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Posted By admin on April 20, 2024

How do we as Jews gather at our seder tables when the hostage situation by Passover may be unresolved?

Let My people go that they may celebrate a festival for Me in the wilderness Exodus 5:1.

Have any words ever sounded more profound and relevant than they do right now.

By the time the sun sets on the first seder, if they are still in Gaza, some 134 hostages, whether they be alive or dead, will have been held hostage for 198 days.

Perhaps the themes of Passover, the Festival of Freedom, have never felt more meaningful, painful or relevant in our most recent memory as they do right now.

After almost seven months of holding vigils for the hostages both physically and spiritually, how do we as Jews gather at our seder tables when the hostage situation by Passover may be unresolved? How do we commemorate this holiday while our brethren remain enslaved in captivity?

Perhaps Passover will feel a bit different this year because it may be the first in our lifetimes when we are living through history. But through the centuries, Jews have sat at their seders and celebrated Passover in many instances of persecution.

Local rabbis have ruminated about the notion that Passover may come without a return of the hostages. Several say it has been on their minds for months as they reflected on how this will change the timbre of our seders and Passover observances.

Pesach in Times of Trouble

Rabbi Benzion Geisinsky of Chabad of Bloomfield Hills reminded that this is not the first time in Jewish history that Jews have observed Passover in times of persecution and existential threat.

Geisinsky pointed to a piece in the April 2020 issue of Moment magazine. Compiled in the early days of the COVID pandemic, it contained examples of how Jews celebrated Passover under Babylonian and Roman exiles, Crusades and the European Black Death.

Survivors of the Inquisition, Jews held seder not on the first two nights but on the fifth nights in communities in Spain, Portugal and Sicily and Sardinia, ironically helped by their Christian neighbors, is one example from centuries ago.

While Im sure the discussions around the Passover table were very different in times of persecution and troubles than during happy times, the words of the Haggadah stayed the same, Geisinsky said. Certainly, during the most horrific times in our history the words of vehee sheamda (that which refers to our ancestors applies to us as well) were very relevant.

We all declare that in every generation, they are out to get us and G-d saves us from their hands. But never have we given up the hope for Next year in Jerusalem.

Geisinsky said the words of the Haggadah are perfect the way they are.

Though we could surely use a lchaim during the [festive] meal, we are all wishing for the ultimate redemption to come upon us speedily.

Adding New Traditions

Rabbi Steven Rubenstein said the community may want to add a tradition of singing the Acheinu prayer for redeeming captives this year. He said the passage, taken from the weekday Torah service and sung every day since Oct. 7 among world Jewry, is particularly relevant.

The prayer translates: May the Holy One be merciful to our fellow Jews who wander over sea and land, who suffer oppression and imprisonment. May God soon bring them relief from distress and deliver them from darkness to light, from subjugation to redemption. And let us say Amen.

Rubenstein said he also concludes seder with the singing of Hatikva, which will also feel different this year than from past years.

Celebrating Pesach at our seder has always been about the context in which we celebrate, Rubenstein said. Even without any changes or additions to the seder, it will be impossible for most Jews to sit at the seder table and not think about the war in Israel those who died on Oct. 7and those who remain in captivity.

A Way Forward

Rabbi Blair Nosanwisch of Adat Shalom of Farmington Hills said the Passover story is a story of creating a way out of no way.

Passover is about moving from slavery to freedom, from sea crossing to shore, from the narrows (mitzrayim)to the expanse, Nosanwisch said. This is our yearly ritual of reminding ourselves that there isalwaysa way forward, no matter how hard it is to see.

Nosanwisch added: What is unique about the story of the Jewish people is that we never know what path forward each of us needs to cultivate. Every individual has to move from their personal narrow place to a place of openness and possibility. When we each make these journeys authentically, it opens pathways forward for the collective as well.

When she thinks about the deep despair of the current moment, she reminds herself she can only be exactly where she is in the present.

I have to do work and contribute to possibility and growth from that position, Nosanwisch said. I cannot change the reality (in Israel or Gaza), but what channels can I open that will help to move my people forward across the turbulent sea of today?

Seeds of Redemption

Rabbi Aaron Starr of Congregation Shaarey Zedek of Southfield said for most of Jewish history, we celebrated Passover while Jews were enslaved and oppressed.

Within my lifetime, we worked to free Soviet Jewry even as we gave thanks for our freedom in America, Starr said. Sadly, Passover 5784 will be no exception. Just as we are obligated to observe the laws of Passover, so, too, are we duty-bound to remain mindful of the plight of the hostages in Gaza, of the current war in which Israel is engaged and the pending one in [Northern Israel] as well as the rise of antisemitism around the world.

Starr said, Just as we recognize our current oppression, we pray that we will be redeemed just as God redeemed us from Egypt.

Starr added that the seeds of redemption were planted by our ancestors who remained resilient against their enemies, who kept their traditions despite their exile, and who united to care for each other to collectively overcome the struggles they faced.

A Seat for the Hostages

Rabbi Natalie Shribman of Temple Kol Ami in West Bloomfield said she thinks about the hostages each week during the recitation of the Mi Chamochah prayer that depicts the Children of Israel celebrating the parting of the Red Sea.

We celebrate our freedom from Egypt, yet we know there are so many in the world, including the Israelis being held hostage, who are not free, Shribman said.

As Emma Lazarus said, We are not free until we are all free. This Passover seder, we will have a seat for Elijah and the door open for him, and leave a seat open for the hostages as well. May the door open for them soon in due time.

Next year in Jerusalem, next year in freedom for everyone.

By Rabbi Aaron Starr

[To be read responsively, first by the leader and then by those gathered]

Tonight, we celebrate our freedom, and we sing psalms of joy.

Tonight, we pray for the release of our brothers and sisters suffering in captivity.

Tonight, we relish the warmth of our homes, surrounded by family and friends.

Tonight, we are mindful of hundreds of thousands of Israelis displaced from their homes.

Tonight, we give thanks for the abundance of food and drink.

Tonight, we note the millions around the world who lack their most basic needs.

Tonight, we sit at the Passover table.

Tonight, we stand for the right of Jews everywhere to live in safety.

Tonight, we remember that we came out of Mitzrayim.

Tonight, we hope that no one will experience Mitzrayim ever again.

See original here:

A Seat at the Table, a Prayer for Freedom Local Rabbis Share Passover 2024 Messages - The Jewish News

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