Dear {{first_name}},
Four cups of wine, four sons and the four questions. Those are three of the hallmarks of the סדר/Seder and they each hold a special place in our hearts and in our celebration of פסח/Passover. The four questions may very well be the most significant as they occupy the center of the holiday. The way we would say the “Four Questions” in Hebrew would be the ארבעה השאלות which literally translates into “The Four Questions” but we traditionally refer to the central part of the סדר as the ארבעה הקושיאות which is roughly translated into “The Four Challenges.” This is an important nuance because what we refer to as “four questions” are not so much questions as they are “four challenges.” The four challenges are making assertions about what is so different on this night from other nights:
- On all other nights we eat חמץ/chametz and מצה/matzah but tonight its only מצה
- On all other nights we eat all veggies but tonight we eat מרור/bitter herbs
- On all other nights we don’t dip even once but tonight we dip twice
- On all other nights we eat either sitting or reclining but tonight we all recline
In each of those questions there are implied questions. However, the question is not explicitly stated for any of them. The entire section is indeed introduced with the words of מה נשתנה/what is changed/different on this night from all other nights. Following this opening question, four examples are provided of the changes/differences. They are challenges more than questions.
This year, as we sit down together, there are many questions and challenges. As free people, we must assert these challenges to the world and demand that we find answers or responses. Here are my four challenges to the world this Passover.
- This year people are being held against their will in captivity and are not able to celebrate the holiday with their families and the world seems to have moved on rather than fighting for them.
- Israel continues to be held to a different standard when it defends itself while the world demands Israel behave as if it’s not in an existential struggle.
- This year anti-Semitism is growing after all of these years. The world doesn’t seem to care nearly enough about our plight.
- The Jewish world continues to fight for Israel and against anti-Semitism but does not fight for Judaism nearly enough. Our people need to recommit to being engaged Jewishly.
These four challenges keep me up all night far too often.
We live in a world where such awful things have happened. We live in a world where people who were celebrating life at a music festival, enjoying a holiday, visiting family, working, and so much more were murdered, tortured, raped and/or kidnapped. We live in that world and yet it seems so distant and remote. This isn’t the world we deserve and it isn’t the world we wish for our children. I’ve been to Kfar Azza, Sderot and the Reyim Music Festival site. These things are real and have really happened in our world. To imagine that just across the border from where I was standing and learning and grieving, there are our loved ones being held in inhumane circumstances and against their will. This can never be normalized and we must carry them with us.
We live in a world where such awful things have happened. We live in a world where a cease fire existed and had been respected and suddenly on one day, a Jewish holiday no less, a group of terrorists came across the border and unleased a horrific ghastly massacre while they fired rockets indiscriminately at our towns. We live in this world where this happened and yet we watch as the rest of the world demands a cease fire knowing full well our hostages are not home and that Hamas will remain in power and are capable of doing this all again (something they have already said they intend to do). Where is the outrage of their unwillingness to accept a cease fire? Where is the outrage about their immoral use of human shields and putting themselves in hospitals and mosques and schools? Where is the outrage of their unwillingness to be responsible for the people of Gaza who they have put in harms way? We must remember that Israel can never be made to rely on others for her safety and security and they must do what’s required to secure their future.
We live in a world where such awful things have happened. Jewish people around our country and around the world have been targeted because of their support for Israel and because of their identity. People continue to hide behind criticism of Israel as being something legitimate but the reality is that all too often their “legitimate” critique is nothing more than illegitimate “othering” of the only Jewish State in the world and the Jewish people. Anti-Semitism is not a thing of the past (where it should be relegated) but is current news. On university campuses we have witnessed Jewish students running for safety and hiding in safe rooms while they waited for the cops to arrive. This is not Germany or Europe of the 1930s and 40s: yet how far have we actually come from that time? We need to demand better. We need to build bridges and demand that those around us recognize there can never be space for neutrality. One is either a friend or an anti-Semite and there’s nothing in between.
We live in a world where our politics and our culture have replaced the sacred birthright we’ve inherited. We’ve allowed for so much to stand in the place of our religious commitments. We have Jews today who don’t know what it means to be a Jew. We have Jews today who support every other cause but their own. We have Jews today who don’t know how to function as Jews in a Jewish environment. This is the world we have. We need to recommit ourselves to our heritage and to our people. We need to recommit ourselves to our faith and to our tradition. We cannot allow for cultural Jews to be all that remains of our people. We must show that our faith and our way of life matter and we will not let anything stand in the way of those values.
Those are my four challenges for this פסח. I invite you to join me in digging more deeply and finding ways to be in conversation with them while never accepting them as our fate.
On behalf of Carrie, Ayelet, Galit and the staff and Board of Directors of OVS, I wish you a wonderful and meaningful Passover.
חג כשר ושמח
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Hearshen
