By Arthur Schwartz
5 May 2024
In late April, Jews around the world marked Passover, a celebration of the Jews’ escape from slavery in Egypt, told in detail in the Bible in the book of Exodus. Though largely a written version of a mythological story which had its basis in events of the 5th Century B.C., it has served to inspire many generations of people who have been enslaved, most poignantly, the struggle of African-Americans not only against American slavery, but during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.
Of any White group that engaged in the fight for Civil Rights, Jews were represented in disproportionate numbers. The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (RAC) notes that: “Jews made up half of the young people who participated in the Mississippi Freedom Summer in 1964. Leaders of the Reform Movement were arrested with Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in St. Augustine, Florida in 1964. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel marched arm-in-arm with Dr. King in his 1965 March on Selma. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were drafted in the conference room of the RAC.”
According to the Passover story, there are days when God does not want us to sing. The story goes that as “the Egyptians were drowning in the sea, the angels wanted to sing before God, and God, said to them: ‘My creations are drowning and you are singing before Me?’ ”
I want to share an additional prayer that Jews for Racial and Economic Justice recommended that people say at their Seders this year. (Jews, at least Reform Jews, are free to rewrite their ceremony, called the Haggadah, every year.)
“As we arrive at Passover, my mind—like yours—is on liberation. Here in New York, this means freedom to learn, be safe, seek asylum, and more. As we gather around our Seder tables, many of us will be thinking about the freedom to be publicly Jewish or to peacefully protest; the freedom to be our full Jewish and political selves. We may also be reflecting on how our freedoms here have limits; how we’re constantly pushing the contours of our freedom in our personal lives and at the ballot box.
In the Holy Land, there are two peoples in desperate need of liberation and the freedom to live safely. The hostages loom large in our minds as we pray they’re alive, safe, and that they’ll see freedom soon. Civilians in Gaza are increasingly hungry, praying for an end to the barrage endangering them every day. Over and over we repeat: no one is going anywhere; both Israelis and Palestinians have a right to self-determination. But “not going anywhere” is the bare minimum. Not only should neither people be expelled, but both deserve full citizenship in true democracies where they can thrive and their communities can flourish. While we are truly in mitzrayim—a narrow place —our ancestors have shown us that we can leave it, and build something new.”
These are words that those on all sides of this horrible conflagration should adopt. Those who insist that only one side is right condemn us, and themselves, to defending the indefensible.
The 10 Plagues-Passover 2024
At my family Seder we addressed the conundrum discussed in the article above. When there is a discussion of the 10 plagues, instead of just blotting our napkin with 10 drops of wine, we did 30; the 10 plagues, 10 for villages destroyed on October 7, and 10 for cities and towns destroyed in Gaza. Here is our list:
We cannot drink a full glass of joy while others suffer. As we recite each plague, we spill a drop of wine from our cups.
Blood
Frogs
Lice
Wild Beasts
Cattle Plague
Boils
Hail
Locusts
Darkness
Death of the Firstborn
Across Israel, communities have known terrible loss, and Israeli hostages remain captive in Gaza. We spill additional drops of wine for innocent blood spilled at:
Re’im Music Festival
Kibbutz Nir Oz
Kfar Aza
Kibbutz Holit
Kibbutz Beeri
Sderot
Netiv Ha-Asara
Metula
Kibbutz A!umim
Kiryat Shmona
Talmud records that during the miracle at the Sea of Reeds, the angels sang songs of praise and God rebuked them, saying, “The works of my hands are drowning, and you sing Me praises?!” We spill drops of wine for the suffering of innocents in Gaza, including in:
Gaza City
Beit Hanoun
Khan Younis
Jabaliya
Deir al-Balah
Camp al-Nuseirat
Camp al-Maghazi
Bureij
Bani Suheila
RafahGod, open our hearts. Help us to build new paths to freedom so that safety never again comes at such a cost. So that liberation can be for all of us, safe and flourishing, together. Prayer by R. David Evan Markus and R. Rachel Barenblat —From Arthur Schwartz
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