Exodus and the Power of Jewish Identity

Shabbat CholhaMoed Pesach 5771/2011

Rabbi Neil A. Tow © 2011

1.      What is your favorite part of the Seder?

2.      Mine is bechol dor vador, chayav adam lirot et atzmo ke’ilu hu yatzah mimitzrayim…

3.      In every generation, a person is obligated to view herself as though she has left Egypt…

4.      In every generation:  In my parent’s generation, Israel was a new reality in the world scene and the country was growing and welcoming immigrants from all over the world.  There was an Exodus from the old Jewish worlds to a new one.  When I was young, I witnessed the campaign for the Exodus of the Russian Jews, the refuseniks.  Today, we are witnessing uncertainty and wonder at the potential future Exodus stories for the Jewish people, the potential for Palestinians to unilaterally declare a state in September, a gradual decrease in the number of perspective immigrants to Israel from FSU and Ethiopia, even as Nefesh beNefesh reports 26,000 Olim have come in since the program began in 2002.

5.      Whatever happens in the demographic and political realm, we must all strengthen our Jewish identities if we are to have the strength to confront the challenges, and the community feeling to celebrate the happy and holy moments, in the years ahead.

6.      Not only must we ask and answer the basic questions, what do we believe?  What does Israel mean to us?  What is our relationship with Jewish law and practices?

7.      We also need to glue that material into our souls by asking tougher, probing questions like:  How do I make Judaism part of my life and outlook?  How does my Judaism influence the way I behave and speak? 

8.      The Exoduses of today are about carrying and strengthening the Jewish people through an era of continuing political challenge to the State of Israel, and of living in a society that seems to both promote “tradition”, religion, and family values while also sending messages of non-participation, skepticism about organizations and fads and trends that come and go…

9.      How will we move from this generation to the next as Jews, knowledgeable about who we are, what we believe, what we stand for, seeing the world through the prism of our values, and creating Jewish lives that can both blend with our own lives and also challenge us to explore new paths of meaning, faith, practice, and belief that will take us to a higher level of awareness and living. 

10.  The journey of our ancestors from slavery to freedom was more than political and geographic, it was a journey of the spirit.  May we have meaningful and productive life journeys with the Exodus as our powerful and unifying force, a force facilitated by the Eternal One.

11.  Shabbat Shalom and Moadim Le’simchah!