The Relevancy of Pesach of Today

Pesach (Passover) is here and apart from gorging ourselves to the hilt and reciting the Haggadah to celebrate the liberation from the slavery of the Israelites from Pharaonic Egypt over 5 000 years ago, much has happened to the descendants of the Israelites over the centuries.

Most observant Jews in Israel and in the Diaspora will be sitting down to the Pesach meal or Seder with all its symbolism of freedom from slavery in Egypt. The Haggadah is read before the Seder meal. Many feel that it is archaic and lacking in relevance. The reading is rushed through rapidly as it becomes a tedious exercise in resilience.  

While very few even think of Pesach from a wider more modern viewpoint and are so involved in outdated rituals as to what is Kosher for Pesach and what is not. The religious hair-splitting explanation over what is “kitniyot” –“legumes” that are forbidden to be eaten by religious Ashkenazim.    

 

The  11th Plague today that is missing - the corrupt Chief Rabbinate of Israel

We should be giving more thought to those who are still not free in countries that deny their citizens' basic human rights.

We should also be sensitive towards the Sudanese and Eritrean refugees in our midst and cease using the term “infiltrators” to justify their deportation from Israel to strange countries, whose inhabitants share their skin colour and nothing else - not language, not culture probably not even religion. They have suffered endlessly in their countries of origin and their lives 

Detail of the 'Maror' page of the Sarajevo Haggadah (courtesy of the Foundation for Jewish Culture)

 are endangered there. They arrived in Israel to seek a better life for themselves. We should not be concentrating on “ghettoising” them in South Tel Aviv, where they are not even given work permits. They should have been allowed to live in other areas in Israel where they can work. The alternative to deportation is incarceration in prison for an indefinite period. Is this the new hospitality to the “stranger in our midst”?

The latest statement of the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel Yitschak Yosef (son of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef of which more is written later in this article) referring to black people as monkeys.

The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict still defies a solution. The occupation has taken on a different perspective. It is a moral dilemma. On the one hand, it is desirable that there should be a move to ending the occupation of the Palestinians by Israel so that the Palestinians do achieve an independent state with freedom coinciding with human dignity and democracy. On the other hand, even if Israel withdraws all the settlers from the occupied territories on the West Bank, there will be no desire on the Palestinian side to sign a peace treaty. The corrupt, wealthy Palestinian leadership have no desire to recognize Israel’s right to exist. It is their bread and butter.The terrorist activity coming from the Palestinian side is not conducive to any solution in ending the Israeli occupation.

The migrant and foreign workers, many of them coming from the Philippines, India and Thailand are contract labourers. The caregivers of our aged are on duty 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. While these people get free board and lodging from their employers. Time off is a gesture and not compulsory as there is no law to protect them from exploitation. Many caregivers do other chores in the home and do housework which is not part of their contract. They also do Pesach cleaning for the family.

I guess this is how we celebrate our freedom from oppression according to the teachings of the revered Late Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, who said that the "goyim (strangers or non-Jews) were created by God to serve the Jews".  This "sage" has made many hurtful, racist statements in the past. This explains many paradoxes in our treatment of "the goyim". Sources in Judaism seem to back this up. If a contracted foreign worker's work permit expires, come hell and high water, he /she cannot renew the work permit under any circumstances.What about the situation of asylum-seekers whose future is a perpetual exile? It is a matter of time before the Israeli Immigration Police sniffs them out and deports them to a detention centre awaiting expulsion from Israel under demeaning conditions. They live in fear as this could happen at the whim of an unscrupulous employer or informer (“shtinker”).

The following Passover supplement was created by Rabbi Burton Visotzky and Sarah Beller to find relevance in the celebration of Pesach today:

"WE ARE TROUBLED when we see fear and hatred toward “the other” in Israel. In our beloved Israel, it is sadly common to encounter fear and loathing of “the other” with whom we share the land. Even in times of turmoil and insecurity, we must strive to empathize with our neighbours and treat all with dignity. We must commit ourselves to working together with Israelis and with Palestinians to realize a future of freedom, justice and peace.

