During the years that I worked as a rabbi in the USA, I was asked
many times to put on demonstration Passover Seders for Christian groups. I was always happy to fulfil such requests,
with the proviso that I was going to show them an authentic Jewish Passover
Seder – not a Jesus-centred ‘Last Supper.’
I would ask the hosting pastor to give an opening prayer in accordance
with his tradition, then I would run with the rest. It was a formula that worked
wonderfully. The Christians were almost
without exception, enthusiastic and appreciative. And wow, did they work hard to sing the
Hebrew songs!
The only time I
really walked away from a demonstration Seder with a bad taste in my mouth, was
not from a Christian group but a Unitarian-Universalist congregation. For those who are unfamiliar with the UU’s,
they are culturally Protestant but they do not limit their views to the
Trinitarian, Christian god. They are an extremely
liberal group. And interestingly, a
significant number of their members are Jews…or ex-Jews, as I prefer. In the case of the congregation where I
helped with the demonstration Seder, the member who invited me was such an
ex-Jew, partner of a woman who was a member of my – Jewish – congregation. Also interestingly, the minister at this
church was also an ex-Jew.
That didn’t
bother me much. Jews, like others, make
choices in the spiritual ‘marketplace,’ moving easily from Judaism to other
faiths…and sometimes, back again! For
some reason, with this group I gave them a pass from my usual parameters. And what bothered me was the Political
Correctness practiced by this very Left-wing group in their adaptation of the
Jewish ritual. You know I hate political
correctness! Well, in this congregation,
it went so far as to refuse to include the Ten Plagues! That bothered the heck out of me. A Passover Seder without gefilte fish I can
bear, but a Seder without the Ten Plagues??!
Oy! That’s not a Passover Seder,
it’s a Progressive Tikkun Olam conference. Of value perhaps, but incredibly painful to
endure…
The UU’s aren’t the
only ones to fear the Plagues. In Progressive
Judaism there has long been an institutional ambivalence – at best – concerning
the reciting of the Ten Plagues at the Passover Seder. Seems we enjoy it too much! Oy!
Perhaps Schadenfreude
– taking delight in another’s misfortune – is not the healthiest expression of feelings
for someone who has wronged you, however badly. But whatever Schadenfreude we experience at
the Seder in the Ten Plagues, its target is a civilisation that lived 30
centuries ago! So, c’mon! They’re long dead, and we can’t have a little
fun at their expense? Political Correctness…
Okay, you can tell
that I’m enjoying giving this sermon! But
there is a serious side to all this, and you know it! Through the way that the plagues are
sequenced, we can see that Hashem is trying very hard all along to change
Pharaoh’s mind whilst causing him and his people a minimum of injury. First, He sends Moses and Aaron to simply
reason with Pharaoh. When that does not
succeed, He uses a sign – the turning of Aaron’s staff into a snake, and that
snake devouring the snakes into which the Pharaoh’s magicians have turned their
staffs – that causes no hurt at all.
Still, Pharaoh is not impressed, and this leads to a slow yet inexorable
escalation as plague after plague follow, each one more damaging than the last. At any point, Pharaoh could have acknowledged
the power of G-d and relented, and that would have been the end of the matter. But he didn’t and that led to the result of Makkat
Habechorot – Slaying of the Firstborn – that was the final straw.
In seminary, I heard
such ridiculous things as “But G-d caused Pharaoh’s obstinence by ‘hardening
his heart.’ Pharaoh was a victim in the
end. Oy!
Pharaoh as a victim…give me a break!
Even though the text
tells us that ‘God hardened Pharaoh’s heart,’ I don’t think for a minute that we’re
supposed to take that literally. I say
this for two reasons. First, we know
that G-d does not control humans like a Divine puppet master. G-d gives us all choices. We choose the door that we walk through. Second, had it been pre-decided that Pharaoh
was going to hold out to the end, then the slow escalation of the stakes would
have been redundant. If G-d is perfect,
he certainly cannot be redundant. So
there’s clearly something else at work here.
The lesson of the plagues is not that our actions are pre-ordained and
that we’re not in control. Rather, it is
that G-d gives us multiple choices and does not punish indiscriminately. He wants us to behave in certain ways and is
willing to punish our indiscretions. But
He does not draw any pleasure – as it were – from the steps that might be
necessary to modify our behavior.
So Don’t Fear the Plagues.
That is to say, don’t worry that a spirited reciting of the Plagues
during our annual ritual says something negative about us. Lighten up a bit. Enjoy the fact that, in the end, we won! Hashem did force Pharaoh’s hand. If G- has given us a great miracle, is it not
wrong to be ambivalent about it? Enjoy
it; it is a mitzvah, just as it’s a mitzvah to enjoy that the
Jews of another generation in Persia, were able to beat those who sought to
destroy them as chronicled in the Book of Esther.
On the other hand, Do
Fear the Plagues! That is to say, do
try to heed the Divine voice when it speaks to us. And fear the result of rejecting the Divine
counsel. Do you think for a moment that
G-d would want us to come to a bad result?
Of course not! Sometimes it is
difficult to intuit G-d’s will, but that’s another matter entirely. Do fear the plagues, as they represent the
results of ignoring G-d, and out of that fear listen for G-d’s voice speaking
to you from the pages of the Torah. Shabbat
shalom.
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