At Passover each year, we read the story of our ancestors’ pursuit of liberation from oppression. When confronting this history, how do we answer our children when they ask us how to pursue justice in our time?
What does the activist child ask?
“The Torah tells me, ‘Justice, justice you shall pursue,’ but how can I pursue justice?”
Empower her always to seek pathways to advocate for the vulnerable. As Proverbs teaches, “Speak up for the mute, for the rights of the unfortunate. Speak up, judge righteously, champion the poor and the needy.”
What does the skeptical child ask?
“How can I solve problems of such enormity?”
Encourage him by explaining that he need not solve the problems, he must only do what he is capable of doing. As we read in Pirkei Avot—The Ethics of Our Ancestors, “It is not your responsibility to complete the work, but neither are you free to desist
from it.”
What does the indifferent child say?
“It’s not my responsibility.”
Persuade her that responsibility cannot be shirked. As Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel writes, “The opposite of good is not evil; the opposite of good is indifference. In a free society where terrible wrongs exist, some are guilty, but all are responsible.”
And the uninformed child who does not know how to ask...
Prompt him to see himself as an inheritor of our people’s legacy. As it says in Deuteronomy, “You must befriend the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.”
At this season of liberation, let us work toward the liberation of all people. Let us respond to our children’s questions with action and justice.
David Hogg, a 17-year-old student journalist who interviewed his classmates during
the rampage in Parkland, said he had thought about the possibility of a school
shooting long before shots from an AR-15 started to blast through the hallways. As
he huddled with fellow students, he stayed calm and decided to try to create a
record of their thoughts and views that would live on, even if the worst happened to
them.
“I recorded those videos because I didn’t know if I was going to survive,” he said in
an interview here. “But I knew that if those videos survived, they would echo on
and tell the story. And that story would be one that would change things, I hoped.
And that would be my legacy.” (New York Times, February 16, 2018)
What can they do
to you? Whatever they want.
They can set you up, they can
bust you, they can break
your fingers, they can
burn your brain with electricity,
blur you with drugs till you
can t walk, can’t remember, they can
take your child, wall up
your lover. They can do anything
you can’t blame them
from doing. How can you stop
them? Alone, you can fight,
you can refuse, you can
take what revenge you can
but they roll over you.
But two people fighting
back to back can cut through
a mob, a snake-dancing file
can break a cordon, an army
can meet an army.
Two people can keep each other
sane, can give support, conviction,
love, massage, hope, sex.
Three people are a delegation,
a committee, a wedge. With four
you can play bridge and start
an organisation. With six
you can rent a whole house,
eat pie for dinner with no
seconds, and hold a fund raising party.
A dozen make a demonstration.
A hundred fill a hall.
A thousand have solidarity and your own newsletter;
ten thousand, power and your own paper;
a hundred thousand, your own media;
ten million, your own country.
It goes on one at a time,
it starts when you care
to act, it starts when you do
it again after they said no,
it starts when you say We
and know who you mean, and each
day you mean one more.
Amichai, "Like One Who Left Egypt" (trans. Steve Sager)
What is the continuity of my life. I am like one who left Egypt
With the Red Sea split in two and I passing through on dry ground
With two walls of water on my right and on my left.
Behind me Pharaoh’s force and his chariots and before me the wilderness
and perhaps the promised land. This is the continuity of my life.
On Passover, Jews are commanded to tell the story of the Exodus and to see ourselves as having livedthrough that story, so that we may better learn how to live our lives today. The stories we tell our childrenshape what they believe to be possible—which is why at Passover, we must tell the stories of the women whoplayed a crucial role in the Exodus narrative.
The Book of Exodus, much like the Book of Genesis, opens in pervasive darkness. Genesis describes the earthas “unformed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep.” (Genesis 1:2) In Exodus, darkness attends the accessionof a new Pharaoh who feared the Israelites and so enslaved them. God alone lights the way out of thedarkness in Genesis. But in Exodus, God has many partners, first among them, five brave women.
