Passover
in the jewish religion, we celebrate the first night of passover at sundown tonight. i'd like to share with you some words from a hagadah (the book that guides the evening seder) that my friends Mandi and Brad Rubenstein wrote:
"The Passover Seder...provides a setting of family and love and unity in which all can rededicate themselves to the ideal of human freedom...We gather tonight to tell the ancient story of a people's liberation from Egyptian slavery... We must re-taste the bitterness and must rejoice over our newfound freedom...We remember slavery in order to deepen our commitment to end all suffering; we recreate our liberation in order to reinforce our commitment to universal freedom."
"Tonight we drink four cups of fruit of the vine. There are many explanations for this custom. They represent, some have said, the four corners of the earth, for freedom must live everywhere; the four seasons of the year, for freedom's cycle must last through all the seasons; or the four matriarchs: Sarah, Rebecca, Leah, and Rachel."
"Our celebration today is also shadowed by our awareness of the continuing sorrow and oppression in all parts of the world. Ancient plagues are mirrored in modern tragedies. While we may rejoice in the defeat of tyrants in our own time, we must also express our sorrow at the suffering and the many innocent people who had no choice but to follow."
"Just as the food of our Passover supper has nourished our bodies, so the experience of the human spirit gives meaning to our lives. As a full expression of the hope and joy of this combination, let us sing..."
may we all honor the suffering and the joy, and find strength in the human spirit and the meaning in our lives.
comments:
In each one of us there is an Egypt and a Pharaoh and a Moses and Freedom in a Promised Land. And every point in time is an opportunity for another Exodus.
Egypt is a place that chains you to who you are, constraining you from growth and change. And Pharaoh is that voice inside that mocks your gambit to escape, saying, "How could you attempt being today something you were not yesterday? Aren't you good enough just as you are? Don't you know who you are?"
Moses is the liberator, the infinite force deep within, an impetuous and all-powerful drive to break out from any bondage, to always transcend, to connect with that which has no bounds.
ashley | Email | Homepage | 04.05.04 - 10:52 am | #
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But Freedom and the Promised Land are not static elements that lie in wait. They are your own achievements which you may create at any moment, in any thing that you do, simply by breaking free from whoever you were the day before.
Last Passover you may not have yet begun to light a candle. Or some other mitzvah still waits for you to fulfill its full potential. This year, defy Pharaoh and LIGHT UP YOUR WORLD. WITH UNBOUNDED LIGHT.
-words and condensation by Tzvi Freeman
ashley | Email | Homepage | 04.05.04 - 10:54 am | #
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Thank you Ashley, for the role you played in liberating a part of me this year.
Chris Corrigan | Email | Homepage | 04.05.04 - 3:12 pm | #
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hi chris.
moses meets moses, on the beach?
love.
chris weaver | Email | 04.06.04 - 5:40 am | #
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Heh. ...yeah.
Chris Corrigan | Email | Homepage | 04.06.04 - 3:58 pm | #
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you two are making me blush. the one who likes to preach about compliments feels a little shy!! (thank you!)
you're welcome, chris c.
hey, let's all keep at it. let's just keep liberating parts of ourselves until there's nothing left to liberate. freedom exploding every where! it's the new game that all of the cool kids are playing!!
ashley | Email | Homepage | 04.07.04 - 12:48 am | #
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ashley, I am not sure if i liberated a part of me that i don't remember or i got cought in cyberspace without a speller after a sleepless night just by double clicking to see your Passover wisdom...
Help! and thank you
Tova Averbuch |
"The Passover Seder...provides a setting of family and love and unity in which all can rededicate themselves to the ideal of human freedom...We gather tonight to tell the ancient story of a people's liberation from Egyptian slavery... We must re-taste the bitterness and must rejoice over our newfound freedom...We remember slavery in order to deepen our commitment to end all suffering; we recreate our liberation in order to reinforce our commitment to universal freedom."
"Tonight we drink four cups of fruit of the vine. There are many explanations for this custom. They represent, some have said, the four corners of the earth, for freedom must live everywhere; the four seasons of the year, for freedom's cycle must last through all the seasons; or the four matriarchs: Sarah, Rebecca, Leah, and Rachel."
"Our celebration today is also shadowed by our awareness of the continuing sorrow and oppression in all parts of the world. Ancient plagues are mirrored in modern tragedies. While we may rejoice in the defeat of tyrants in our own time, we must also express our sorrow at the suffering and the many innocent people who had no choice but to follow."
"Just as the food of our Passover supper has nourished our bodies, so the experience of the human spirit gives meaning to our lives. As a full expression of the hope and joy of this combination, let us sing..."
may we all honor the suffering and the joy, and find strength in the human spirit and the meaning in our lives.
comments:
In each one of us there is an Egypt and a Pharaoh and a Moses and Freedom in a Promised Land. And every point in time is an opportunity for another Exodus.
Egypt is a place that chains you to who you are, constraining you from growth and change. And Pharaoh is that voice inside that mocks your gambit to escape, saying, "How could you attempt being today something you were not yesterday? Aren't you good enough just as you are? Don't you know who you are?"
Moses is the liberator, the infinite force deep within, an impetuous and all-powerful drive to break out from any bondage, to always transcend, to connect with that which has no bounds.
ashley | Email | Homepage | 04.05.04 - 10:52 am | #
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
But Freedom and the Promised Land are not static elements that lie in wait. They are your own achievements which you may create at any moment, in any thing that you do, simply by breaking free from whoever you were the day before.
Last Passover you may not have yet begun to light a candle. Or some other mitzvah still waits for you to fulfill its full potential. This year, defy Pharaoh and LIGHT UP YOUR WORLD. WITH UNBOUNDED LIGHT.
-words and condensation by Tzvi Freeman
ashley | Email | Homepage | 04.05.04 - 10:54 am | #
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you Ashley, for the role you played in liberating a part of me this year.
Chris Corrigan | Email | Homepage | 04.05.04 - 3:12 pm | #
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
hi chris.
moses meets moses, on the beach?
love.
chris weaver | Email | 04.06.04 - 5:40 am | #
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Heh. ...yeah.
Chris Corrigan | Email | Homepage | 04.06.04 - 3:58 pm | #
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
you two are making me blush. the one who likes to preach about compliments feels a little shy!! (thank you!)
you're welcome, chris c.
hey, let's all keep at it. let's just keep liberating parts of ourselves until there's nothing left to liberate. freedom exploding every where! it's the new game that all of the cool kids are playing!!
ashley | Email | Homepage | 04.07.04 - 12:48 am | #
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ashley, I am not sure if i liberated a part of me that i don't remember or i got cought in cyberspace without a speller after a sleepless night just by double clicking to see your Passover wisdom...
Help! and thank you
Tova Averbuch |
