Monday, April 28, 2014

Three different ways to view the holiday of Pesach

1) Philosophical/Theological - "I am the Lord your God who took you out of the land of Egypt..." (Exodus 20:2) Pesach reminds us of God's existence and activity, and the background arguments towards that. This lines up with the traditional view of Avraham's journey to God - making philosophical and theological arguments as to why idols are useless and why God must exist and be omnipotent.

2) Experiential - "[The] Passover-offering [is offered] because the Omnipresent One passed over the houses of our ancestors in Egypt. Unleavened bread [is eaten] because our ancestors were redeemed from Egypt. [The] bitter herb is [eaten] because the Egyptians embittered the lives of our ancestors in Egypt. In every generation a person must regard himself as though he personally had gone out of Egypt..." (Mishna Pesachim 10:5) We do funny little things on Pesach to induce a spiritual experience, to make it seem alive and real. Very often, they are not fun, such as eating matza, or maror, but it gives our lives a spiritual flavor which we remember. This lines up with Yitzchak's story - at one point (almost) sacrificed, the medrash relating that he even saw the angels above, which we equate with the ultimate spiritual experience which we remind ourselves of at Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur in preparation for repentance. The story of Yitzchak has another detail that should never be forgotten - he repeatedly redug the wells of his father in spite of harassment - he didn't just have a singular spiritual experience, but he took it with him into real life and reinvigorated tradition with a new well of water.

3) Historical - "This is the bread of affliction that our fathers ate in the land of Egypt...This year we are here; next year in the land of Israel. This year we are slaves; next year we will be free people." (Haggada) The focus is the amazing journey we as Jews have had, from the little family, to enslavement, to glorious freedom, and on to the Holy Land. We have had our ups and downs since then, but the story is nonetheless amazing and full of wonderful people. We care not only about where we were in our past, but where we are now and where we will be in the future. This is the Yaakov story, the father to a powerful people who gather to await the message about the days to come. He is the person our nation is named after, Yisrael, and we are his spiritual descendants.

These three ways are also powerful ways of getting people more involved in Judaism and staying Jewish. The first is what I call the "Aish" method, and I don't think it will work for much longer. The second is what I call the "Carlebach" method, but it is too subjective. The third has yet to be popularized, but I think it is the most powerful. Focus on our past, our present, and how we can carry it into the future.

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