There is Yocheved, Moses’ mother, and Shifra and Puah, the famous midwives. Each defies Pharaoh’s decree tokill the Israelite baby boys. And there is Miriam, Moses’ sister, about whom the following midrash is taught:
"[When Miriam’s only brother was Aaron] she prophesied… 'my mother is destined to bear a son who will save Israel.' When [Moses] was born the whole house… filled with light[.] [Miriam’s] father arose and kissed her on the head, saying, 'My daughter, your prophecy has been fulfilled.' But when they threw [Moses] into the river her father tapped her on the head saying, 'Daughter, where is your prophecy?' So it is written, 'And [Miriam] stood afar off to know what would be[come of] the latter part of her prophecy.'" (Babylonian Talmud, Megillah 14a)
Finally, there is Pharaoh’s daughter Batya, who defies her own father and plucks baby Moses out of the Nile.The Midrash reminds us that Batya knew exactly what she doing:
"When Pharaoh’s daughter’s handmaidens saw that she intended to rescue Moses, they attempted to dissuade her, and persuade her to heed her father. They said to her: 'Our mistress, it is the way of the world that when a king issues a decree, it is not heeded by the entire world, but his children and the members of his household do observe it, and you wish to transgress your father’s decree?'" (Babylonian Talmud, Sotah 12b)
But transgress she did.
These women had a vision leading out of the darkness shrouding their world. They were women of action,prepared to defy authority to make their vision a reality bathed in the light of the day.
Retelling the heroic stories of Yocheved, Shifra, Puah, Miriam and Batya reminds our daughters that with visionand the courage to act, they can carry forward the tradition those intrepid women launched.
While there is much light in today’s world, there remains in our universe disheartening darkness, inhumanityspawned by ignorance and hate. We see horrific examples in the Middle East, parts of Africa, and the Ukraine.The Passover story recalls to all of us—women and men—that with vision and action we can join hands withothers of like mind, kindling lights along paths leading out of the terrifying darkness.
The Heroic and Visionary Women of Passover, by Ruth Bader Ginsburg & Lauren Holtzblatt
Preview
More
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, הַזָּן אֶת הָעוֹלָם כֻּלּוֹ בְּטוּבוֹ, בְּחֵן, בְּחֶסֶד וּבְרַחֲמִים. הוּא נוֹתֵן לֶחֶם לְכָל בָּשָׂר כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ. וּבְטוּבוֹ הַגָּדוֹל תָּמִיד לֹא חָסַר לָנוּ, וְאַל יֶחְסַר לָנוּ מָזוֹן לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד, בַּעֲבוּר שְׁמוֹ הַגָּדוֹל, כִּי הוּא אֵל זָן וּמְפַרְנֵס לַכּל וּמֵטִיב לַכּל וּמֵכִין מָזוֹן לְכָל בְּרִיּוֹתָיו אֲשֶׁר בָּרָא. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, הַזָּן אֶת הַכֹּל.
Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha-olam, hazan et ha-olam kulo betuvo, bechein, bechesed uv-rachamim. Hu notein lechem lechol basar ki leolam chasdo. Uv-tuvo hagadol tamid lo chasar lanu, ve-al yechsar lanu mazon leolam va-ed, ba-avur shemo hagadol, ki hu Eil zan um-farneis lakol u-meitiv lakol u-meichin mazon lechol beriyotav asher bara. Baruch atah Adonai, hazan et hakol.
We praise God, Ruler of Everything, who, in goodness, provides sustenance for the entire world with grace, kindness and mercy. With everlasting kindness, God gives food to all flesh. Because of this great everlasting goodness, we do not lack anything now, nor will we lack any food forevermore. God’s name is great, for it is God who provides nourishment and sustenance for all, does good to all, and prepares food for all creation. Blessed is God, who provides food for all.
