“Then Moses said to the people, “Commemorate this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, because the Lord brought you out of it with a mighty hand.” Exodus 13:3

In our day-to-day lives, the word passover is broken up into two words that are typically associated with events like being “passed over” for a promotion, or “passing over” a certain stage in our lives. For many Jews and Christians, these words are cemented together to describe one of the most significant events in the Old Testament.

The Passover holiday commemorates the liberation of the Israelites from Egyptian bondage by God. Prior to being freed from their captivity, the Old Testament records that the Israelite people suffered horrible abuses from the Egyptian pharaoh’s, leading to an edict to throw all of the male Israelite babies in the river. The Old Testament Book of Genesis is the first time readers learn of  the Israelites enslavement by the Egyptians.

Genesis 15 records a covenant made by God with Abraham where He shares details of this future enslavement:

“Then the Lord said to him, ‘Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.” Genesis 15:13-14

In the Book of Exodus, God chooses Moses to be the vessel He uses to fulfill this covenant promise to Abraham. Moses (with the help of his brother Aaron) approaches Egypt’s pharaoh with God’s desire that he free the Israelite’s from slavery. God struck Egypt with a total of 10 plagues, the first 9 of which did nothing to convince the pharaoh to free the Israelite people from their captivity. God hardened pharaoh’s heart and for the tenth plague vowed to kill every firstborn child in Egypt. Enter the Passover.

To ensure that death would pass over their homes, the Israelite people were instructed to put the blood of a male, unblemished lamb on their doorposts. The death of Egypt’s firstborn children is what led the pharaoh to free the Israelite people, sending them off to the land of Canaan. A decision he’d later reverse, sending the Egyptian army out to stop the Israelite people from entering into Canaan, resulting in the Egyptian army being swallowed up by the Red Sea (Exodus 14:21-28). After some hemming and hawing, and several twists and turns, the Israelite eventually enter into the land promised to them by God.

Today, the Passover Seder serves as a central ritual in the Passover celebration. This carefully ordered dinner is a time for those in attendance to relay the story of the Israelites exodus from Egypt, to drink 4 cups of wine recalling the 4 times the Israelites were described as being redeemed, to eat foods such as Matzah, and above all, to celebrate the freedom God promised and fulfilled through His covenant with Abraham. Passover is a time for believers to celebrate the power, strength, and faithfulness of a covenant-making, and covenant-keeping God.

Although some Christians participate in Passover Seder meals and activities, unlike the Jewish celebrant, Christians believe that the longed for Messiah, the unblemished Lamb of God, the only One that can reconcile man to God, God in the Flesh, is revealed in the New Testament.  For the Christian, the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross at Calvary is the only sacrifice that will lead God to “pass over, forgive,” sins to all whom repent and place their trust and faith solely on the work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

In spite of this MAJOR fork in the road between Jews and Christians, on some level, I think Passover can still serve as a time for these groups to celebrate and praise the covenant nature of God they seek for deliverance.

What is the most significant aspect of Passover for you?

Happy Passover!

I also have a number of Jewish friends and colleagues who will be celebrating the 7-8 day Festival of Pesach (Passover) from tomorrow and having watched a programme on the BBC today about Pesach and the Passover meal, Seder, it provided the inspiration behind this evening’s Blog.

Jews celebrate Pesach/Passover to commemorate their liberation from slavery in Pharaoh-ruled ancient Egypt.  One of the most memorable bible stories has to be from the Book of Exodus when Moses is chosen by God to lead the Israelite slaves out of Egypt and into Canaan. The parting of the Red Sea allowed the fleeing slaves to walk across unharmed and once safely through, the sea returned to close behind them drowning the pursuing Egyptian army.

I understand that “Passover” derives from tenth plague that God inflicted on the Egyptians before the Pharaoh would release the Israelite slaves.  The tenth plague was the sentence to death of Egyptian first-born children. To safeguard their children, the Israelites were told to mark the doorposts of their homes with the blood of a sacrificed lamb so that when God saw this mark, his spirit would know to “pass over” these homes.

During the 7-8 days of the festival, no leavened bread is eaten and all traces of Chametz are removed by a thorough spring clean.

The Passover meal, or Seder, traditionally marks the beginning of the Passover celebrations and it was the TV programme earlier which focused on the importance of  Seder food and recipes that really caught my eye. Sadly, I can’t find the recipes used in today’s programme but there are plenty of Seder recipe suggestions on the internet so please do have a look as I’m sure you will be pleasantly surprised.