 LET US STRIVE TO LOVE THE STRANGER and journey toward our Promised Land. Tonight, as we reenact our enslavement and celebrate our freedom from oppression, let us work toward loving the stranger, treating all with dignity and equal protection. Only then can we truly inhabit our Promised Land and reach the future we wish to see.

WE REMEMBER when we were strangers. Tonight, at our Seder, we remember when we were strangers. We recall the Exodus from bondage and reaffirm our memory that we were once the dispossessed, the immigrants, those who fled from the lash in the hopes of finding our way to our Promised Land. We remember countless times in the Jewish story when we have pushed away, wandering, vulnerable, even hated. Why do we tell this story year after year?

WE SEEK TO KNOW the heart of the stranger. The Torah explains: “Know the heart/the feelings of the stranger, for you once were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Exodus 23:9). We tell the story so that we remember to empathize with “the other,” so that we will not do to others that which was hateful to us. “Love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Deut. 10:19). At this moment, we seek to know the heart and feelings of those who are treated as “the other” today and dwell on what it means to love them.  

WE ARE TROUBLED when we see fear and hatred toward “the other” here in America. In the United States, we sit down to our tables at a time of unprecedented anti-immigrant and xenophobic sentiment, Islamophobia and the stirring of hatred towards those who look different than us. We remember tonight that once we were proud to call ourselves a nation of immigrants."

Happy Pesach!

חג פסח שמח!

Rosh Hashanah Thoughts

While everybody sits with their families on Rosh Hashanah eve, there may be time to even think about the significance of Rosh Hashanah 1 for many of us. Rosh Hashanah and the Ten Days of Repentance 2 afterwards until Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement - the day of fasting) is a time of reflection.

It is a time when we should be thinking of all the incidents that have occurred over the past year to the detriment of mankind with an emphasis on where we can improve matters that will be beneficial to all mankind irrespective of race, colour or creed. During the 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, everyone gets a chance to put things right with other people before asking God's forgiveness 3.

Here in Israel, we view ourselves as “a Light unto the Nations” or as in Hebrew “אור לגוים”. In many respects within Israel itself, apart from the amazing contributions to medicine, computer chips, science and technology as well as token missions to countries, who have suffered from wars and natural disasters, we have failed in our relationships with our own population within Israel.

If we look at the way Israel has treated the refugees, who have fled their countries of origin, because of severe persecution by despotic regimes that threaten their lives and that of their offspring. Israel has not shown them the mercy that they deserve. They are viewed as and referred to as “infiltrators” which is so derogatory. When Jews fled Nazi Germany and were refused entry into many countries in the West, this was viewed by Jews living in the free world as disgraceful and correctly so. Much lobbying was carried out by Jewish leaders in the free world to get these Jewish refugees entry permits to allow them entry into countries that restricted immigration of Jews. Can one imagine the outcry if these people were referred to as “infiltrators”? Why in Israel, where much of the population’s parents including parents of some members of the present Knesset had to flee their countries of origin for similar reasons, there is such lack of sensitivity towards Sudanese and Eritrean refugees?  Draconian laws are introduced to prevent them from seeking shelter so that their lives could be saved 4. We in Israel have forgotten where we have come from and that we were once refugees in the Diaspora.

There is also a trend of increased racism and intolerance towards those who are different from mainstream (or what is accepted as such). There is the concept of “Sinat Hinam”(שנאת חינם) or “Unjustifiable Hatred” This is most visible in Israel’s society of today. The lack of tolerance for those who do not conform to the present government line, whether it is culture, Judaism (used by the various religious parties as an instrument of blackmailing the government for their own narrow religious political interests and agendas). The hatred of non-Orthodox streams in Judaism (Reform and Conservative) by the establishment Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox Rabbinate is deplorable.

