Judaism: April 2005 Archives
I was reading Michael Lerner's Passover Seder again, and came across this:
There is a tradition that the matzah miraculously tasted just like the manna which the Israelites ate in the desert, food they had to gather each day and which could not be saved or accumulated because it went sour each night. The manna taught the Israelites to overcome their belief that they had to compete with one another—and to trust that there would be enough for everyone. Only once they had let go of their terror of scarcity and their hard-hearted competitiveness could they learn to open their hearts to one another in empathy. Here is a central spiritual message: There is enough. We are enough. Dayenu.
I immediately thought of Mirah's song "Apples In The Trees" (MP3, 1.8 mb) which explores this idea that our needs can be met in abundance and our hope restored, even in the face of a long struggle. Mirah's songwriting distinctly expresses her Jewish heritage yet can speak to anyone, connecting personal, spiritual, and political realms.
See there's food for me
There's food for you
There's gold that's in the air
There's oceans deep and wide
And there is love beyond compareThere's apple in the trees
Let's take all that we need
We know what we believe
There's hope for you and me
My eyes can almost see
If you fight 'til you're free
You don't have to wait until you die
Buy the record from K mailorder or from 
It's that time of year: matzah is showing up everywhere. Not only is it in my school's dining hall. It's being fed to gorillas at a Tel Aviv zoo. This confused and intrigued me at first. I thought: what a great idea to think of the animals' spiritual well-being! Surely this is a step towards developing greater respect and compassion towards other species! But then I started questioning the ethics of forcing the gorillas to participate in religious rituals that they probably didn't understand. As it turned out it wasn't for the gorillas at all; it was just because the animals' handlers can't handle leavened bread.
I'm a little late, but please check out this absolutely beautiful Seder service written by Rabbi Michael Lerner. Lerner is editor of Tikkun, a progressive Jewish magazine with consistently great writing and solid interfaith discourse. Reading this service is a really great way to understand what the holiday is about and what all the symbols mean both historically and in the present geopolitical situation. You really should read the whole thing but here's a taste:
We are descended from slaves, from people who staged the first successful slave rebellion in recorded history. Ever since, our people has kept alive the story of liberation, and the consciousness that cruelty and oppression are not inevitable “facts of life,” but conditions which can be changed. The Exodus message is revolutionary: The way the world is now is not the way it has to be. Everything can change once we recognize that the God who created the world also creates the possibility of transformation and liberation. (read the rest)