At Passover each year, we read the story of our ancestors’ pursuit of liberation from oppression. When confronting this history, how do we answer our children when they ask us how to pursue justice in our time?
What does the activist child ask?
“The Torah tells me, ‘Justice, justice you shall pursue,’ but how can I pursue justice?”
Empower her always to seek pathways to advocate for the vulnerable. As Proverbs teaches, “Speak up for the mute, for the rights of the unfortunate. Speak up, judge righteously, champion the poor and the needy.”
What does the skeptical child ask?
“How can I solve problems of such enormity?”
Encourage him by explaining that he need not solve the problems, he must only do what he is capable of doing. As we read in Pirkei Avot—The Ethics of Our Ancestors, “It is not your responsibility to complete the work, but neither are you free to desist
from it.”
What does the indifferent child say?
“It’s not my responsibility.”
Persuade her that responsibility cannot be shirked. As Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel writes, “The opposite of good is not evil; the opposite of good is indifference. In a free society where terrible wrongs exist, some are guilty, but all are responsible.”
And the uninformed child who does not know how to ask...
Prompt him to see himself as an inheritor of our people’s legacy. As it says in Deuteronomy, “You must befriend the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.”
At this season of liberation, let us work toward the liberation of all people. Let us respond to our children’s questions with action and justice.
David Hogg, a 17-year-old student journalist who interviewed his classmates during
the rampage in Parkland, said he had thought about the possibility of a school
shooting long before shots from an AR-15 started to blast through the hallways. As
he huddled with fellow students, he stayed calm and decided to try to create a
record of their thoughts and views that would live on, even if the worst happened to
them.
“I recorded those videos because I didn’t know if I was going to survive,” he said in
an interview here. “But I knew that if those videos survived, they would echo on
and tell the story. And that story would be one that would change things, I hoped.
And that would be my legacy.” (New York Times, February 16, 2018)
What can they do
to you? Whatever they want.
They can set you up, they can
bust you, they can break
your fingers, they can
burn your brain with electricity,
blur you with drugs till you
can t walk, can’t remember, they can
take your child, wall up
your lover. They can do anything
you can’t blame them
from doing. How can you stop
them? Alone, you can fight,
you can refuse, you can
take what revenge you can
but they roll over you.
But two people fighting
back to back can cut through
a mob, a snake-dancing file
can break a cordon, an army
can meet an army.
Two people can keep each other
sane, can give support, conviction,
love, massage, hope, sex.
Three people are a delegation,
a committee, a wedge. With four
you can play bridge and start
an organisation. With six
you can rent a whole house,
eat pie for dinner with no
seconds, and hold a fund raising party.
A dozen make a demonstration.
A hundred fill a hall.
A thousand have solidarity and your own newsletter;
ten thousand, power and your own paper;
a hundred thousand, your own media;
ten million, your own country.
It goes on one at a time,
it starts when you care
to act, it starts when you do
it again after they said no,
it starts when you say We
and know who you mean, and each
day you mean one more.
Amichai, "Like One Who Left Egypt" (trans. Steve Sager)
What is the continuity of my life. I am like one who left Egypt
With the Red Sea split in two and I passing through on dry ground
With two walls of water on my right and on my left.
Behind me Pharaoh’s force and his chariots and before me the wilderness
and perhaps the promised land. This is the continuity of my life.
On Passover, Jews are commanded to tell the story of the Exodus and to see ourselves as having livedthrough that story, so that we may better learn how to live our lives today. The stories we tell our childrenshape what they believe to be possible—which is why at Passover, we must tell the stories of the women whoplayed a crucial role in the Exodus narrative.
The Book of Exodus, much like the Book of Genesis, opens in pervasive darkness. Genesis describes the earthas “unformed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep.” (Genesis 1:2) In Exodus, darkness attends the accessionof a new Pharaoh who feared the Israelites and so enslaved them. God alone lights the way out of thedarkness in Genesis. But in Exodus, God has many partners, first among them, five brave women.