Passover recipes:

Allrecipes 

Food network

Veg Kitchen

This year my personal work schedule does not allow me to make a Passover Seder. I thought to make it on the Sunday before the official start of the holiday but that day happens to be Palm Sunday. So this year both holidays will cancel each other out.

Not that I won’t be doing something; just that that something does not include a big family gathering for either event.

Sunday I will be making Cheese Balls. In George’s family the holy trinity of foods consists of bread, cheese and eggs. So healthy, yes?? And what better way to follow the no meat tradition of Palm Sunday by combining all three of these ingredients and maybe just a touch of parsley to make it appear healthier. Not really fooling anyone. But it does taste good. So for those of you who have never had these pseudo meatball marvels I will share the simple recipe. It is kind of a grandma recipe. You know – the one where when you ask how to make it they just list the ingredients and tell you to use your best judgement. You will know when it is ready they always say. So here you go- use your judgement. You will know when the consistency is right.

Combine breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese in a 1/3 to 2/3 formula.

Add beaten egg.

Parsley and pepper to your liking.

Do not add salt – the cheese makes it salty enough.

Mix ingredients together and form meat (cheese) balls.

And of course the grand finale to this healthy combination is to fry them up until nicely browned.

Add to a simple marinara sauce.

And there you have it.

Serve these over your favorite pasta.

And what wine pairs with these funky, nutty, salty, savory, buttery morsels? Something  festive – Prosecco!

This Ponte Prosecco is priced at under $15.00. A bit of floral on the nose, it is fresh and fruity with a hint of lemon and mineral.  It is a good balance for the richness of these cheese balls.

Monday night, in dietary diligence,  I will resign myself to eating a piece of matzoh.

Maybe I will spread a bit of fig preserve on this matzoh and wash it down with some more of the Prosecco- if there is any left!

Happy Easter and Happy Passover!!!

Cheers!

In our preparation for Passover, we prostrate ourselves before the history of slavery that we must relive, we bow to centuries of halachah and its fences around the Torah.  We submit to the irony and the absurd and the crazy excess.  It’s mandatory deflation, a physical/spiritual exercise designed to flatten our egos, deflate our pride, and puncture our self-centeredness.  Once a year, our headlong rush into self hits this mandatory pothole.

In eight days, when we can eat humetz again, we are ready to rebuild our ids and egos in freedom, mostly from ourselves.

This is where I end my imperfect post.  Less writing.  More cleaning.

May your Passover be what it must be in your life.  Don’t spare the elbow grease.

March/April is one of those banner times of the year for sports fans. Baseball is starting up, hockey and basketball playoffs are around the corner and March Madness is in full swing. And for frum sports fans, this can be exciting time. But than there’s Pesach… The seders, Yom Tov, keeping kosher and lot…And priorities.

Baseball has always been the easier of the two for a few reasons. For one, though the beginning of the season is exciting, it’s not like you’re missing the most important part of the year. Hockey on the other hand can be quite annoying and nerve racking if you’re team is in the race. This is the time you ultimately wait for.

When I was younger and not religious, I used to keep the TV on in another room and then go scoot out during breaks to go check the scores. I felt guilty, but once again at that age: priorities…

Perhaps you spend Seders with non-religious friends or relatives. You don’t want to ask them the scores, so you pull the shabbos goy technique and not say anything and expect they’ll say something or whip out a shinui (because you’re a horrible Jew.)

The same might go for March Madness because it somehow sucks in every sports fan regardless of how little US college basketball you watch.

The worst I think would be is having tickets to the playoff game not being able to go because of the Seders. Or if the game falls on motzei Yom Tov but by the time the chag is over it’s mid way through the second period.

(This is actually the case with opening night for the Blue Jays).

And speaking of Baseball, one of my favourite Passover memories as a kid (outside of the Seders) was going to Jays games with the family during Chol Hamoed. We sat in the 500 level and chowed down on the matzah and salami sandwiches we brought to the game. (Now THAT is a genuine frum Toronto experience).

And yes the Leafs haven’t made the playoffs in seven years… And even if they did this year it wouldn’t matter since the chag wouldn’t coincide with playoffs.

