by B. Warhaftig
Many of us participate in a Seder with family and friends, and some will quietly switch from toast to matzah. I bet more of us eat matzah on Passover than listen to the Shofar on Rosh Hashanah or fast on Yom Kippur. Passover is certainly the king of Jewish holidays.
The Seder experience confirms our identity; none of us claim to have left Egypt as part of an exchange student program. We all know we are eating matzah for the same reason, and that we must remember the Exodus all the days of our lives. It says so clearly in the Haggadah, the most widely read Jewish publication.
The Slavery in Egypt was the low point in our history, when we had little identity of our own, and were, spiritually, almost indistinguishable from the Egyptians. We unfortunately sunk very low, to the 49th level of impurity.
Several reasons are given as to why the Jews deserved to be rescued under those dire conditions: One is that they merited the redemption simply because they believed it.
Another reason gives the Israelites credit for faithfully following the instructions to restrain a sheep for several days to prepare the Passover sacrifice. The Egyptians deified the sheep, so it required personal guts and sacrifice to declare the intent to offer it to the Hebrew G–d.
The belief in redemption from slavery in a land from where no slave ever escaped, and the sacrifice of their god to our own defies logic. We left Egypt and eventually arrived in the Promised Land, because we were willing to buck the trend, to think independently and do the illogical.
Sounds familiar? Most of us are deep into the trappings of the pervailing culture and the race to succeed within societal norms. We value what others value and disregard all else. Nobody forces us eat, dress, drive, and think as we do. We are volunteer slaves to fashion in every area.
The Egyptian exile is the root of all Jewish exiles, and the Exodus is the root of all redemption. The ultimate Redemption will come in the same way as the first redemption.
We will reach the Promised Land through a sincere belief in Redemption against the odds, and by distinguishing our values from the surrounding influences.
Even if we want to be perfect and be ready, it does not appear to be easy. Moses was by all accounts a special person, and Aaron and Miriam are renowned for their righteousness. We, on the other hand, are average, ordinary, morally challenged individuals. Each of us could spend time on a talk show explaining why we are especially needy and suffer more than others. If we were born righteous it would have been obvious by now.
Righteous people have an innate love for their Creator that makes them want to do good. The rest of us remain enslaved to a cycle of getting things and feeling empty.
Yet we, the average, ordinary people can accomplish great things just like great special people do. We may not all enjoy an affinity for holiness and control of our desires and emotions, but there is hope. Each of us can choose our thoughts. We can decide to meditate on any subject we prefer.
Saintly luminaries can feel their closeness to heavenly matters. Average folks can think about how good it is to be granted a chance to breathe and improve this world during our stay. Even if we don't feel an overt affection for our Creator, we do increase our desire to perform Mitzvot and do good. When we act on that impulse to do the right thing it is considered as if all appropriate energies and intentions were present, so our Mitzvah
is as valued as the act of a true Tzaddik.
Our test is to choose freedom. We left Egypt into the shopping malls of America. Logic tells us to dress for success and pursue happiness. The value system that allows us to drive a 2002 sport utility vehicle with lower gasoline mileage than a 1970 Bonneville has us enslaved to consuming.
The dictators of taste tell us what Ralph Lauren outfits to wear in our Martha Stewart homes while we prepare Wolfgang Puck meals before viewing another Hollywood product depicting us posing on the set of our happy lives. Life has become a movie starring ourselves as the glamorous, amorous people we feel we must be to be happy.
There is no designer matzah. It is all simple wheat flour and water. Unleavened and unadorned, it is the bread of faith.
This year when we eat the bread that our ancestors ate on the way out of slavery on the road to freedom allow your mind to wander free. Let's think about the plainness of what we need and the simple belief that made the difference. Allow the dense taste of history to give you strength to believe beyond logic and against all odds that a Redeemer is coming to Zion, and true freedom to us all.
B. Warhaftig is a computer consultant in Los Angeles, CA
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