Front Lines
PASSOVER THOUGHTS
The Wayward Church
Robert Sklar
Editor
D
ear IN Family:
In the shadows of the most
celebrated holiday of the Jewish
people, Passover, comes news that a
Presbyterian Church (USA) report is bla-
tantly anti-Israel and reduces the Arab-
Israeli conflict to a caricature of right and
wrong.
The news source is the Jewish Council
for Public Affairs (JCPA), whose assess-
ment is not shocking given the PCUSAs
2004 General Assembly vote to divest
Church money from Israel. Following that
controversial vote, the PCUSA softened its
stance at the 2006 G.A., where it called for
the Church to promote Middle East peace.
If not amended before the 2010 G.A.
this summer, the new report will erode
the already strained relationship between
the PCUSA and the American Jewish
community.
"After analysis, JCPA finds the
Presbyterian Church (USA) report makes
highly selective use of sacred texts, histor-
ical events and current realities to build
a narrative against the Jewish state;' says
Rabbi Steve Gutow, the Washington-based
president of the JCPA.
Remember, we're not talking about a
terrorist organization like Hamas or anti-
Semitic throngs based in Europe or pro-
Palestinian groups propagandizing on
American campuses. We're talking about
a U.S.-based Christian organization!
Gutow makes a case that every
American Jew should heed. He says the
PCUSAs 2010 G.A. will be asked to blame
Israel for "Palestinian resistance ignor-
ing the danger posed by Palestinian fac-
tions sworn to destroy the Jewish state.
"The Presbyterian Church makes more
than a dozen demands for changes in
Israeli policy or U.S. policy toward Israel,"
says Gutow. "The few recommendations
made for Palestinian or Iranian reforms
are generally paired with additional
demands on Israel!'
This Pesach, which begins Monday
night, I urge you to acknowledge, once
more, that the religious freedom we enjoy
in America must never divert us from the
anti-Zionist canards of other U.S. reli-
gious groups like the Presbyterian Church
(USA).
Around the seder table, where families
gather without judgment, Jews recount
the story of our liberation from slavery in
Egypt 3,322 years ago. Religious freedom,
limited in many parts of the world, is cen-
tral to the Jewish people. Our collective
will keeps us whole and fighting for the
weak, vulnerable or oppressed among us.
It also drives us to repel forces — like the
new Presbyterian Church (USA) report
— seeking to demonize our ancestral
homeland.
The report cites the Kairos Palestinian
document, which describes Israel as evil
and sinful, just words in one respect,
but also scene setters for justifying
Israel's condemnation. It's one thing
for recognized religious groups like the
Presbyterian Church (USA) to arrive at
such justification after careful review;
but the committee generating the report
invited little consultation or dialogue with
the organized Jewish community.
So much for studying up before
Passover's Inspiration
A
s Jews, once a year we
are commanded to tell
our story to one another
(even if we think we know it
already). On Passover, we are
instructed to remember where
we come from and to recall our
ascent from darkness to light and
from slavery to freedom.
Interestingly, we don't only
share the tales of our accomplish-
ments, but we elucidate both
our struggles and our challenges
along the way. In fact, we don't
even shy away from the notion that our
ancestors were idol worshippers and slaves
to the Pharaoh in Egypt.
In telling our story, there is no room for
embarrassment or discomfort — we just
say it like it is (or was!).
While all 613 of our commandments
have their place, in some ways I think that
the commandment to "tell our story" is
one of the most important and meaningful
mitzvot we possess. For if we refrain from
recounting where we come from, we will
soon forget our origin and ultimately cease
to be a unified people, holy unto God who
brought us out of the land of Egypt to be a
8
March 25 4, 2010
JN
light unto the nations.
The Egypt of the Torah was a
sinister place, where the Israelites
— enslaved under miserable
conditions — were in danger of
losing their faith for all time. But
the Almighty answered their cries
of sorrow and sent Moses and
Aaron to save them, giving them a
chance to start fresh.
So too, each year at this time,
Pesach provides us the chance to
begin again. We sit around the
seder table telling our amazing
story, hoping to gain inspiration and insight
from the experiences — both the highs and
the lows — of our ancestors. Thankfully,
our story is not one that is frozen in time.
Like our forbearers, we too become liber-
ated when we use the Passover holiday to
model for the next generation how to cele-
brate our faith in all its beauty, allowing the
joy of Jewish living to literally overtake us.
In this way, our story lives on even in the
Jewish year 5770 (2010) and it never gets
old! Chag Sameach!
Rabbi Joseph H. Krakoff is a spiritual leader at
Congregation Shaarey Zedek Oakland County.
unleashing a theological fury certainly
inciting to Jews.
"It is unfortunate that although the
Presbyterian Church insists it is only
seeking a peaceful two-state resolution, it
continues to give lip service to Palestinian
responsibility, blaming Israel even for
attacks made against Israel;' Gutow con-
cludes in his March 15 analysis.
Pesach is a universal reminder that
Jews through the ages were delivered by
God from Egyptian slavery just as the
Israelites were. American Jewry must
be ever vigilant, and not let our relative
wealth and security insulate us from tor-
rents of discontent and hate aimed at our
ancestral homeland.
It was never God's plan for Jews to live
independent of one another. It's through
our oneness that we thrive, dream and
embrace the ideals of a better world
— always with the encouragement and
hope distilled from what ultimately binds
us: our sacred Torah.
Remember that this Pesach.
Chag kasher Pesach v'sameach and
Shabbat shalom! E
Not The Story, But The Telling
W
e know the
story. We have
heard and
read about the slavery,
the oppression and the
moaning; the plagues,
the exodus, the miracle
at the Sea of Reeds;
Moses, Miriam and
Nachshon.
The theme is a recur-
rent one, even in contem-
porary literature: The
persecuted emerge into
freedom, a band of sufferers unite
as a people, vowing to remember
their past and committed to a
brighter future for all who are in
need of sustenance, and of free-
dom.
We refer to the Pesach story on a
regular basis: in our liturgy (zecher
y'tzi-at Mitzrayim — this reminds
us of our going out from Egypt), in
the Torah.
What is so meaningful to me
about the Passover celebration is
the telling (haggadah) of the story.
It's the dialogue and interaction
between the generations,
between family mem-
bers and guests and
even strangers. It's the
different languages and
gimmicks and memories
and inclusions of poetry
and songs from so many
sources.
For that, truly, is the
freedom that I am grate-
ful for: the opportunity
to share my insights
of being Jewish, to ask
and answer questions from those
who have different (though just as
authentic) experiences and back-
grounds; to find new understand-
ing in ancient symbols.
I celebrate the links to my people
all over the globe — and my vital
role in realizing our dream of
redemption for all humanity.
Chag Sameach — Enjoy your
telling!
Rabbi Roman is spiritual leader at
Temple Kom Ami, West Bloomfield.