But who knows… As we say at the end of the Seder: Leshana Habah…

The BOSS has called a meeting and it’s time to meet with GOD. The GOD. The one and only God, YaHuWaH. Pesach or better know as Passover is YHWH’s appointed time to meet with his called out ones…His ELECT. It’s like his reserved board meetings for us. It is not arbitrary. If your CEO or President told you to be somewhere at such and such a time you’d show up, right? If not- YOUR FIRED! (Donald Trump style). Well YaHuWaH is way beyond any man made organization. This is for OUR EDIFICATION and Communion with Him! Passover followed by Unleavened bread and First Fruits were all fulfilled by our Mashiach’s Life, Death, and Resurrection but we are to come together as a body even still at this time to work out our own salvation in right fellowship with the Master.

Try to find a passover seder you can attend on Monday night if possible to meet with our Lord. If this is not available you can serve your own at home. The main course is the Lamb which represent our Savior the Lamb of God which was slain for us and our sins.

There are many good recipes online that you can serve to your family and friends to commemorate the occasion. (No Pork or Ham) The other thing is that we are not to eat any LEAVEN or YEAST for 1 week beginning Monday night at sundown. YaHuWaH says we must be purged of Leaven which represents sin and corruption. This is by no means a Jewish thing. This is a YaHuWaH’s adopted child, family of God thing. Forget Pagan Easter and Palm SUNday. These counterfeits are an abomination to almighty YaHuWaH. We are to do this HIS WAY. Period. Unleavened bread is flatbread. You can buy Matza, make your own, or even some whole wheat tortillas will qualify. Just read the labels to make sure no LEAVEN is in it! No Pasta, Bread, Cake, Cookies, Rolls, etc… Anything with flour for the most part. Also No Yogurt, Beer, Wine, etc..anything that requires FERMENTATION.

In like manner you need to purge the SIN from your life! Smoking, drinking, fornication, drugs, etc… It all has to go. This is a time of Purification by the Ruach Ha’Kodesh. It’s not a time for playing games with God. If your are an ELECT chosen vessel of YaHuWaH,  you should be already with this program. This is an ongoing part of Salvation. It is not negotiable.

We are living in the END TIMES and Yahushuwah will return in our lifetime. (2033?). That’s within 20 years folks! No times for games! Secure your placesetting at HIS table now for the wedding of our bridegroom.

My only son is getting married this year and there is so much to do to prepare. How much more to meet with the maker of the UNIVERSE! How exciting and awesome is that! You need to be studying and learning from His Torah daily and keeping yourselves from evil and the world system the best you can. He has so much he wants to tell us if we will only take the time to hear what He is saying! Get alone with him as much as you can, but take some time next week to meet with other true Messianic congregations to fellowship and proclaim his majesty in celebration of what He has done for us. Be encouraged in the Faith and Rest assured in knowing that time is short and we will soon be seeing our Returning King in our lifetime. Halleluyah!

Yah Bless all his true Saints at this special time of year. Shalom.

US Navy 030417-N-8273J-010 Crewmembers read from the Passover Hagaddah (prayer book) during the Passover Seder dinner in the wardroom aboard USS Nimitz (CVN 68) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We gather once a year around the seder table to eat matzah, to tell the Exodus story, and to fulfill the commandments. At some tables, it’s just that: a traditional trip down memory lane. But if we are going to take the words of the sages seriously, to rise from the table feeling as if we ourselves have been delivered from Egypt, if we want to make this experience count for something, we might want to think outside the limits of the bare minimum.

One thing we can do is to ask the “wicked child’s” question over and over again as we read through the Haggadah: What does this have to do with US? The sages criticize that child because of the way he asks the  question: he separates himself from the community. But what if we were to ask the same question in a different spirit, to say, “Where do we fit into this story?” Then more questions will open up:

• When have I been a slave?
• Am I now a slave to someone or something?
• Have I enslaved someone?
• Do I benefit from slave labor?
• What is slavery? Does it still exist?
• What is real freedom?
• What are the plagues in my life?
• Who is not welcome to come and eat at my table? Why?
• Who is hungry within 5 miles of my house? 10 miles?

and the biggie:

• When I rise from the table, what am I personally going to do about my answers to any of those questions?

What questions are you going to ask around your seder table?  How will you make your seder count?

