Preparation for Passover Participation!

Passover is almost upon us! A holiday that we eagerly await and celebrate joyfully.  Passover, with its timeless story of the escape from freedom to slavery, the symbols of the Seder which delight all of the senses, and the excitement of joining together around the Seder table with family and friends to retell the ancient story is looked forward to with great anticipation. As adults, we know the deeper meaning of the holidays - the Passover story of freedom, and the importance of passing on our tradition to the next generation.
 

But with children, where do we begin?  As it says in the Pesach Haggadah: For the young one, who does not know enough to ask the question, you shall begin with the story, explaining it simply: “This is what God did for me, when I went forth out of Egypt.” The Haggadah’s message not only reminds us that we should begin where a child can understand, but that the celebration of the Jewish holidays is meant to be experiential.  After all, we are taught that “In every age, one must regard himself as if he himself had come out of Egypt”.  So, make your celebrations experiential and try to involve everyone present!

Children love stories and one of the best ways to get children involved in the celebrations of both Purim and Passover is by reading or telling them the story at an age-appropriate level.  Doing this in advance of the holiday will whet their appetites and prepare them for the events to come.  Children also love to play dress-up and act.  To get them involved in this year’s Passover Seder, have them act out the story as you read it from the Haggadah, or make paper bag puppets and act it out for them.

  
Children also love songs, especially simple ones with repeating choruses.  Try to interject singing  into your celebrations.  Try playing CD’s in the car or at home a few weeks ahead so they’ll be familiar.  If you don’t feel confident singing by yourself, bring CD’s or an iPhone loaded with mp3’s to your celebration and everyone can sing along.
 
Almost every Jewish holiday has special foods that accompany the celebration.  Involve your child in the preparations - have him help you shop for the ingredients.  Give her simple tasks to do in preparing the Seder plate for Passover.  As you mix the different elements for the charoset, ask your child what the foods smell and taste like.  Are they sweet? salty? sour? crunchy? soft? Children can also make special table decorations for each guest, which can be used every year for your celebration of the holidays. 

Need help with resources?

Passover recipes, customs and rituals, and how to put together a seder plate

An extensive collection of songs for Passover is available for free download at the Jewish Birth Network

Passover trivia? Try this quiz

Hag Sameach!  Happy Pesach! 

The Pesach Project - Passover in the FSU

40 years ago, in 1974, 26 year old Soviet Jewish dissident Natan Sharansky attended his first seder. For Sharansky, it was not difficult to identify with the Pesach story of freedom told in the Haggadah.  As a dissident, his life was made difficult and KGB agents waited around every corner. Some years later Sharansky led his own seder for the first time, but without the benefit of a Haggadah to read, or any of the elements of the seder to enjoy – no karpas, no matzah, no maror. Sharansky was alone in his prison cell but he did recount the story of Pesach to the prisoners next door through the small window of his cell.

For the community of dissidents in the Soviet Union of the 1970s no symbols were needed to remind them of the power that freedom has to transform society. The compelling story of the Exodus from Egypt, a nation of slaves rising up to defeat the most powerful Pharoah and his army, and lead the people forward to be a free people in their own nation was not ancient history, it was a symbol of of their cause. They understood the bitter tears of slavery that the Jewish people shed while in Egypt. For Sharansky and his fellow prisoners, their lives were a prayer and hope that the yoke of oppression would soon be broken and they would be able to sit reclining at the seder table and taste the flavor of freedom in years to come.  In 1986 Sharansky was finally released from Soviet imprisonment and he made aliyah to Israel. He is now the chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel, the organization in charge of immigration and absorption of Jews from the diaspora into Israel.

As we sit at our seder tables this year, it may seem that 40 years is a short time, a blip in history. Yet our people wandered forty years in the desert on the way to the Promised Land.  And our work is not yet done.

Today in the former Soviet Union it is now possible to both learn about and practice Judaism: The Reform movement (known as the World Union for Progressive Judaism  -WUPJ) in the FSU has an active and vital presence: “After over 70 years of Communism, religious oppression and persecution, Jewish communities in the FSU have once again become vibrant with the World Union's assistance."

 

 The first congregation to officially join the Reform movement was Hineini in Moscow in 1990. Today, over 60 congregations in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and the Baltic states, spanning 11 time zones from the Polish border to the Pacific Ocean, have officially become part of the World Union family, which now has offices in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev and Minsk. There are currently six native-born rabbis and a full-time academic program, Machon, (the Institute for Modern Jewish Studies), to locate and train local paraprofessional community workers.

