Open to the Spirit

Today’s word: “Passover”

1) Growing up in Astoria, a small town on the Oregon Coast, my Jewish and my spiritual identity was determined not as much by my beliefs and practices but by how I saw myself in relation to others in the world. I was one of a few Jews in my school, and our only Jewish community was a small havurah (religious/social group) which gathered together for the major Jewish holidays. When spring would come, I knew that my favorite holiday, Passover was on its way.

Passover was not a small celebration for our community, in fact every year we would rent out one of the local churches’ social halls, and hold the Passover Seder in that big echoing room. We would tell the Passover story, discuss current events, sing a few songs, and of course eat the festive meal. Somehow during this important moment in the year, our small but tight-knit Jewish community would grow, as we would invite guests, Jews, non-jews, spiritual explorers and according to my recollection a few church ministers to join us. As we would tell the story of the Israelites’ escape from slavery and explore the idea of freedom and justice, I remember feeling a strong sense of connection not only with the story of my people but also with the very powerful experience of sharing this story with those who were not part of my Jewish community and family. Soon I would realize this is what made the holiday so powerful for me.

As I grew up and my family moved to the big city, we still made sure to invite guests to our seder, pushed on by the commandment to “Let all who are hungry come and eat”. My parents took this idea very seriously. Each year, new people with new stories and backgrounds would be welcomed into our home, and I learned so much from each of them. Throughout the years we had many friends of friends, curious co-workers, and on one occasion, an adopted boy who had just discovered that his birth parents were Jewish. During the mass emigration of Jews from the former Soviet Union in the 1990s we also had many Russian families who had not been able to celebrate Passover under the Soviet regime. I remember one year in particular, we invited a Russian family who had immigrated to the US just a few months before. I sat with pride and curiosity as the parents, two kids and a grandmother sat around our table all listening intently as we made our way through the Passover Haggadah. Everyone remained interested throughout most of the first part of the seder, but from the moment the first reverberated in the room, the grandmother had an especially mystical look in her eyes, seemingly transported back to a very holy place in her life. When we made it to the lively and probably most well known of Passover tunes, Dayenu “It would have been enough”, the grandmother began to cry. Not since she was a little girl had she been allowed to hear these words, and the tune seemed to make its way straight to her heart. This simple song brought her back to a place of love and family, to a place of freedom. Every year it was a different guest, and every year a different moment of connection. And every year, we remember the importance of community, of telling our stories and of asking good questions. And every year, we are reminded to never give upon making the world a little better.

2) One of the things I fondly miss as a retired minister is the annual tradition of holding an Interfaith Seder with clergy friends including one who writes this column. Each spring for Passover in solidarity with the Jewish community, we more than gladly accepted the invitation to help design, lead, and participate in the interfaith Seder that drew together many in the Sherbrooke area. I was always deeply moved by the warm welcome extended to us by our Jewish friends in faith; the last one I attended included not only clergy from several Christian denominations, Quakers and myself as Unitarian Universalist, but also the local Imam.

Seder meaning “order”, the meal was rich with ritual power. Each element of food on the ceremonial plate was introduced and its symbolic significance explained. Together we celebrated the timeless story of the Israelites freedom from bondage in Egypt, told and retold every year from the book of Exodus. And each year, all present were invited to share in the telling with special poetry, readings and song. Each year we related the ancient story of bondage to the issues of slavery of all kinds in our own time. We renamed the Ten Plagues for contemporary injustices that plague our global human family. Instead of locusts, we have war, racism, poverty, classism, climate insecurity, homelessness, environmental devastation, denial of human rights, gender discrimination and the global refugee crises. Exploitations, antisemitism, fascism and oppressions and the many variations on modern slavery that plague us from the personal to the collective. How many can you name, and try to keep the count to ten?

At one point in the ritual meal, I always waited for the lively song Dayenu, which is an exuberant expression of gratitude that means “it would be enough!” The blessings we are heir to are named and each one gratefully acknowledged as pure gift. Day-day-enu, Day-day-enu, Day-dayenu, Dayenu, Dayenu —repeated over and over with increasing speed, like a dance of pure joy! It is the song of a people released from the bondage of not knowing how blessed they are, just to be alive. The last time I was present for an interfaith Seder, I looked around the room at everyone singing, and realized that I was most grateful to be part of a community that could gather in solidarity and remember the incredible release from bondage that is possible, if only we have the courage to free ourselves. My gratitude to our Jewish friends in faith who remind us of this. May it be so for us in this holy season of Passover.

3) One of the most beloved of all Jewish holidays, the 7or 8-day festival of Passover commemorates the ancient Hebrews’ exodus from slavery in Egypt. Passover in the Bible originates from the book of Exodus when God instructed Moses and Aaron and the Israelite people in Egypt to mark their houses with the blood of a lamb so that the Lord would “pass over” their house and spare their firstborn son. Jesus was Jewish and so celebrated Passover. This was described in good detail in the gospels. There was a time of preparation, and then Jesus and his celebrated Passover in the upper room. As this was the last meal that Jesus would share with his disciples, he took elements of the Passover meal and made them symbols of his death. In fact, a painting by Leonardo Da Vinci portraying this scene is one of the most famous in the world. Unfortunately his image of this special event has become the standard view for most of the world. There are no women or children there, only adult men. Of course that was the image that the dominant church wanted to portray. That church did not allow women to be seen as leaders. I have a very different perspective. Jesus, however, had a very different message.

Part of the celebration at Passover was a Seder supper. A few years ago I attended a Seder supper in Sherbrooke, organized by the United church minister, and led by a Jewish Rabbi from Chicago. They were colleagues for many years there. They invited the local Imam from the synagogue and he brought a few others. Young people were taking part, asking the significant questions about the meaning of the ceremony. People from all three traditions shared a meal, and laughter, and prayers. It was such a powerful evening. It gave me hope for our community and our world. More than that, the universal welcome to all people, however different they may be portrayed a scene where hope and love were shared. Da Vinci’s painting of The Last Supper is not the image of a Passover celebration for me. My memories of that special night live on instead in my heart.

One word, Passover, and 3 voices. Enjoy

Rev. Mead Baldwin pastors the Waterville and North Hatley Pastoral Charge; Rabbi Boris Dolin leads the Congregation Dorshei Emet in Montreal; Rev. Carole Martignacco, Unitarian Universalist is retired from ministry with Uuestrie and now resides in St-andrew’s-by-the-sea , but keeps one foot in the Townships by contributing to this column.