There is Yocheved, Moses’ mother, and Shifra and Puah, the famous midwives. Each defies Pharaoh’s decree tokill the Israelite baby boys. And there is Miriam, Moses’ sister, about whom the following midrash is taught:
"[When Miriam’s only brother was Aaron] she prophesied… 'my mother is destined to bear a son who will save Israel.' When [Moses] was born the whole house… filled with light[.] [Miriam’s] father arose and kissed her on the head, saying, 'My daughter, your prophecy has been fulfilled.' But when they threw [Moses] into the river her father tapped her on the head saying, 'Daughter, where is your prophecy?' So it is written, 'And [Miriam] stood afar off to know what would be[come of] the latter part of her prophecy.'" (Babylonian Talmud, Megillah 14a)
Finally, there is Pharaoh’s daughter Batya, who defies her own father and plucks baby Moses out of the Nile.The Midrash reminds us that Batya knew exactly what she doing:
"When Pharaoh’s daughter’s handmaidens saw that she intended to rescue Moses, they attempted to dissuade her, and persuade her to heed her father. They said to her: 'Our mistress, it is the way of the world that when a king issues a decree, it is not heeded by the entire world, but his children and the members of his household do observe it, and you wish to transgress your father’s decree?'" (Babylonian Talmud, Sotah 12b)
But transgress she did.
These women had a vision leading out of the darkness shrouding their world. They were women of action,prepared to defy authority to make their vision a reality bathed in the light of the day.
Retelling the heroic stories of Yocheved, Shifra, Puah, Miriam and Batya reminds our daughters that with visionand the courage to act, they can carry forward the tradition those intrepid women launched.
While there is much light in today’s world, there remains in our universe disheartening darkness, inhumanityspawned by ignorance and hate. We see horrific examples in the Middle East, parts of Africa, and the Ukraine.The Passover story recalls to all of us—women and men—that with vision and action we can join hands withothers of like mind, kindling lights along paths leading out of the terrifying darkness.
The Heroic and Visionary Women of Passover, by Ruth Bader Ginsburg & Lauren Holtzblatt
Preview
More
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, הַזָּן אֶת הָעוֹלָם כֻּלּוֹ בְּטוּבוֹ, בְּחֵן, בְּחֶסֶד וּבְרַחֲמִים. הוּא נוֹתֵן לֶחֶם לְכָל בָּשָׂר כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ. וּבְטוּבוֹ הַגָּדוֹל תָּמִיד לֹא חָסַר לָנוּ, וְאַל יֶחְסַר לָנוּ מָזוֹן לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד, בַּעֲבוּר שְׁמוֹ הַגָּדוֹל, כִּי הוּא אֵל זָן וּמְפַרְנֵס לַכּל וּמֵטִיב לַכּל וּמֵכִין מָזוֹן לְכָל בְּרִיּוֹתָיו אֲשֶׁר בָּרָא. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, הַזָּן אֶת הַכֹּל.
Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha-olam, hazan et ha-olam kulo betuvo, bechein, bechesed uv-rachamim. Hu notein lechem lechol basar ki leolam chasdo. Uv-tuvo hagadol tamid lo chasar lanu, ve-al yechsar lanu mazon leolam va-ed, ba-avur shemo hagadol, ki hu Eil zan um-farneis lakol u-meitiv lakol u-meichin mazon lechol beriyotav asher bara. Baruch atah Adonai, hazan et hakol.
We praise God, Ruler of Everything, who, in goodness, provides sustenance for the entire world with grace, kindness and mercy. With everlasting kindness, God gives food to all flesh. Because of this great everlasting goodness, we do not lack anything now, nor will we lack any food forevermore. God’s name is great, for it is God who provides nourishment and sustenance for all, does good to all, and prepares food for all creation. Blessed is God, who provides food for all.
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