Related articles

• Passover: On slavery and memory (jewishjournal.com)
• In experiencing real freedom, the importance of boundaries (jta.org)
• Easy Passover Ideas (neverpictureperfect.wordpress.com)

Using HEPP’S Red Clay sea salt when cooking your brisket will help seal in all the natural juices in addition to increasing the natural minerals found in the red clay.

serves up to 8

Many of you already have your favorite Matzo Ball Soup recipe, this is one that we personally enjoy.  Either way dont forget to use HEPP’S Kosher sea salt when making yours.  I suggest for this dish our HEPP’S Kosher flake read about it here-

http://www.heppssalt.com/cooking-salts.html

Ingredients

HEPP’S FLEUR DE SEL: The creme de la creme (or sel de la sel) of salts, this organic compliant salt is filled with trace minerals and is naturally low in sodium. With a rich yet delicate flavor, the world’s greatest. Chefs use it as the immaculate choice for bringing out the natural flavor in all foods!

http://www.heppssalt.com/finishing-salts.html

HEPP’S RED CLAY SALT: Transform your food into a sacred experience by utilizing this traditional fusion of Hawaiian sea salt with Alea – a red Hawaiian clay used for purification and ritual. With a high mineral count and a rich brick-red color, this salt can be used in a multitude of ways including finishing, cooking and rubs. And when rubbed on meat, the mineral clay hardens, thus helping to seal in natural juices!

http://www.heppssalt.com/cooking-salts.html

HEPP’S HEPP’S BLACK LAVA SALT: This Obsidian hued Hawaiian lava salt adds brilliant color and texture to any meal. This is truly a beautiful finishing salt that adds a clean taste and stunning color to any meal.

http://www.heppssalt.com/finishing-salts.html

HIMALAYAN PINK: Revered for being the cleanest, purest, and healthiest salt in the world because it contains over 84 trace minerals! Throw away your ordinary salt and use this beautiful salt for all of your cooking, baking and finishing needs!

http://www.heppssalt.com/cooking-salts.html

HEPP’S KOSHER FLAKE: Drawn from the Pacific Ocean, this all – natural unrefined flake is an excellent multi-purpose salt that is perfect for cooking, baking, brining and finishing.

http://www.heppssalt.com/cooking-salts.html

HEPP’S SEL GRIS: From Guerande, France, this moisture rich salt is a perfect replacement for your everyday salt needs. In addition to it’s high mineral count, Sel Gris is organic complaint and lower in sodium compared to other salts! Use it for cooking, baking, brining and as a finish!

http://www.heppssalt.com/cooking-salts.html

Adamo, Bette. passoverplate1.jpg. April, 2001. Pics4Learning. 20 Mar 2013 <http://pics.tech4learning.com&#62;

Every spring we celebrate Passover

with family and friends.

We gather together not just to pass

food, but to pass love.

We remember the story of the

Jewish people and their escape from slavery.

We eat matzoh and hard boiled eggs

and parsley dipped in salt water.

The adults drink lots of wine while we

look for the hidden afikoman.

It’s a really long meal that reminds us

to be strong and to stand up for ourselves

and for others.

By Pearl, 3rd grade

Let’s see what I have to look forward to over the next week. At my in-laws house, my in-laws will be commenting how much they miss their grandchildren. Grandparents commenting on how much they wish great-grandchildren were around and how they wish other grandchildren were there because they bring kids. At my parents’ house, my parents will be trying not to upset me and actually making things worse, as they like to tell me everything will be OK. It won’t be OK.

I need coping tools to get through this. Better coping tools than I have. The loss was so recent, its to raw, how can I get through this?

But as CBS 2′s Cindy Hsu reported Thursday, many are in need of extra help to put on the traditional Seder feast.

At Masbia Soup Kitchen in Flatbush, the line was out the door as those in need picked up Passover essentials like matzo and kosher wine. The soup kitchen also stocked other holiday necessities, like apples, nuts and potatoes, Hsu reported.

Debby Miller has been out of work for several years and said the donated food means everything.

“It makes the holiday to be able to make a kiddish, which is the prayer over the wine or the grape juice, and to be able to have matzo,” Miller told Hsu.

Passover is an eight-day holiday to celebrate the freedom of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt.

[worldnow id=8679910 width=500 height=332 type=video]

Shmuel Ben Eliezer is now a volunteer at Masbia after needing help from the group in the past.

“Passover is a special time when people are with family and everything. Not everybody has family, so this is a way to share with the community as well, so everybody can have something,” he told Hsu.

Alexander Rapaport is the executive director of Masbia and said while many say the economy is bouncing back, the numbers he’s seeing tell a different story.

“We are doing now four times the amount of packages we did last year this month,” Rapaport told Hsu.

