|
|
||
HOME
|
|
Wandering JewsApril 2005From the Desk of Rabbi FreelundIt has never been easy to find our way across the desert. Jews have wandered for a long time, ever since our inception as a people. When Abraham was first called, he was told to take his family, leave his home and all things familiar, and go to a new land. Abraham and Sarah's son, Isaac, wandered throughout the land of Israel, always looking for a place to settle in peace. Isaac and Rebecca's son, Jacob only two generations after Abraham, took all the people of Israel across the wilderness down to Egypt on a journey of displacement. The stay in Egypt didn't work out too well, as the Torah tells us. What began as a journey of hope, ended in slavery. It is only after 400 years, and the previous wanderings experienced by their ancestors, that Moses leads the people of Israel again into the wilderness. It causes us to wonder, "Why must be move around so much? Is displacement part of the Jewish experience?" Alas, the answer seems to be, "Yes." From our earliest incarnation, we have wandered. We were first known as Hebrews, literally "those who crossed over" from another place. We were outsiders. As we prepare to celebrate Passover this year, we would do well to consider our history of wandering. The Haggadah, quoting Rabban Gamliel, tells us that, “In every generation, one must regard oneself as though one had personally come forth out of Egypt.” (Mishna Pesachim 10:1) In other words, if we don’t have a personal sense of movement, of displacement and relocation, then we have failed to truly observe Passover. This sense of movement, of having personal knowledge of what it means to go forth into freedom is critical to our Jewish identities. If we are to value our wandering, we need to understand what we leave behind, and what we take with us on such a journey. In every case, we leave behind security. As anyone who has moved to a new location knows, it takes a lot of courage to sever ties with our familiar places and people to go somewhere new. We trade the known for the unknown. We also give up many of our creature comforts, leaving a dwelling that we have molded to our habits and needs.
What we take with us is more important. We bring our families, and we bring our faith. To step forward into the unknown, into the freedom that Passover celebrates, we need a support, a sense of certitude that our path is correct. This is where faith plays a role. Our belief in a higher destiny and in a program for our people is what enables us to make the journey. We regard ourselves as if we had personally set forth from Egypt, if we experience the immediacy and the promise of the future. If we see the opportunities that God puts before us every day, and are thankful for the freedom to seize them, we can fulfill Rabban Gamliel’s charge. I pray that we all do on this Passover, this z’man cheiruteinu, this time of our freedom. Rabbi David Freelund |
