By Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel
CHULA VISTA, California — Passover is a unique holiday.
While most people tend to see themselves as a product of the present, the Jew is different in one basic respect. Regardless of denomination, Jews are a people forged by the fiery crucible of memory. We say in the Passover Haggadah, “We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt . . .Had not the Holy Blessed One taken us out of Egypt, then we and our children, and our grandchildren would still be slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt.”
But living in a prosperous county has made it more difficult to be mindful of our history. The Haggadah speaks of four types of Jews, one wise, one wicked, one simple, and one who is too young to ask any questions. In some respects, the parable of the Four Children represents the four generations we have witnessed over the last century. First, we have the Wise generation, a generation that was steeped in Jewish learning, practices, ethics and values. Then came the generation of rebellion. This generation cast aside the rituals and values that defined their parents’ generations. And then came the simple generation, a generation that probably felt confused where they stood as a community because they could not identify with their grandparents’ generation, but they could not identify with the rebellion of their parents’ generation. They wondered: “Rebel through what?” The third generation gave birth to a generation of Jews who could scarcely identity as Jews, except for the fact they knew they had Jewish ancestry—but nothing more.
As a result, many Jews have become like Kafka’s messenger who forgot the message. Elie Wiesel wrote:
In Kafka’s tales there is always a messenger who incarnates human tragedy for he is unable to deliver the message. When I first read about him, I felt: this is indeed the greatest tragedy. But when I reread the stories and came to the conclusion that there is a greater tragedy: that of the messenger who forgot the message. I read the tales for a third time and discovered there is an even deeper tragedy: that of the messenger who forgot to whom to deliver the message. Is that the limit of his torment? No: the greatest tragedy is that of the messenger who forgot from whom he received the message. Is that the end? No: Incomparably great is the tragedy of the messenger who forgot he is a messenger.[1]
But try as we might to forget who we are, anti-Semites have an unusual way of reminding us that as Jews, we must stand for something. Granted, they cannot recognize the good we do as a people. Still, if we stood for nothing it is doubtful our enemies would ever take notice of us. In the Middle East, Iran and some of the Muslim countries label the coronavirus as a Zionistic and American plot to destroy Islam. We have heard similar charges before. Some Christian clergy, determined not to be outdone by their Muslim compatriots, blame the Jew for the coronavirus because they have rejected Jesus.
Yet, our enemies acknowledge our uniqueness as a people. This past week, Omar Barghouti, the founder of the global boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel recently announced that his group will accept a coronavirus vaccine if Israel develops it. . . If Israel finds a cure for cancer, for example, or any other virus, then there is no problem in cooperating with Israel to save millions of lives.”[2]
If nothing else, their animus toward the Jew has a sobering effect. The Passover holiday reminds each of us why we cannot forget who we are and what we stand for as a people. Since the beginning of recorded history, anti-Semites of the world blamed the Jew repeatedly for the woes they suffered from the Black Death, or from other pandemics such as cholera. Suddenly the coronavirus has given us a new appreciation for the Ten Plagues mentioned in the Haggadah.
As a Jewish comic once put it, “All Jewish holidays have three themes in common: First, our enemies tried to destroy us; second, they did not succeed; third: Let’s eat!”
May we all be blessed with a healing Passover this year!
*
NOTE: Temple Beth Shalom of Chula Vista will be video-hosting a live Passover seder beginning at 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 8. Anyone interested in participating must contact President Arlene LaGary at 858 344 5632 to RSVP.
[1] Elie Wiesel, Ethics and Memory (New York: de Gruyter, 1997), p. 26.
[2] https://thehill.com/policy/international/491557-bds-founder-no-problem-taking-coronavirus-vaccine-if-israel-develops-it
*
Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel is spiritual leader of Temple Beth Shalom in Chula Vista, California. He may be contacted via michael.samuel@sdjewishworld.com