Shabbat Shalom from Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow
Shabbat Chol HaMo’ed Pesach
Torah – Exodus 33:12-34:26 / Haftarah – Ezekiel 37:1-14
“Sometimes It Takes a Push...”
Dear Friends,
At this year’s Passover seders I was especially drawn to the explanation
of why we eat matzah. The
Reconstructionist Haggadah puts it this way:
Matzah: Why do we eat it? In order
to remind ourselves that even before the dough of our ancestors could become
leavened bread, the Holy One was revealed to the people and redeemed them, as
it is written: “And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had
taken out of Egypt, for is was not leavened, since they had been driven out of
Egypt and they could not delay; nor had they prepared any provisions for
themselves.” Exodus 12:39
It was the part about being ‘driven out of Egypt’ that drew my
attention. I always thought that after
the tenth plague, the slaying of the first born, Pharaoh finally agreed to free
the Hebrews and they walked happily out of Egypt. Not the case.
A careful reading of the Exodus account shows that following the tenth
plague, the Hebrews were at home. Maybe
they were waiting for everything to blow over so that they could resume their ‘normal’
slave lives. However, the Egyptians were
so upset and frightened that they threw the Hebrews out. They actually made our ancestors leave.
There are times in our lives when we know that we must make a
change. Things can’t continue as they
are. And when the door opens and the
path to a new beginning is before us, even though we might hesitate, the answer
is clear. We must make a change. Sometimes we need a little nudge to help us
seek our dreams. When that shove comes,
get ready and get going. Sometimes it
takes a push...
Have a healthy
and happy Passover.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Eitan
Weiner-Kaplow
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