April 2013

This Passover my teacher Rabbi Ebn Leader shared a beautiful teaching that I’m privileged to share with you.

The Mishnah teaches that the Israelites celebrated not one, but four New Year festivals each year. The two most prominent were Rosh Hashanah, which marks the beginning of the world, and Nissan, the month of Passover, which marks the Exodus from Egypt, the beginning of the Jewish holiday cycle, and the beginning of the reign of kings in Israel.

Each New Year, and each holiday in the Jewish calendar, offers its own potential for spiritual growth, connection, and renewal. In Tishrei, as we count the ten days from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur, we do tshuvah, transformation. We work hard to change and forgive, and on Yom Kippur, we are free to start anew.

In Nissan, starting on on the second day of Passover, we also count days and find freedom, but in the opposite order. Whereas in Tishrei, first we do the work, and then we find the freedom of a clean slate on Yom Kippur, in Nissan, first we are granted freedom through the Exodus from Egypt, and only then do we start counting the 49 days of the omer. Together, we count from Passover to Shavuot, from the moment of freedom to the moment of purposeful freedom, the freedom to serve God and live holy lives.

The Midrash teaches that the Israelites initially questioned Moses’ promise of God’s redemption, because they knew they had gone astray. “How can we be redeemed when all Egypt stinks of idolatry!” In other words, the Israelites in the Midrash know that they don’t deserve to be redeemed. And yet, as the Midrash teaches, God redeems them anyway, out of love and grace.

Passover celebrates the gifts of freedom and joy that come not as a result of hard work and careful planning, but out of God’s grace. And yet, this moment of grace is only the beginning. After the gift of freedom, we have to start counting. We have to build a vessel that can hold their freedom, and put it to good use. In the Torah, the Israelites counting led to Shavuot and the receiving of the 10 commandments and the Torah, a guide for how to live holy lives.

Today, Passover can represent the moments of opportunity that we may not merit, but which come into our lives anyway. The counting journey to Shavuot reminds us to step up and merit the chance we’ve been given by doing our best with what we’ve been granted. When we are blessed with an unexpected promotion, it is our responsibility to work hard and make the most of it. If we are blessed with a child, it is our responsibility to be good parents. So it is with Passover — for whatever reason, deserved or not, God’s given us an extra chance and we should grasp this holy opportunity for all it’s worth.

During the seder’s four questions, we proclaim – on all other nights, we eat both chametz (leavened products) and matzah (unleavened bread), but tonight only matzah. In Hebrew, the word chametz is related to the verb lhachamitz, to miss an event or opportunity, and matzah is related soundwise to limtzoah, to find. On all other nights of the year, sometimes we’re on the right path, sometimes not – and often it’s very hard to tell which. On Passover, we are blessed with knowing we are on the right path, even if just for one night. Then, it is up to us to make the most of it, to listen to our hearts and do the work of mitziah, of finding the right path on our own and making the hard choices. And, using another seasonal metaphor, God’s expressed his faith in us by putting us into the lineup for opening day – now it’s up to us to reward God’s confidence by playing so well that everyone knows we belong on the team.

So, may we all be blessed this Spring to appreciate the gifts we have been granted by grace, and use them to find our way, step by step, to creating holier lives and a better world.

Warm regards,

Rabbi Margie