Passover and a Tea Party

Yesterday revealed an interesting set of coincidences, if you believe in coincidences. I don't. I believe things happen for a reason as part of God's plan and the revelation of the universe. Mine is a more mystical approach.

Like hundreds of thousands across our nation yesterday, I attended one of the many Tea Party protests on tax day against intrusive and expansive government. I was inspired not only by the speeches, but also the diversity of those who attended. I saw men and women of all ethnic backgrounds and ages coming together for the common cause of freedom and individual liberty. Contrary to some reports, we did have minorities of all kind in attendance. Our emcee was even an African-American (for the record, this was Jacksonville, Florida). All of us left feeling empowered and uplifted as Americans with no thought of what group we were supposed to belong to.

Having been unable to get family members together earlier, or to get a reservation for the packed and overcrowded seder service at my synagogue, we celebrated Passover with our seder dinner yesterday evening. When coordinating the time, it never occurred to me that the date was April 15th, or Tax Day. My taxes were completed over a month ago and so this was just another day for me. This is the alleged coincidence that I was referring to. For I have been aware for a long time that the message of Passover was freedom and personal liberty, but would usually have to ad-lib that message into my Haggadah reading through modern references and comparisons. Last night, I used a different Haggadah which I'd purchased at a library book sale recently and to my surprise, the references were already there! I found some interesting interpretations which I want to share here.

Basically, this Haggadah interpreted three of our Passover symbols as metaphors for elements in the on-going struggle for freedom. Here they are:

The Pesach, or Paschal lamb was said to symbolize the sacrifice necessary to achieve freedom which does not come easy. It represents the blood of idealistic men and women willing to sacrifice for the cause of freedom. For freedom is not attained by complacency, but through hard work, perseverence and individual sacrifice for the greater cause.

The Matzo is traditionally our bread of haste. Here it was interpreted to be symbolic of the alertness and readiness that must accompany sacrifice to achieve the cause of liberty. We must be ready to seize the opportunity when it arises on behalf of our fight for freedom.

The Maror, or bitter herbs is traditionally said to represent the hardship and misery endured by the ancient Israelites under Egyptian bondage. But throughout it all, they clung to hope for a better life due in part to the inspiring leadership of Moses. This Haggadah thus interprets Maror as symbolic of the skilled and dedicated leadership that is able to keep the spark of hope alive and to prevent a defeatist attitude from arising.

In summary then, Pesach, Matzo and Maror and seen as symbols of the sacrifice, preparedness and hope necessary to win the battle for freedom. For me, yesterday's common theme coming together from two seemingly unrelated events was nothing short of spiritual. Although late, my Seder was one of the most meaningful and visionary Passover celebrations that I've ever had. I don't know if I've been able to properly translate this inspiration here. But I do want to encourage you, regardless of party affiliation, or idealogy to actively struggle for the individual rights and freedoms of all of humanity. It is an essential element of what it means to be Jewish. And as we saw yesterday with the hundreds of protests nationwide, the battlefield can be in your own backyard. Happy Passover!

Until next time....

Shmuel