Rapaport said donations and volunteers make it possible to keep on going.

Sarah Kassin is in high school and has been volunteering at the soup kitchen for years. She said it’s her way of giving back to her community and those less fortunate.

“Just by noticing it but not helping doesn’t really do much for me. The fact that I can actually help and make a difference really, it makes me feel better for everybody,” Kassin told Hsu.

She said Passover is a time for family and thinking of your neighbors.

The Seder, usually held on the first night or the first two nights, involves the reenactment of the Exodus through traditional food items, as well as the recitation of stories and songs.

Passover begins at sunset on Monday and ends eight days later, on April 2.

Please offer your comments below…

MATERIAL:

Wooden coat hanger

Old wool felted sweater

Scraps of felted wool, assorted colors

Scissor

Embroidery needle

Embroidery thread

Sewing machine (optional)

Sewing thread (color of fabric scraps)

Scraps of fabric

4 school pictures of your kids, grandchildren (or yourself)

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Cut felted wool sweater into rectangle the size of 17 1/2 “ and 11 ½”.  Here are simple instructions on how to felt an old sweater.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4460702_felt-wool-sweater.html

2. Cut four openings into the felt rectangle – the size of the opening should be the size of the photos you are using.  I am using school pictures sizes 2 ½ x 3 ½

3. Create a design for your four children.  The evil one – rasha, the simple one – tam, the wise child – chacham, and the one who does not know how to ask – she eino jodea lishol.

4. Transfer the design onto felted wool scraps, cut out and assemble.

5. Transfer your cut out design onto the wool rectangle.  Glue accessories onto the felt and hand-sew around it using an assortment of hand stitches.  (Use only three threads of embroidery thread.)

Here are two links to hand-stitch libraries that can help you choose appropriate stitches.

online version from FIBER IMAGES

http://www.fiberimages.com/Free_Things/Reference_Charts/free_reference_charts_handsewing_stitches.html

Old Version from book on sewing THE NEW DRESSMAKER

http://images.library.wisc.edu/HumanEcol/EFacs/MillineryBooks/MBNewDressmaker/reference/humanecol.mbnewdressmaker.i0020.pdf

6. Write out the Hebrew words underneath the pictures.  You can use a sharpie or a textile pencil.  Trace the Hebrew letters with your favorite stitch.  I used a chain stitch, which makes the words pop out from behind the fabric.  For this part, use the entire string of the embroidery thread.

7. Look in your scrap bin for scraps of fabric that can be used to secure the windows from behind and to create a pocket which will eventually hold the photos.  For my project, I used two  4 1/2 x 10 inch pieces of matching fabric.  I hemmed the fabric all around with a sewing machine.  I then hand-stitched (with a running stitch) the fabric to the back of the felt wall hanging, creating a frame around the open window.  This time I used thin sewing thread and was careful to leave the stitches invisible from the front.  Make sure to leave an opening on the top of the window so that you can slide the photo inside.

8. Take the wooden coat hanger and sew the felted wall hanging into the wooden beam.  For this I suggest using the embroidery thread and a double running stitch with alternating colors.

9. Finished – now slip in the pictures of your favorite people and enjoy your Pessach Seder!

PS. Can you identify the Wise One of my choice?

The recipe calls for separating the egg whites and yolks, so the matzoh balls turn out what we always called “puchi” during our seders, which I always thought was a Yiddish word for “light and fluffy”.  I’ve scoured the internet and cannot find any reference to such a word, except in one archaic text, and it’s not referring to matzoh balls.  As an adult, I have tried other methods.  One year, I did a “taste-off” using seltzer water instead of going to all the trouble of separating the eggs and beating the whites to stiff, glistening peaks.  In all honesty, they come out the same, but there is something about making them my “Mother’s way” that is special to do on Passover.  It’s the tradition of it.  During the year I use seltzer water–it’s quick and easy and produces a perfect matzoh ball (it’s funny that when you read Smitten Kitchen many people think she invented this trick that’s on the back of every box of matzoh meal and taught by countless grandmothers).  I have played with the recipe that was on the back of the Streit’s Matzoh Meal box and now it tastes just like my Mother’s by adding some butter to the oil, or schmalz (chicken fat) if i’ve just made soup.  Of course, they aren’t kosher if you use butter, but I’m not kosher.  So, chose how you want to do it.  As I said in my previous post–for me Passover is about tradition, so on Passover I enjoy the ritual of opening Love and Knishes with my Mom, and making Matzoh balls her way.

