11th April, 2025
13th Nissan 5785
552nd of October
Shabbat Shalom dear friends, Shabbat Shalom and a peaceful Pesach.
“Justice doesn’t always arrive in sweeping gestures or loud
declarations. Sometimes, it walks softly into a room and says, “This isn’t
right”—and the world begins to shift.
Our very special friend Dr Kim Taylor wrote these words which best
describe this festival. “This Passover, as we remember Moses' brave
"Hineni" at the burning bush, we are reminded that each
of us is also called to respond: "Here am I." Just as Moses stood
ready to serve God and lead Israel to freedom, we were also invited to stand
with courage, faith, and purpose. In every generation, our "Hineni"
matters through acts of kindness, compassion, and devotion to our people, our
faith, and Israel. May this sacred season inspire us to bring healing where
there is pain, courage where there is fear, and hope where there is uncertainty.”
Tomorrow night we will all remember and pray for the 59 Israelis
who are still in the dire conditions of Hamas captivity. As we celebrate our
freedom we fear for their lives and their families who have an empty chair at
their Passover meal.
Almost time for Passover and the reading of the story of our Exodus
from Egypt – from slavery to freedom. After the blessing over the wine, the
youngest child at the table asks four questions beginning with “Why is this
night different to all other nights” the entire service responds to this
innocent question, in Hebrew and ancient Aramaic. Of course, the children need
to be amused in order to hold their attention so there are lots of songs and the
children often argue about who will read about the four sons – The Wise, The Questioner,
The Wicked and The One who doesn’t know how to ask. What is the purpose of this
description of four sons? the four sons actually represent the four generations
of assimilation.
14th of Nissan 2448 the first Paschal lamb was sacrificed by the
Jews in Egypt to be eaten at the first ever Passover Seder as described in
Exodus. It was so much more than an act of bravery, the sheep was considered
holy by the Egyptians of that time, it was an act of defiance when the Jewish
slaves realised they were about to leave Egypt and start their tortuous journey
to the Promised Land. When you think about it, each generation has brought its
challenges, each generation has brought out the innate racism that defines a
persecuted nation; through the Inquisition, the Blood Libel, the expulsion the
of Jews of Arab Lands, the Holocaust and the persecution and slaughter of today’s
Jews. That is what Passover and the Seder or service of the first night (or
nights if you live outside Israel) is all about – remembering our tortured
past. This history is described in the beautiful song Vehi Sheamda, which is
sung at the Seder table but sadly is true of today. Here it is sung by Daniel
Weiss whose parents were killed on October 7th. https://youtu.be/fY1wgTq9SRM?si=-IO2yL7YzLbBALJZ
The words are simple, the message
important, “And this (The Almighty's blessings) is what protected our
fathers and what keeps us surviving. For, not only one arose and tried to
destroy us, but rather in every generation they try to destroy us, and the Almighty saves
us from their hands.”
On the 27th of March 2002, just 3 days before Kinneret
Chaya was saved from a horrific bombing in a coffee shop in Tel Aviv, the Park Hotel
in Netanya was filled with excited families preparing for the communal Seder
held in the hotel when a suicide Hamas bomber came into the foyer and blew
himself up causing horrific damage and killing 30 people and injuring more than
120. As the song repeats, there is nothing new about killing Jews, it’s just
the names that change.
Song is an easy way to hold attention while telling a story,
Y-Studs is an acapella singing group who will tell you the story of Pesach in
about 4 minutes!! It’s very clever https://youtu.be/hLAAdCC9x5M?si=4_jkxKNSXIfLIdMH
Just a small but fascinating fact. 36 times the Torah commands us that
we must honour the stranger not oppress them but to live and care for them. 36
times this commandment is repeated. Why? Because we were strangers in Egypt
treated cruelly and today we are strangers in many lands.
A major part of Passover is the origin of Spring Cleaning!
Scrubbing and scouring, brushing and clearing, removing any crumb of leavened
products. Best explained by my wonderful friend Rabbi Jeremy Rosen with his
usual sense of humour, “Passover 2025, Are We Crazy?” https://www.jwire.com.au/pesach-2025-are-we-crazy/
There are many miracles in our history but the greatest miracle is
the fact that we are here, we survived and we have a truly magnificent country
of our own! Each and every one of these miracles is remembered during the
Passover Seder, but even that apparently serious litany of disasters is
celebrated in song. This particular one has a special relevance and addition at
our table, led by Sheli and I, we make a strange ululating sound at the end of
each verse! Anyway, here is Dayenu which has no direct translation but
basically means “even that would have been sufficient” In other words, the
blessings keep coming https://youtu.be/CZgDNPGZ9Sg?si=_UhoUA3HJnTAhECA
Zvi came back from his trip to Rome with his two boys (Amiad and
Leor) and two Bat Mitzva grand-daughters (Ella and Ori) and we were just
talking about the fact that many of the world’s greatest artists were
fascinated by the Passover Seder, or the Last Supper, each depicting the faces
of the Apostles in a different manner. Anyway, back to Rome and the Vatican
where the artist Raphael’s huge tapestry of the last supper is displayed. Our
connection, our mutual ethics, our determination to leave this world better
than we find it, is what we must always remember, not our few differences or
the language or the direction of our prayers.
So, The chicken soup is made, the kneidlach (matzo balls) are in
the freezer and I am taking life easy this year and we have ordered much of the
food from a local kosher caterer, but still the really traditional aspects are
left to me. I have prepared the burnt egg, shank bone (actually a turkey
neck!!) and am about to grate the horseradish, preferably out of doors with a
double mask and not breathing from the pungent fumes that each morsel exudes!
The horseradish represents the bitter times. Next on the list is the Charosis
or combining using my family’s recipe. Grated sweet apples, ground almonds, a
little wine or grape juice and finely chopped lettuce, a very popular version
rather than the very very sweet Sefardi version of chopped dates and nuts. One
explanation is that this represents our unity as a people, the cement of a
shared belief and tradition – something we really need in our world of strongly
expressed opinions and internecine fighting. This afternoon, Sheli and Tomer
are coming to help Zvi set up the tables and move the furniture, after all
seating 23 people is not always easy. Once the tables are in place my parents
Seder plate comes out of its protective covering, Zvi’s parents’ beautiful
dinner service comes out of its careful packing and we prepare for the prayers
and traditions of generations from both our families. I think that’s what it is
all about, tradition, just as Tevye’s song in Fiddler on the Roof. By carrying
out the traditions we honour our parents, their parents and all of those who
died because they were Jews. We prove that no matter what is thrown at us we
survive and thrive.
Tomer and Sheli are staying for Shabbat dinner, after all celebrating
Shabbat overrides any exhaustion induced by the Passover preparations. We will
light the Shabbat candles together, aware of the very special connection of our
families and of their parent’s determination to have two pure Israelis who were
and are ready to fight for our country and our people, putting their personal wishes
aside, knowing that the time will come for them to study and begin their
civilian lives. Their parents, Ira and Valeri z”l represent everything that Zvi
fought for from his student days until today, the freedom of Jews to come home,
home to Israel.
I wish you, each and every one of you, a Shabbat Shalom and a
peaceful Pesach in the week leading up to Good Friday and the festival of
Easter.
Just a quick reminder that tonight is Shabbat, Shabbat Shalom https://youtu.be/mCQRyLXx-AQ?si=8SqSbLUEfa1xr3aw
With love from Jerusalem, after all our Passover Seder ends with
the song “Next Year in Jerusalem” so easy to fulfil that one – just buy a
ticket!
Sheila
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