The Seder Paradox, by Ari Hart

2008-04-25 16:53

In a few short days, millions of Jews around the world will sit at seder tables and make two extraordinary, paradoxical statements. At the beginning of the seder, we will announce:

כל דכפין ייתי ויכל, כל דצריך ייתי ויפסח
All who are hungry, come eat. All who are in need, come and join the Pesach celebration.

Then later, we will say the famous words:

בכול דול ודור חייב אדם ליראות את עצמו כאילו הוא יצא ממצרים
In every generation we must see ourselves as if we left egypt.

The haggadah demands that we see ourselves in two radically different ways over the course of the same night.
We are instructed to view ourselves in a position of opportunity and freedom, eager to share our meal with others, eager to share our liberation with those still oppressed. At the same time, we are to view ourselves as if we ourselves were slaves, as if we ourselves were oppressed. We see this seeming contradiction in many other places in the seder. We are chayav to eat matzah, the bread of afflication and suffering, while reclining like free people. We dip karpas, the symbol of birth and freedom, in salt water to taste bitterness and suffering. How can a slave offer food and freedom to others? How can a free person understand what it is like to be oppressed?

This paradox is not just at the heart of the seder, it is at the heart of the Torah and what it means to be a Jew. We tell the story of slavery under Pharoah, suffering and torture at the hands of the Greeks and Romans, medieval persecutions, Inquisitions, the Shoah, terror, countless attempts on our very existence. It is, sadly, not too difficult to see ourselves כאילו הוא יצא ממצרים.

However, as a people, we've experienced malchut under King David and Shlomo, enjoyed power and prestige in Muslim and Persian courts, developed one of the most strongest militaries in the world, fought for the civil rights and liberation of others, and enjoy a position of opportunity and success in the world's most powerful country. We can say, with honesty, כל דכפין ייתי ויכל.

These realities embedded in our experiences and our texts, these ups and downs make us uniquely positioned to understand and relate to those in every situation. From the melech to the ger, those in power and those who are powerless, we've been there. This Pesach, as we enjoy our freedom and many blessings, we must not forget our responsibility, and our unique ability, to fight for those who are still enslaved, whether it be by human trafficking, poverty, treatable disease, prejudice, religious persecution, or any other form of oppression.

Exactly 40 Passovers ago, Martin Luther King addressed the a group of leading American rabbis. At this event, 10 days before he was assassinated, he said "All too often I have seen religious leaders stand amid the social injustices that pervade our society, mouthing pious irrelevancies and sanctimonious trivialities. All too often the religious community has been a taillight instead of a headlight."

The Jewish people have been a headlight for thousands of years. May Hashem bless us this Pesach that we merit to continue to spread the light of righteousness and justice across the world.