The cover of Love and Knishes (though not my Mother’s copy)

Recipes:

Love and Knishes Matzoh Balls

Ingredients

6 eggs separated
1 tsp. salt
pinch of pepper
1 cup matzoh meal
2 tbsp. melted butter or schmaltz

Method

Beat the egg whites until stiff. Beat egg yolks until light. Add salt,
pepper, and melted schmaltz to beaten yolks; fold in egg whites. (i
often use 3 extra whites) Fold in matzoh meal one spoonful at a time.
(this is the hard part as you do not want to flatten  the egg whites but
you want to be sure the matzah meal is incorporated into the mixture).
Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Wet hands and form batter into balls
the size of a walnut. Drop into rapidly boiling soup or water. (I
always use water as it soaks up too much of the broth). Reduce heat
and cook slowly, covered, for about 30 minutes. It says it serves 12
but I doubt it!

NB:  This is a copy of an email my Mom sent to me in 2006, and that’s what I’ve been using ever since!

Quick and Easy Matzoh Balls-Adapted from Streit’s

Ingredients

1 c  Streits Matzo Meal
4 large eggs
1/4 c oil and butter mixture (what I do is I pour oil into a measuring cup short of 1/4 cup and fill the rest with melted butter–maybe a tablespoon or two)
1/4 c water or seltzer
1 ts salt
pinch of freshly ground pepper

Method

1. Beat eggs. Add water, oil, salt and pepper.  Mix well and add Matzoh meal and stir thoroughly. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour.  The trick here is to make sure the mixture is very cold.

2. Partially fill a large pot with salted water and bring to a boil. Moisten palms with cold water (I often keep a bowl next to me of water so I can re-wet my hands easily) and form mixture into balls, about 1 inch in diameter (my Mother always says the size of a walnut for those of us not good with measurements).  Drop matzoh balls into boiling water. You can do them one by one, or put them all on a plate and put them in at once.  I’ve done it both ways, doesn’t really make a difference.

3. When all the matzoh balls are in the pot, reduce heat to low. Simmer covered for about 30 minutes or until done.  Remove with a slotted spoon and simmer in your broth for at least 15 minutes to infuse the flavor

NB: I’m partial to Streit’s Matzoh Meal.  I personally don’t like Maneshevitz.  Last year, my Mother bought Maneshevitz and none of them turned out.  We had to redo all of them.  The texture of the meal is very different.  Go for Streit’s

Sedar at the Whitehouse, 2009

A Passover message for the president.

by  Rabbi Benjamin Blech | SOURCE

As Jews round the world busy themselves with final preparations for Passover, President Barack Obama gets ready for his exodus to Israel.

Surely no one can fail to notice the remarkable symbolic significance of the President of the United States making his very first presidential visit to the holy land on the eve of the Festival of Freedom commemorating the birth of the Jewish people.

On Passover we began our unique relationship with God. On Passover God redeemed our ancestors from the slavery of Egypt. And on Passover He made a commitment to stand by us forever, as we seek to fulfill our mission to be “a light unto the nations.”

Obama will be on the ground for all of 48 hours. Every moment of his trip is minutely scheduled to follow a carefully prepared order – and the Hebrew word for order is of course nothing other than “seder.”

Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Michael B. Oren, couldn’t resist making the Passover connection. “Everything on the Seder table,” he said, “from the lamb shank to the parsley to the egg is rife with symbolism. So too, with every item on the president’s itinerary.” Simply put, Obama will be observing a hastily arranged political Seder.

Unfortunately, Obama won’t have time to actually sit down at a real Passover Seder nor to be inspired by a reading of the Haggadah. But I couldn’t help thinking of the message from this text that we would most want him to glean from his visit in order to guide him in his policies towards the state of Israel.

The Bush Was Not Consumed

The Haggadah is a long book with many different ideas. Jews spend hours discussing its profound teachings. Yet there is one theme that stands out as cardinal concept. And if I could only have a brief moment with the leader of the free world, I would ask him to listen to these powerful words we read aloud close to the beginning of the Seder:

For not only one has risen up against us, but in every generation they rise up against us to annihilate us, but the Most Holy One, blessed be he, always delivers us out of their hands.

Jewish history is one long story of miracles, of survival in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds because of divine love and protection.