The Progressive movement operates nursery schools and Sunday schools all over the FSU under the leadership of a team of full-time education directors. Netzer Olami, the international Zionist youth movement of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, has become the largest Jewish youth movement in the FSU, operating summer and winter camps for some 1,000 participants, as well as youth clubs and counselor training programs.          

This Pesach, our former WELFTY advisor, Chase Foster, now a 1st year rabbinic student at Hebrew Union College (HUC) in Jerusalem will be participating this year in the Pesach Project, an annual program through HUC and the World Union for Progressive Judaism. He will be traveling along with 20 classmates to Berlin and then to various cities in the FSU - Gomel, Minsk and Lida, Belarus to assist small Jewish communities that do not have the resources to provide for Jewish professionals. Last year’s FSU trip allowed approximately 5,500 people to join around the seder table with community for Passover.  Chase has committed to fundraising $2500 for the Pesach project to help Jews in the FSU celebrate Pesach.  

At this season of freedom, may our love for the Jewish people and our support for outreach and education make this Passover a time of re-commitment to our people and our faith.

Religious Freedom and Equality in Israel

What does freedom mean?  As Pesach approaches, we retell the story of our ancestors, and offer thanks to God that in this season we went forth from slavery to freedom.  The Haggadah reminds us that each of us must teach our children that “it is because of what God did for me, when I went out of Egypt”, in other words, each of us must view ourselves as having personally gone forth from Egypt. Freedom is defined as the absence of coercion or constraint imposed by another person or by the state.  A person is free to the extent that she can choose her own goals and course of life, can make choices between the alternatives available to her, and is not compelled to act in a manner that she would not choose; or is not prevented from acting as she would like.  In our world there is a practical connection between freedom and power. 

In Israel today there are many challenges posed by an imbalance of power that threatens the core values of Israeli society. Democracy and fairness are under attack because the ultra-Orthodox leadership insist that their Jewish vision is the only way. The power that the ultra-Orthodox religious authority currently holds, undermines the freedom for different religious expressions of Judaism to exist in Israel.  Israeli Reform, Masorti/Conservative, and secular Jews are uniting in support to strengthen pluralism in Israeli society and promote equal rights for different religious expressions of Judaism.

The Israel Religious Action Center is actively involved in challenging the ultra-Orthodox establishment, and is involved in more than 60 court cases each year.  

These cases include:

• Choice in wedding ceremonies – recognition of non-Orthodox rabbis as officiants and civil marriage in Israel as an alternative to religious ceremonies.

• Choice in burial procedures – implementing an already existing alternative burial law allowing for civil burial sections in all public cemeteries

• Recognizing non-Orthodox conversions

• Preventing discriminatory legislation against non-Orthodox practices

• Equal treatment of all streams of Judaism – the employment of non-orthodox Rabbis in municipal settings, providing equitable funding of communal, educational and religious activities

• Eliminating gender separation - on public buses and all public places and facilities

• Core curriculum for all - schools receiving any State funding must teach the Ministry of Education core curriculum which prepares students to participate in the job market and a democratic, civil society

• Reducing the authority of religious courts  – in family and life cycle matters

• The right for women to pray together at the Wall – Women of the Wall seek to pray aloud as a group, wear tallit and read from the Torah 

• Freedom of religion and conscience - as protected by the 1948 Declaration of Independence of the State of Israel.

Over the last several decades, the Reform and Masorti/Conservative movements have made progress. The outreach efforts of our congregations and education initiatives all over the country are bearing fruit. As more and more Reform congregations spring up and become established pillars of their communities, Israelis are starting to see that the Reform movement has a lot to offer them.  Anat Hoffman, head of the Israel Religious Action Center reports that “Many Israelis who oppose gender segregation, racist incitement by rabbis, or the Orthodox monopoly on marriage and divorce see that we are on the front lines pushing back against the ultra-Orthodox hegemony. They look at our work and think, "Here is a group that represents my Jewish values. If that is what it means to be Reform, then I'm Reform."”

As Rabbi Gilad Kariv, Executive Director of the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism, recently said "it is striking that the political and legal reality in Israel regarding relations between religion and state lags far behind the true position of Israeli society. For sure, both movements still face significant challenges, but it is no longer possible to dismiss their activities in Israel or their impact on Israeli society. We believe that the development of both movements will eventually lead to a change in their political and legal status.”

