Rabbi’s Turn by Rabbi Seth Goldstein

Passover is a time of questions—the seder, when we sit around the table and tell the sacred story and eat the symbolic foods, is built around questions. We ask about what is happening, why we are eating matzo, bitter herbs, etc. and the answer is the story of the Exodus, the story of how a group of oppressed slaves rose up, overcame their shackles and left the place of their oppression.
When we tell the story, eat the foods and drink the wine, there is another question that is left unspoken yet is very present in our hearts and mind. It is the question that draws us near to the story of the Israelites and Egypt, and it is the question which continues to make Passover real and meaningful to us year after year, generation after generation. That question is, where are you going?
The story of the Exodus is one of movement. In the story the Israelites physically move from one place to another, from the land of Egypt, where they lived as slaves, to the wilderness, where they begin a new life as a free people. That physical movement even involves a passage though an physical obstacle, the Sea of Reeds, which splits open to allow them to pass, only to close behind them, thus making their journey complete.
This story of physical movement is meant to symbolize a deeper journey—an emotional and spiritual journey. In moving from Egypt to the wilderness the Israelites are moving from slavery to freedom, from oppression to liberation. It is this journey, more than the move in physical space, that defines the story of the Exodus. It is moving from what is to what could be. That is the passage of the Israelites.
So we ask ourselves, where are we going? In order for the story of the Exodus to resonate we must ask this question. When we sit around the seder we are not only looking at the past, but we are looking at the past to inform the future. We examine where we need to move. And while we may not be making a physical journey, we all have spiritual and emotional journeys to take. Ask yourself, what is your Egypt, and what is your Wilderness (and what is your Sea of Reeds that you need to cross in order to get there?) It is a question of recognize the potential of what could be, and plotting on how to get there.
I will ask myself this question personally, but I will also ask myself this question as the rabbi of this community. For as a community we have incredible potential. Looking back over the past few weeks we have had incredible successful opportunities for engagement: we shared Shabbat dinner, services and learned from a guest speaker on a Friday night, we danced to klezmer music and laughed to clowns and jokes on Purim, we hosted another incredibly successful Blintzapalooza raising money for local charities. And there is more we can do.

This has been the most wonderful aspect of the Community Conversations project, the first phase of which is ending soon. It has been the opportunity to reflect on where we have been, what brings us here and—that all important question—where are we going? That potential in our community is being revealed through this process, and I invite you to continue or join in. (Details for a celebration and stage 2 are coming soon)

Where are we going? It is a simple yet incredibly complex question. We ask it of ourselves, and we ask it of our community. It is the story of Passover, and it is the story of our lives. As we celebrate Passover, I wish you a deep engagement with this question.

L’Shalom,
Rabbi Seth Goldstein