Spirituality

PESACH MESSAGES

Show Concern For Others

p

assover this year will be a most
trying time for many. We are all
concerned about the future. Many
people will simply not have the resources
to celebrate in the same way that they have
in previous years and many are concerned
about what the coming year will bring.
As Yogi Berra once said, "The future
ain't what it used to be." While it is, of
course, important for us to focus upon the
miraculous Exodus story and God's spe-
cial love for the Jewish people, I would like
to entertain an unusual question:
How did we, the Jewish people, become
slaves in Egypt in the first place?
There is another question that deserves
consideration. In the Manishtanah (Four
Questions,) we ask why it is that on all

put a sign on their doorposts so that the
other nights we do not (have to) dip our
angel of death would pass over
food, whereas on this night, we
their houses, and (2) to remem-
must dip, not once but twice?
ber how the exile of the Jewish
In response to this question
people began:
and the other questions men-
Jacob's sons were jealous of
tioned in the Haggadah, the
their brother Joseph and in order
answer is given that: "We were
to do away with him they sold
slaves in Egypt and God took
him into slavery, they dipped his
us out with an outstretched
coat in blood so that Jacob his
handy' But the question of the
father would think that he had
dipping still remains: Why
been killed by a wild animal.
then must we dip specifically
Rabbi Michael
When we dip our food during
on this night?
Cohen
the seder, we not only highlight
Rav Yoseph Chaim of
Special to the
our miraculous Exodus from
Bagdad explains that we dip
Jewish News
Egypt, but also the tragic fault that
(1) to remember how the
brought us down to Egypt in the
Jewish people dipped hyssop
first place, namely jealousy and intolerance.
into the blood of the sacrificial lamb to

This year, more than any before in
recent history, I believe we should be con-
cerned for others. This year particularly,
we should be supportive of each other.
Now is the time to support the many
important charitable institutions that exist
within our community; now is the time to
make sure that everyone has a family to go
to for Passover; now is the time to put an
end to family feuds and intolerance.
It is for this reason that we begin the
seder with the words, "Let all who are in
need come and eat," and in this merit we
will be able to join together next year, in
Jerusalem! ❑

Michael Cohen is rabbi of Young Israel of Oak

Park

Beyond The Celebration

M

oses' cry to Pharaoh, "Let My
People Go!", is the universal
cry for all who are oppressed,
the worldwide message of hope that one
day all people will be lifted from suffering.
From the American south of the 1800s
to the Soviet Union of the 1980s, to last
year's Chinese human rights activists pro-
testing at the Olympics their government's
oppression, "Let My People Go!" is a uni-
versal chorus of freedom.
However, the quote has been abridged
and used out of context to sorry result.
At God's direction Moses demanded of
Pharaoh not, "Let my people go," but "Let

my people go so that they may
serve Me." Moses demanded not
a life of unfettered freedom, but
a life free to serve God.
In exchange for His saving
act, God required the Israelites
to lead lives dedicated to the
Torah's laws of justice and
morality. Abridging the entirety
of Moses' cry, we have forgotten
that with great freedom comes
great responsibility.
Growing up in the 1970s,
I was surrounded by calls to
service. Schools urged students

Rabbi Eric
Grossman
Special to the
Jewish News

to serve their country; youth
group leaders urged aliyah;
my rabbis urged synagogue
attendance. Israel, the United
States and the Jewish people
need us more than ever, but
we no longer hear the lan-
guage of responsibility and
obligation.
Freedom is not free. It comes
with the moral demand that
we pay back those who fought
for our freedom by doing for
others.
This obligation is also a

reward. Herzl once said, "There is no
greater satisfaction than fulfilling our
responsibilities to others."
I see in teenagers today the truth of
Herzl's words. Young men and women
who volunteer their time to helping others
speak of the unparalleled happiness that
comes from the experience.
This Passover, let us be sure to cel-
ebrate our freedom and also remember to
embrace our responsibilities to God, Israel,
the Jewish people and the world.

anymore. (I make peace with this
by reminding him that when it
gets dark outside and he has to go
to bed, he will want me there to
comfort him!). I am aware of the
need to both hold on and let go of
my children each day.
The task of every parent is to
learn how to be the best guide
for their children while letting
them learn and explore on their
own. Children need autonomy.
They need to feel capable of
taking on the challenges of
their own lives. Self-esteem

leads to self-respect. And self-respect is
the parent of personal dignity.
The story of Passover begins with a
dramatic act. In one fell swoop, Yocheved
must do what will take me a lifetime of
struggle to complete. I do not envy her.
I imagine that I would have held on to
Moses, hid him or somehow found anoth-
er way.
In the end, Moses grows up and becomes
a great leader; but his name bears the truth
of how his life began. I:

Eric Grossman is head of school at Frankel

Jewish Academy in West Bloomfield.

Baby In The River

W

e don't often speak of it. Not in
terms of the full catastrophe of
how it begins and how Moses
gets his name. "The one who is drawn from
the water," our Hebrew teacher explains.
We know that it all turns out okay in the
end: The Jews are freed from Egypt; Moses
leads them through the desert, and Joshua
escorts them into the Promised Land.
Yocheved even becomes her child's nurse-
maid. The story of the Exodus moves rapidly
and so we do not dwell on how it begins. But
no matter how many times I hear it, I am
haunted by the image of the baby in the river.
What does it mean to place one's child in

B6

April 9 0 2009

a river and let him go? Was this
the only alternative available to
Yocheved? How did she bear the
pain that came from severing her
ties with Moses?
My daughter just turned 4. The
highest compliment you can pay
her is to say, "You are such a big
girl!" If I slip and refer to her as,
"My baby"' she sneers back at me.
She is eager to take on the world
and she is confidant in herself.
My son will soon be 9. He is
almost as tall as I and he does not
want to hold my hand in public

Rabbi Tamara
Kolton
Special to the
Jewish News

Tamara Kolton is rabbi of the Birmingham Temple

in Farmington Hills.