These streams are not recognized as legitimate and their rabbis cannot marry couples according to their interpretation of Judaism. They have not been allotted a place at the Western Wall, where they can have egalitarian prayer services, despite promises by PM Netanyahu, who reneged on the agreement to give non-Orthodox streams of Judaism a place to pray at the Western Wall 5.  It is a disgrace that the Government of Israel with all its blah-blah about Israel “being the only democracy in the Middle East” denies non-Orthodox streams in Judaism to practice in total freedom and not recognizing their rabbis to perform marriages. Members of Reform 6 and Conservative 7 congregations in the Diaspora applying to marry in Israel must find an Orthodox rabbi to vouch for them since the Chief Rabbinate does not accept letters of certification from non-Orthodox rabbis 8.

The hypocrisy and double standards of the Chief Rabbinate is a disgrace and is far from the spirit of Judaism in its widest possible interpretation according to the School of Hillel. They have “blacklists” of rabbis that they do not recognize from the Diaspora 9. Many are Orthodox and of course Reform and Conservative. The Chief Rabbinate denies this but can one believe them 10. ?

This is estranging many Jews from the US, the majority of who are Reform and Conservative. However, when it comes to money that these non-Orthodox streams donate to causes in Israel, that is “Kosher” of course.

Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians in the occupied territories also adds some moral questions as to whether the treatment they receive is fair and reasonable 11. Nobody denies that this is a very problematic issue and it is very difficult if not impossible to examine this emotional issue without getting into some argument in an attempt to be unbiased and objective. There are security issues involved and in order to maintain the safety of both Israelis and Palestinians in the shadow of Palestinian terrorist attacks on innocent people within the Green-line and beyond is a tremendous challenge that involves many moral issues as well. However, the question remains as to whether it is morally acceptable to rule over a people and keep them disenfranchised under Israeli rule.  It is morally unacceptable no less than the desire of Hamas to destroy Israel and not to recognize Israel’s right to exist. If there are no negotiating partners on both sides of the conflict with no genuine desire to end it, there is no real answer. The only option from Israel’s side is to treat the Palestinian People as humanely as possible at checkpoints until both sides reach their senses and are prepared to negotiate a just and lasting peace that satisfies both sides to the conflict.

References:

1. "Rosh Hashanah - Wikipedia." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosh_Hashanah. Accessed 20 Sep. 2017. 
2. "Ten Days of Repentance - Wikipedia." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Days_of_Repentance. Accessed 20 Sep. 2017.
3.  http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/religion/judaism/yom_kippur.shtml. Accessed 20 Sep. 2017.
4.  "Israel: Drop City Ban on Released Eritreans, Sudanese | Human ...." 31 Aug. 2015, https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/08/31/israel-drop-city-ban-released-eritreans-sudanese. Accessed 20 Sep. 2017.
5. "Chief Rabbinate of Israel | The Times of Israel." https://www.timesofisrael.com/topic/chief-rabbinate-of-israel/. Accessed 20 Sep. 2017.
6. "Reform Judaism - Wikipedia." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reform_Judaism. Accessed 20 Sep. 2017.
7. "Conservative Judaism - Wikipedia." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservative_Judaism. Accessed 20 Sep. 2017.9 Jul. 2017, 
8. http://www.haaretz.com/us-news/1.800371. Accessed 20 Sep. 2017.
9.    "Israeli Chief Rabbinate blacklists 160 Diaspora rabbis - Israel News ...." 9 Jul. 2017, http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/Chief-Rabbinate-forced-to-publish-rabbinical-blacklist-of-160-rabbis-in-Diaspora-499171. Accessed 20 Sep. 2017.
10. "Chief Rabbinate says list of rabbis not a 'blacklist' | The Times of Israel." https://www.timesofisrael.com/chief-rabbinate-says-list-of-rabbis-not-a-blacklist/. Accessed 20 Sep. 2017.
11. "Israel's Treatment of the Arabs in the Occupied Territories | The ...." http://www.palestine-studies.org/jps/fulltext/38441. Accessed 20 Sep. 2017.