$1 million in funding
for security initiatives each year
The setting of the Passover Seder is so special in our eyes and so seemingly unique among our traditions that it is easy to forget how clearly it parallels the blessings of every other holiday or Shabbat meal. The recitation of blessings over wine (usually one cup suffices) and bread (on other occasions, as in the answer to that question, we eat all kinds of bread), hand washing, and blessings after a meal are all part of the ritual of every Shabbat and every Holiday. (Okay, we’ll leave Yom Kippur out of that…)
I sometimes note a bit sarcastically that perhaps the laws for keeping kosher on Passover are set in place so that when Passover is over (no pun intended), we will find that keeping kosher the rest of the year is rather easy. But the same may be said of the Seder meal. We gather family, we offer our prayers and our blessings, we talk to our children about what it all means, and we are grateful to God for the privilege of celebrating our heritage.
But we do that every week. Or we can. And we note that the exodus from Egypt is included in the Kiddush for Shabbat. Every week is a mini-Seder, or every Seder is only an expanded Shabbat/Yom Tov meal.
May Passover be a happy and healthy time of gathering for all, and an inspiration for more opportunities to celebrate throughout the year.
Hag Sameach,
Rabbi Harold Berman
Rabbi Harold Berman is Rabbi Emeritus of Congregation Tifereth Israel
Karen: During the Passover Seder, we ask: On all other nights we eat chametz and matzah. Why on this night, only matzah? We respond that matzah is the bread of affliction, symbolizing deprivation during the years Jewish people were enslaved in Egypt and their haste when forced to flee for their lives.
Tariq: The Jewish exodus from Egypt reminds me of what my family and so many of our Jewish Family Services colleagues and clients have experienced. We fled war and persecution, and many spent decades in refugee camps before finding safety in the U.S.
I began working at Jewish Family Services over 20 years ago, helping Jewish Holocaust survivors resettle. Over the past two decades, I have seen the ways JFS serves as a refuge for those who endured the horrors of genocide and a lifeline for countless others fleeing violence and persecution. Our agency’s dedication to welcoming and supporting refugees leaves a lasting imprint, as we help them build new futures.
Many refugees, particularly those from the Middle East, have shared how their experience with JFS changed their perceptions of the Jewish community. By providing compassionate services to people of all faiths and from all different backgrounds, we challenge harmful narratives, build connections, and combat antisemitism.
Karen: JFS helps refugees because the Jewish people have been refugees throughout our history. The Torah commandment to welcome the stranger is a core Jewish value. At JFS, we put that and other Jewish values into action every day.
During the Seder we recognize that matzah is not only the bread of affliction but also the bread of freedom. As we eat it, we say: This is the bread of affliction, which our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt. Let all who are hungry come and eat. Let all who are in want share the hope of Passover. This year, may we share the hope of Passover with those seeking freedom.
Hag Sameach,
Karen Mozenter & Tariq Tarey
Karen Mozenter is CEO of Jewish Family Services.
Tariq Tarey is Senior Director of Refugee Services and the 2024 Recipient of the Larry S. Moses Award for Outstanding Young Professionals in Jewish communal leadership.
Reading the four children at the Seder is a highlight for my family. My three boys usually argue over roles and who is assigned to be the wicked child. Some years we’ve questioned the idea that there are four children – and our discussions have led us to consider what types of children are left out, and if we are a mix of all four. A pointed question has stuck with me: what really differentiates the wise child from the wicked child? After all, they say nearly identical things, and yet one is praised while the other is shamed.
An answer I have come to appreciate is that the four children are different combinations of two traits: intelligence and values (Middot). The wise and wicked children share the trait of intelligence but depart in their value commitments. Wisdom is the product of values like humility and curiosity, traits that require someone to acknowledge that they don’t have all the answers, and the respect for others to seek out their counsel.
As the late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks noted, the seder exemplifies the very best teaching practices. Great teaching is inspiring students to ask questions of their own, by nurturing their curiosity. The seder models this pedagogy, encouraging parents and children to approach learning with humility and curiosity.
Curiosity is a core value embedded in our work at JewishColumbus. Curiosity requires that we stay humble and ask questions like, “How do we become the best Jewish community in North America?” and “How do we do the best with the information we have now?” We know that the answers to these questions will come from all corners of our community, and I invite you to take up these questions at your seders.
A special sentiment we often share with this holiday is “Next Year in Jerusalem.” But for our community, we can say “This Year in Jerusalem.” Oct 27-Nov 4 we’ll be traveling 250 strong to Israel to visit the land, speak to its people and connect with each other. It will be a deep and meaningful experience for all who participate, and we hope you will consider joining us. To learn more visit jewishcolumbus.org/israelmission or reach out to Robin Sysler, robin@jewishcolumbus.org.