In the very first meeting between God and Moses, God weighed in on the future of the Jewish people by way of a striking and unforgettable visual image. We all know the story. Moses was tending his sheep in the desert of Sinai when he suddenly saw a bush that was engulfed in flames. Yet strangely enough, although the bush was burning, it was not consumed. That defied the laws of nature. Fire always destroys. At that very moment, as Moses stood transfixed by the miracle before his eyes, God revealed himself and proclaimed, “I am the God of your fathers.”

Couldn’t God have performed another miracle even more striking, more convincing, more indicative of his control over the entire world rather than just a single bush in the desert that was burning and yet was not consumed?

The bush was burning but it was not consumed. So, too, the Jewish people, against all laws of history, will never perish.

God wasn’t simply performing a miracle. He was sending a message. God knew what was uppermost in the mind of Moses. From the time he fled from Egypt and watched his brothers suffering under Pharaoh’s brutal oppression, Moses worried and wondered: Are my people still alive? So the very first thing God did was to reassure Moses – not only for his time but for all of the future as well. The bush was a symbol of the Jewish people. The bush was burning but, against all laws of nature, it was not consumed. So, too, the Jewish people, against all laws of history, will never perish.

When Arnold Toynbee completed his classic 10-volume analysis of the rise and fall of human civilizations, The Study of History, he was troubled by one seeming refutation of his universal rules governing the inexorable decline of every people on earth. Only the Jews survived in defiance of Toynbee’s carefully reasoned analysis. So Toynbee proclaimed the Jews nothing more than “a vestigial remnant,” a people destined to shortly expire.

But somehow, in spite of all those brutal attempts to destroy the children of Israel, Jews have demonstrated the ongoing miracle of the burning bush.

Jewish history defies explanation. Jewish survival is nothing short of a miracle. But it is a miracle long ago predicted by God. And it is a miracle which God assured Moses will never cease to repeat itself until the end of time.

Louis XIV, it is related, once asked his brilliant philosopher, Blaise Pascal, “Do you believe in miracles?”  Pascal answered that he did. “If so,” the king asked him, “tell me one miracle.” “The Jews,” Pascal responded, “the survival of the Jews. That is an inexplicable miracle.”

Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy, although an Orthodox Christian best known for penning War and Peace, understood this when he wrote:

A Jew is the emblem of eternity. He who neither slaughter nor torture of thousands of years could destroy, he who neither fire, nor sword, nor Inquisition was able to wipe off the face of the earth, he who was the first to produce the oracles of God, he who has been for so long the Guardian of prophecy and has transmitted it to the rest of the world, he and such a nation cannot be destroyed. The Jew is as everlasting as eternity itself.

To understand history and to learn from it is to acknowledge the powerful bond between God and the children of Israel. It is to recognize that in spite of all those who “in every generation rose up against us to annihilate us,” the Almighty always has and always will fulfill the promise of Passover implicit in the first of the Ten Commandments: “I am the Lord your God who took you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage” – and I will continue to redeem you and to protect you until the end of days.

And one more thing that the President of the United States needs to know. It is a verse from the Bible, found in the book of Genesis. It is part of a larger promise that God made to Abraham, the first of our fathers:

And I will bless those who bless you, and those who curse you I will curse. And there shall be blessed through you all the families of the earth” (Genesis 12:3).

There has been no greater truth than this in the story of mankind. The nations that treated the Jews well were in turn greatly blessed. Those who abused the Jews found themselves falling from history’s grace. And wherever the Jews lived they made important contributions to every area of life. Anyone who studies the story of their wanderings throughout the centuries knows that through them all the families of the earth were indeed greatly blessed.

The United States of America has treated the Jews more benevolently than any other country in history. Not coincidentally, the United States has also been more blessed by the Almighty than any other country in history.

I pray that President Obama will be wise enough to understand this great message from the Seder of history and be guided by it in his efforts to bring peace to an ever threatened people.

Note from Lyn: Sounds to me like they are looking for Obama to bring them ‘peace’ and think highly of him.

Related articles

• Commemorating Fiction: Passover Complications (hjrabbi.wordpress.com)
• 10 ‘Jewish Facts’ About the New Testament (vineoflife.net)
• Passover without wine? For Jewish addicts, sober seders are a life-saver (jta.org)
• The Haggadah according to the Bronfmans (timesofisrael.com)
• On kibbutz, secular seders stray from tradition (jta.org)
• Bonus Passover Update (returnofbenjamin.wordpress.com)