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Sermon: Parshat Tzav, 3/26/21

03/30/2021 11:31:52 AM

Mar30

Rabbi Charlie

Shabbat Shalom and Happy Pesach!

Leading up to Passover, I’ve spoken each week about different aspects of freedom. Tonight, the focus is on stories. Many groups of people have experienced slavery and oppression. What makes the Exodus from Egypt so powerful is the storytelling. We can relate to Moses. We can relate to the Israelites. And with our hardened hearts, sometimes we can even relate to Pharaoh.

What are the parts of our tradition that we remember best? It’s not the long list of laws. Elie Weisel explains that laws can be forgotten. Even Moses and Joshua forget some according to the Talmud. But no mention is made of forgetting our stories because we live and relive our stories. It’s stated quite plainly in our Haggadah:

בְּכָל־דּוֹר וָדוֹר חַיָּב אָדָם לִרְאוֹת אֶת־עַצְמוֹ כְּאִלּוּ הוּא יָצָא מִמִּצְרַיִם...

In each and every generation, we are obligated to see ourselves as if we had left Egypt...

What does it mean to be enslaved? We understand when we retell our stories. We learn from generations long ago. What does it mean for one’s humanity to be denied? We read story after story that were painstakingly collected so that our history wasn’t lost. We learn from the generation that experienced the horror, precious few who are still alive. And we see ourselves in their stories. Elie Weisel explains it this way (with edits for gender):

“I believe we are the sum total of our own experiences and those of our predecessors. We were all at Sinai, and in Egypt before that. We all saw the Temple in Jerusalem, both in its splendor and in its flames. We were all in Spain at the time of the Inquisition. We were all in Treblinka….”

There’s power and truth in his words. And there’s also a challenge… It’s difficult to see ourselves in that place if we don’t know the story. Our stories are therefore central to who we are as a people – they are the cornerstone of our Jewish identity. And the obligation is to not only share the story, but to see ourselves in the story in each and every generation. Reliving our stories teaches us how to live in our world. Weisel argues:

 “All Jewish legends and all Jewish figures try to help us live and survive in a stifling world where good and evil wear the same mask, where fire devours night and its shadows. Providing the food of friendship in a universe without warmth – that is the essence of these tales.”

--Elie Weisel (Forward to “Jewish Stories One Generation Tells Another by Peninnah Schram)

This Shabbat is called Shabbat HaGadol, “the Great Shabbat.” Its name comes from the Haftarah, but rabbis like me joke about how great it is due to the tradition of spending quite a while detailing all of the laws of Passover to the congregation. While I’m not doing that tonight, I do wish we had more time to share stories. Personal stories of oppression and freedom, stories from our tradition, stories from the lives of people who continue to struggle today.

That is what Seder is supposed to be: asking questions so we can share our stories of freedom. Seder should not be a race to the finish line. Seder is a time of reliving the freedom stories of generations and the freedom struggles and stories of today. The universe doesn’t guarantee warmth and love and support, but we can find it through out stories. They teach us how to live. They teach us how to survive. They teach us how to provide the food of friendship and connection, endurance and growth, on Shabbat, on Pesach, on any day. Encounter our stories. Experience them. Teach them. Live them!

Shabbat Shalom and Happy Pesach!

Thu, March 28 2024 18 Adar II 5784