Within the last month one of the major issues that non-Orthodox Israelis have been concerned with has made progress.  The Tal law, that exempts the ultra-Orthodox from military service has been struck down. According to this recent court decision, now all Israelis, including the ultra-Orthodox, must share the burden of full army or national service. 

In January, Shimon Peres became the first president of Israel to appear publicly with the Masorti (Conservative) movement, after 35 years since the movement’s founding in Israel. Peres attended a performance of Shirat Machar, the Masorti co-ed performance troupe, and opened his remarks by saying, “I came here this evening to hear women singing,” referring to the haredi soldiers who walked out of an IDF event where women soldiers were performing. He also praised the Masorti movement’s “commitment to humanism, peace, human rights and the rights of citizens,” saying that it is time to recognize the religious rights of all Jews in Israel. “Different streams exist in Judaism,” Peres said, “which has room for conservative and liberal viewpoints.” 

Yet there is more work to be done. In response to the work of IRAC, Ultra-Orthodox Member of the Knesset Eichler has publicly referred to IRAC staff and Rabbi Gilad Kariv  as "Reform anti-semites" and "Reform enemies of the state". Certainly change needs to happen at the grassroots level by Israeli voters  who can focus their efforts to ensure that members in the next Knesset will promote legislation to protect the democratic, Jewish and pluralistic nature of the State of Israel.  As American Jews and supporters and lovers of Israel, we can also work for change to ensure that Israel lives up to the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel  which says: "[The State] will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex". What is at stake is nothing less than the morality of Israel’s motives, and the integrity of her actions; the democratic, pluralistic future of the modern state of Israel. Anat Hoffman, Executive Director of the Israel Religious Action Center reports that the internal issues currently plaguing Israel - religious pluralism, minority rights, and gender equality are as great a threat to Israel's future as the prospect of a nuclear Iran.

What can you do? Get involved.  Become informed - read the Israeli press, follow what is going on through organizations like Hiddush: for religious freedom and equality in Israel. Let Israel know that you care.  Send messages of support to the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism, our Israeli counterparts in the Reform movement. Send contributions to support the work of the Israel Religious Action Center and the Women of the Wall. Sign petitions to let the Israeli government know that Israel is a place for all Jews. And go Visit Israel.

Women of the Wall website: www.womenofthewall.org.il.

Passover is Almost Here!

In the weeks leading up to our Purim celebrations the messages began appearing in my inbox: “Prepare for Passover”…..“Passover Made Easy”….. “Seder Tips and More”…..“Passover 2011 and MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger”…… “New Perspectives on the Exodus story”…. each one an enticing reminder that once Purim has arrived, Pesach is looming right around the corner.  Soon it will be time to clean the house and get rid of chametz, leavened products, to take out the seder plate, matzah cover, and Elijah’s cup and the haggadot, and shop early to find matzah and other kosher for Pesach foods and begin the Passover cooking.

 

Each year as the winter fades away and the first signs of Spring appear, we anticipate this festival of freedom, a time of new beginnings for our ancestors and for us.  Passover is one of the most favorite holidays for Jews around the world.  Maybe this is because it is a celebration that involves family and friends, maybe because of the fact that there is lots of good food, or maybe because we anticipate the retelling of our people’s story in the words of the Haggadah, and participating in the rituals at the Seder meal.

But for most of us, Passover doesn’t just happen. It requires all of the preparations mentioned above and sometimes a few more. And, if you are hosting the Seder at your house, you’ll want to be sure to make it a festive meal where everyone feels welcome and engaged in the retelling of the story of the Exodus.  Begin your planning well in advance and feel free to ask your guests to bring a dish to the meal so that you don’t have to do all of the cooking.  You can even send out recipes from different Jewish cultures around the world. Consider the knowledge, participation level and attention span of your guests and find a Haggadah that fits.  Then, with the haggadah that you will be using, decide how you want to conduct the Seder. Who will lead? Who will read parts? How will you will get everyone around the table to be engaged in the telling?  Consider asking your guests to bring alternative readings to add to the Seder. Invite your guest to bring their own questions to add to the ones traditionally asked in the Haggadah. Purchase a CD or download some Passover music to add to the festivities. Advance preparations lead to a more relaxed and enjoyable Seder for you as the host, and a memorable experience for everyone there.