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A Season of HopeApril 2007From the Desk of Rabbi CohonFor many of us, Spring is our favorite season of the year, not least for the very air we breath, suffused with warmth and sun and the sweet scent of new growth and new hope. From the budding blossoms and tiny green tendrils extending from trees and flowering plants to the lazy lace of an early season baseball game, Spring is a splendid time to be alive enjoying the outdoors. The light breeze brings a hint of freshness and is redolent with new life, promise, and potential joy. The Jewish word for hope, tikvah, has great resonance for us at this time of year. Hope springs eternal in the human breast, the poet Alexander Pope taught us. The word for hope is in the very national anthem of Israel, Hatikvah, which speaks of the hope of 2000 years for the right to be a free people in our own land; a hope that was realized 59 years ago and which we celebrate this month on Yom HaAtzma'ut on April 23rd. When our 2nd Temple Emanu-El pilgrimage trip
to Passover, the springtime festival, has a rich and deep
message of hope. It teaches us
that any enslavement, any domination can end in liberation and freedom –
freedom achieved through partnership with God.
In the Pesach story it is God who frees us from Egyptian bondage, and
God who liberates us from the shackles of brutal domination, from ignorance,
bigotry, and spiritual subjugation. And
it is our ability to partner with God, to share in the berit, the covenant of freedom that allows us to escape slavery, to
triumph at the parting of the Sea, to embrace commandment and sanctity at Passover, in its own complex way, explores the potential of all that springtime promises, and powerful messages of freedom, liberation, covenant, and hope that are present for all of us this time of year. At the seder – April 2nd at home, and at our communal S'darim April 3rd – we experience freedom in song, taste, touch, and celebration. It is historical memory woven into a festive meal. As it has been for our people collectively, so it can be for us, individually. The central text of the entire Passover Hagadah is b'chol dor vador chayav adam lirot et atzmo ke'ilu hu yatsah miMitrayim: in every generation each of us must see ourselves as though we personally had come out of Egypt. This season of liberation, this time of promise, affords each of us the opportunity to free ourselves from the enslavement or habit or frustration, from oppressive circumstance or unfair restriction. It is the best of times to embrace the potential provided by God to join in partnership, in covenant, with the Holy One. It is time to embrace the hope for a better way of life, one filled with blessing, holiness, and meaning. Make that choice, in this season. And so celebrate a true z'man cheiruteinu, a season of freedom and of hope. L'Shalom v'rei'ut, v'chag samei'ach, in peace and friendship, and a happy and healthy holiday.
Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon
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