Julie Tilson Stanley is JewishColumbus’ President and CEO.
“I’ll drink to that!”
After having recounted the whole story of our slavery and exodus from Egypt, we could sure use a drink! Thankfully, the second cup of wine appears right at the perfect moment, so we raise a glass and praise God who redeemed our ancestors and brought us to today, in the hopes that God will continue to redeem us even now.
At our family’s seder, we always take this moment to point out our extra special Kos Miriam (Miriam’s cup), that sits, filled with water, on our table, next to Elijah’s cup (which we later fill with a splash of each guests’ wine). Hillel and I got this cup in a fantastic Boston Judaica shop more than 20 years ago, when we were in college at Brandeis University. This cup is special, because it reminds me of joyful, younger days, but even more so because it has an idyllic picture of Miriam as she is classically thought of – with her tambourine in hand, connected to miracles that involve water. Around the mouth of the cup, there is even a chain of little bells that remind us of the musical moment when Miriam led the women in exuberant song and dance after having crossed the sea into freedom. Until this moment, the ancient Israelites were actively experiencing everything but weren’t able to fairly recognize the magnitude of the moment. Miriam stepped forward and led the people in their first outward display of gratitude and celebration for the gift of freedom and divine redemption.
Retelling the story of Passover seems simultaneously so familiar and so far from anything we could possibly imagine. In many ways we feel generations removed from the idea of being enslaved to Pharaoh in Egypt, and in others we still experience so many different elements of enslavement today. While we surely experience more freedom as compared to the suffering of our trapped ancestors, we are by no means ALL free today. After sharing our people’s story of the suffering, the plagues, the miracles, the perseverance, and strength of our people, we then raise our glasses and praise God as the Redeemer of Israel. But these words are essentially an eternal challenge to God – “You redeemed us before, and your job isn’t finished yet. There’s still much more redeeming to do.”
As Miriam reminded us of our blessings through water, so too may we experience our cups overflow with blessings of plenty, nourishment and refreshment, may we be sustained until Passover next year, our thirst for freedom and peace quenched, and may we see ALL of our hostages returned.
Hag Sameach,
Rabbi Sharon Barr Skolnik
Rabbi Sharon is the program director of the Wexner Service Corps for local Jewish teens, and lives in Bexley with her husband, Rabbi Hillel Skolnik, and their three awesome kids.
שֶׁבְּכָל הַלֵּילוֹת אָנוּ אוֹכְלִין שְׁאָר יְרָקוֹת – הַלַּיְלָה הַזֶּה (כֻּלּוֹ) מָרוֹר.
“On all other nights, we eat other kinds of vegetables, but on this night we eat Marror (bitter herbs)” – Translation from “A Night To Remember”
One conversation that we seem to have annually at our seder table is whether the “Four Questions” are actually four questions or one question with four examples. Without accidentally trampling the entire Jewish world that calls them the “Four Questions”, not to mention the premise of this reflection being about the second question, I actually tend to lean toward the argument that the Mah Nishtanah is one question with four examples.
If that is indeed the case, then this stanza about marror (bitter herbs) is not a question about why do we eat marror on Passover, it is a statement that while on all other nights we eat all kinds of vegetables, tonight we purposely and intentionally eat marror to remind us of the bitterness of slavery. In fact, so critical is the eating of marror then when we arrive at the part of the seder when we dip the marror in the charoset, we say a b’racha of אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָנוּ בְמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָּנוּ עַל אֲכִילַת מָרוֹר – “who has sanctified us by commanding us to eat marror”. This is not just a practice nor is it a question. It is a commandment.
This year, however, it also feels like a statement of emotion, particularly when you notice that in the Hebrew text above, there is an extra word in parentheses. On all other nights, or more broadly in most other times, we eat all kinds of vegetables and feel a range of feelings from happiness and joy to sadness and bitterness. However tonight, marror – it is the bitter herbs we taste and feel. And if we add the word in parentheses it becomes even more powerful because it means that tonight, or this year, it feels like the world is (כֻּלּוֹ)/all bitter, it is all marror.
Every day I open my eyes with the hope and prayer that there will be some positive news in the world to start my day. Perhaps while I was sleeping a deal to bring home the hostages still in Gaza will have been created out of thin air. Perhaps the turmoil unfolding in our own country will have abated. But instead, it is still הַלַּיְלָה הַזֶּה (כֻּלּוֹ) מָרוֹר – on this night (it is all) Marror.
