחֹ֣דֶשׁ הַזֶּ֑ה וְיִקְח֣וּ לָהֶ֗ם אִ֛ישׁ שֶׂ֥ה לְבֵית־אָבֹ֖ת שֶׂ֥ה לַבָּֽיִת
Speak to the community leadership of Israel and say that on the tenth of this month each of them shall take a lamb to a family, a lamb to a household
Before Pesach begins, the people of Israel are commanded to take a lamb to prepare. In order to arrive at Pesach, preparation is required! You don’t just show up and all is ready, you prepare.
So, how do we prepare for Pesach? And how do we prepare for celebration, in the midst of hardship? Some will spend time cleaning their homes, some shopping for ingredients, some dusting off their Haggadot (books used for the Passover meal), some preparing for a journey to family and friends.
As we often say, Shabbat is our invitation to experience the world as if it were perfect and good and beautiful. When Shabbat ends, we have tasted the goodness and we know what it feels like to be at peace. Pesach also provides us an opportunity, an opportunity to experience redemption. After imagining and tasting the possibility of redemption, after knowing what it feels like, we know what we are looking for and what we are looking to create. Afterall, if we don’t know what redemption feels like, if we can’t even imagine what redemption looks like, how can we work towards it?
This year, in between cleaning, cooking, and your other Pesach preparations, bring your focus beyond collecting materials, articles, and stories of oppression and look for the stories of redemption. Perhaps the holiday is coming to give us a break from all that brokenness, all those feelings of un-hopefulness, the sense of exhaustion, and perhaps the voice that says ‘I can’t do this anymore, I am losing my hope in the possibility that something will get better.’
My invitation is to ask you to consider what Pesach can be for you, for each of us this year?
In the words of Ebn:
“The freedom that we gather around tables to celebrate on the first night of Pesach is the freedom that comes of accepting such grace. It is the joyous acknowledgment that we humans do not control everything; all is not dependent on us. Can you tell the story of setting out on a journey in which you do not have to decide the route, the rest stops or the pace, and in which food, water, and shelter are all provided by someone else? Can you enjoy that story and experience God’s love in it? The most important instruction for the Seder night is – lean back. Recline. There are enough other times in life when you have to lean in…”
May this Shabbat bring renewal and blessings to all of you and your loved ones.
May we find strength, courage, and patience, and open our hearts with generosity.
May all those who are ill find healing. And may we have a joyful, sweet, and peaceful Shabbat.
Shabbat Shalom & Chag Sameach,
Rav Claudia
P.S: Please note that there will not be a Shabbat N’kabla email next Thursday. Instead, an email will be sent on Wednesday with all the details for Pesach and Shabbat services for next weekend.