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Greetings friends
I hope you got to have a gut frietag which is G0d’s Friday, and somehow became Good Friday, and given that it is the day that honors the death of Christ, I never fully understood what was so good about it.
This year, the two most important holidays in Judaism and Christianity coincide on the same night and weekend. They are usually pretty close, but there is always something special when they are extra close.
Do they honor the same thing? Not quite - but similar – one is about freedom from sin, and the other is freedom from fear. Sin, we’re not always so sure about; fear – is with us always. But notice they are both about one very important thing – freedom – and we all need to be free.
We have reached the most important holiday in the Torah – the festival of unleavened bread – which we call Passover. Pesach is a word that means halt, but we like to think it means Passover – it sounds better. The marking of the doorpost caused G0d to halt at that house and move to another, and that’s not as cool as him floating in a cloud, killing the firstborn.
We normally gather the world over and perform a ritual that has been performed for almost 3,600 years, and we read from a book that has not changed much over at least the last 1,000 years or so and certainly not from medieval times. Prior to that – it was oral tradition and contained only a few of the now 15 steps in this inspiring magical dance.
This year my friends, you will be celebrating the 3rd most famous observation of the holy day in history.
The first was the original 3,600 years ago—the night of freedom which we get to learn from and re-enact and obtain for ourselves when necessary. Every year we reenact and remind ourselves that we can be free – free of the fear we self-imposed.
The second was the last supper – and we have all seen the Leonardo picture or the reenactment in film. The painting in Milan is truly magical. I, for one, am convinced that Leonardo was not of this earth.
That brings us to the third - now, while you are at home wanting to be free and with a current memory of a recent plague – killing not the oldest child but mostly the oldest members of society.
And what does this ritual mean? What does it represent? It represents three things:
the ritual of protection from death – Abraham’s sacrifice of the ram in place of Isaac; the blood from the sacrifice on the doorposts and lintels, which is the sacrifice we make as a family to commence the evening;
the overcoming of bitterness, anger, and sadness in life – the bitter herbs – and in eating the bitter – it becomes sweet; and
the joining of the ranks of the holy – matzah – the egoless bread that does not rise - the bread of the priest.
We tell the story of the exodus during the evening, but in a very interesting way. The story is a small part of what has become the book we read, but we all know the part where we put a drop of wine on the plate as we recite the famous plagues of Egypt. I want you to start with that and think of them. Each represents something in life – each stands for what we go through and what we bring –
Blood – is the life force of man – the one true forbidden food - his ki; his soul; his nefesh; his ruach – the life force flows through the blood, and we are warned against its consumption – but now we have to ask - has my lifeblood been cut off? Has my energetic love of life and experience been curtailed? And just as importantly - Have I cut off another’s?
Frogs – we all know when you touch a frog, you get a wart – what are the warts in my life? Am I the wart in someone else’s?
Lice – (vermin) - they may not kill you, but they are bloodsuckers – are there bloodsuckers in your life? Where are you being a bloodsucker in anothers?
Beasts - (Swarming creatures) – often mistaken for a plague of animals, but really about gnats and other swarming things that interfere with the life of survival. In fact, this is one of the most dangerous plagues of all – in several instances in the Torah, we are told of the danger of swarming creatures – the swarm - is the warning of the mob mentality – are you part of a mob? Are you the target of a mob?
Pestilence – infectious disease – one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse – what many believe we have been living through - a member of the covid family - a true harbinger of death – and pestilence is a term that makes one cringe – like leprosy – it has social implications and if you have it – you are an outcast – are you an outcast? Do you cast out others?
Boils – another disease – but one that is visible – visible differences incubates discrimination – do you discriminate? Are you discriminated against?
Hail – hard balls of ice and snow – doesn’t sound so bad – after all – it is water – the birth of life – but as a destroyer of crops – it means there is no food – it is unpredictable and brings devastation more often than not – but this was burning hail – fire and water – two opposites which fight each other - has hail held you back? where do you feel devastation in your life? Have you devastated another? Are you battling yourself?
Locusts – another swarming creature – two swarming creatures in ten plagues – tells you something – the great danger of the swarming mass – and locusts contribute nothing – they are the worst kind of natural disaster, and there are some communities that are considered locusts because they feed off of what others produce and produce nothing of their own – they only bring devastation. Do you contribute and produce? Do you feed off others? Are there parasites in your life?
Darkness – probably the most prevalent – how many of us still live in darkness? Do you fear the light because it hurts your eyes? What can we each do to help bring more light to the world? Start by bringing it into your own life.
and lastly – Death of the firstborn - ma’kat bech’orot – death takes many forms. This year we have the plague of death – it is around us, and we cannot see it, but on another level - we all know people whose spirit has died. They go through the motions of life. Sometimes it is because of hardships; sometimes, it is because their own spirits have been crushed, ridiculed, scorned…. Where have I crushed another? Where have I been crushed? Where have I been encouraging? Where have I been encouraged?
These are the plagues we each face every day of our lives, and we can each do something about every one of them. We can ensure they are not part of our lives.
As I said, that is relegated to a small part of the traditional reading – not at the beginning, but I think you need to keep it in mind. These are the reminders of life. These are the lessons of the night.
Do not read the book. Haggadah means to tell, so tell the story of your freedom. Tell what constraints you overcame – tell your children, tell yourself. You are the inspiration to the world. The name for Egypt was Mitzrayim which means constraints. It was not geographical; it was symbolic – of the constraints, we put ourselves under, the pharaohs of our lives. We all have them, and we all continue to go through the deserts of lack and fear.
Enjoy this week’s reading and keep practicing forgiveness and kindness and acceptance and use this time to continue to forgive those you need to forgive and ask forgiveness from those you need to seek forgiveness from and give thanks and celebrate your freedom and joy; do not succumb to fear – and please feel free to share this audio and video with any you think might enjoy it, and of course, enjoy all of our past audio and video episodes which are available on our YouTube channel. This episode will be posted on our channel - click here to watch the Rabbi David Gellman Show in the 2023 cycle.
And once again, I’m being told I go on too long as this week’s show goes about 29 or 30 minutes but cut off after 28. I guess it was decided by a greater power than I that 28 minutes was enough.
And if you are one of the people this was sent to by a friend and want to receive it yourself, let me know, and I will add you to my mailing list.
Thank you all for allowing me into your homes, into your electronic devices, into your hearts – as you are all with me in mine –
Be well, be happy, be healthy, be free, be kind, be forgiving, be compassionate, be independent of mind and deed, be mindful of your intentions, and be good to yourself. Continue to celebrate freedom of choice in your life and do not give in to the fear which is so prevalent, and enjoy the peace that comes from acceptance – and as always - if you have any questions or suggestions or just want to say “hi”, please send me an email. I love hearing from you.
And remember, any time you do not want to receive these anymore, please send me an email so I can remove you. And know - that I truly appreciate your sharing your sacred time with me.
Enjoy and celebrate your life and the lives of others, and in doing, be safe, be self, be happy, and may you all sow the seeds of and reap the rewards of peace and love and miracles and make sure you also celebrate your own unique individuality and your incredible awesomeness.
Continue to imprint your will on the blank canvas of time, determine what your year will be like, and remember – your world is what you make it. Just wish upon a star and continue to be a miracle in someone’s life and light the light of love.
Blessings –
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