But somewhere between standing up and brushing my teeth I remember that while it is true we are commanded to eat marror, we do not eat it by itself. We dip the marror in the charoset – that delicious mixture of apples, nuts, wine, cinnamon and honey (at least that’s how we make it in our house) which I happily continue to eat as a side dish and snack for the rest of Passover. It is a reminder to us that no matter how much we feel the bitterness of our time, our lives still have great amounts of sweetness in them. We ourselves can be the charoset that doesn’t eliminate the taste of the bitter herbs, but curtails it enough so that we can make it through. And when we might feel that we don’t have the strength to be that sweetening element in our own lives, we rely on our friends, our families and our Tifereth Israel community to be the charoset for us.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Hillel Skolnik
Hillel Skolnik is the Senior Rabbi at Tifereth Israel.
To help with my Passover reflection on the meaning of the Wicked Child, I asked some of the Samuel M. Melton Religious School students for help!
We had so much fun talking about what someone who is wicked might act like, and how we can help someone join our seder even if they’re a little bit wicked, too. We even thought about the most wicked thing we could do at a seder table. I hope their answers give you some laughs.
What makes someone wicked?
If you knew a wicked kid, what would you do to help them join the seder?
What is the most wicked thing you could do at a seder?
All jokes aside, in our conversations, the students and I were able to dive deep and think about what it really means to be wicked. Together, we explored how we can help someone who has a hard time being present and well behaved at the seder. We spoke about being kind to that person and how to remind them to be mindful. Finally, we talked about whether or not doing something bad once makes a person wicked for their whole life.
What do you think?
I wish you a Chag Sameach and I hope your kiddos don’t start a food fight!
Paige
Paige Richards is the Director of Family Life & Learning at Tifereth Israel.
The third cup. Are you having Reisling or Moscato? Pinot Noir or Merlot?
OK, ok, time to get serious.
The Talmud teaches:
“Ravina said: The Sages instituted four separate cups, each of which is consumed in a manner that demonstrates freedom. Therefore, each and every one is a distinct mitzva in its own right. ” (Pesachim 110a)
We always talk about the four cups of wine as if they are one group together. Ravina is telling us that they are four individual cups and each cup is its own mitzvah. The third cup, according to Rava (another Talmudic sage), is for blessing, and that is why it comes at the end of Birkat HaMazon, when we thank God for the food we have just eaten. Saying Birkat HaMazon at any time is a mitzvah, and adding the third cup at the end gets us another mitzvah.
When I think about my family’s upcoming Passover dinner and the food for which we will be thanking God, many things come to mind. I feel fortunate to have all of our children, grandchildren, and both my mom and mother-in-law, sitting at our seder table. I hope we are creating the memories for our grandchildren, just like my parents did for me and my brother. I remember many childhood sedarim at the homes of family members and friends. I don’t exactly remember drinking all four cups of wine (well, I probably had grape juice at the time), but I remember learning about the Israelites getting their freedom, family members laughing together and, of course, trying to be the first to find the afikomen.
When you are ready for the third cup of wine, after you have thanked God for the special dinner that everyone has enjoyed, remember this cup of blessings. Think about all of those that need some extra blessings right now, as I know most of us have some that we can share.
Chag Sameach,
Nancy Gurwin
Nancy Gurwin is the Executive Director at Congregation Tifereth Israel
As we crunch on parsley, matzah, pasty haroset, and bitter maror, we imbibe the story of our people’s subjugation in slavery. We hold in one hand the story of being made “the other,” of not having been our own masters, of having tasted on our tongues each day the agony of bondage. And, because of this experience of having been slaves, we are commanded in the book of Leviticus: “The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens: you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the Land of Egypt” (Lev. 19).
In the other hand we hold an entirely different narrative: that of divine election. While we suffered enslavement, we were ultimately saved by the God of our ancestors who poured down wrath upon our taskmasters, plaguing them with demons of their own making, drowning them in a sea of their own suffering. We became God’s chosen people, elected to a unique relationship with holiness and a unique role in the world, to be a light unto nations. “I am the Lord. I will free you from the labors of the Egyptians and deliver you from their bondage. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and through extraordinary chastisements. And I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God” (Ex. 6:6-7).
Is it possible to hold two truths at the same time? Can it be possible to embrace both talessimultaneously and feel connected to each, without feeling one’s identities – as both slave and chosen one – in conflict? I think it is, but the trick is making sure that we hold each of them with integrity, to note at all times the strange and beautiful blessing that is intrinsic to being part of the Jewish people. And that requires us to never forget the reality of having been either one.
How Passover Seders of the past can be part of your Seder today
