April 07

Four Questions, Five Answers: On Passover, Peoplehood, and Policy
by Yosef Israel Abramowitz and Stephen Hazan Arnoff
p. 2 of 2

Jacob: We always need to be in the forefront of caring for the world, and for thousands of years we have believed that if we save a life, we save the world. Refugees the world over need to see Israel as an ir milkat, a place of refuge. As Russian-Israel businessman Arcadi Gaydamak showed us during last summer’s Lebanon war, within moments, tent cities can be created to care for tens of thousands. And he was one man. Working together, we can care for millions.

Yosef: What would help make Passover an even stronger Peoplehood holiday, especially for the next generation? Are there any special things you do to make Passover come alive?

Jacob: Well, we have the crazy custom of celebrating Pesach in a rebuilt Jerusalem, the best physical testament that dreams can become realities, and within one generation the most downtrodden of people can rise up to become the highest of the high – tech, that is.

Einat: Passover is the Peoplehood holiday par excellence. It is the holiday that celebrates the creation of the Israelites as a people and a nation that has a right to manage its own communal affairs in a land of its own. It contains all elements of what later developed into Jewish identity: the acknowledgement of being a single people derived from common ancestry; the acceptance of common laws and rules from God that govern personal and communal relations, as well as rituals; the quest for a land where the people could exercise sovereignty; and the idea of the repeated telling of history across generations is central to the constitution of a single people. Contrary to the tendency to see Yom Kippur as the Jewish holiday, I believe that the Jewish people could survive without Yom Kippur, but not without Passover.Yom Kippur provides a very limited view of what it means to be Jewish. Passover tells the whole story. Therefore, I don’t think there is any reason to change Passover. This is one of these cases where the entire value of the holiday derives precisely from the keeping of tradition.

Deborah: First of all, any human ritual that has retained its essence, context, vitality, and meaning for 3,700 years embraces a powerful core. Pesach is a compelling success story; it already is the definitive Peoplehood holiday. In terms of increasing that aspect, I think that there is a really interesting opportunity that presents itself davka at the conclusion of Pesach. The return to chametz is so joyfully celebrated as Mimouna by the Moroccan and Turkish communities and as Shabeh Sal by Iranian Jews. It would be great to see some sort of minor festival emerge which allowed each community to delve into its culinary, cultural, musical, and other traditions (involving the next generation in the process, of course), and to showcase and share these traditions.

Barak: To strengthen Jewish Peoplehood, every Jew should reinforce the concept of home in three spheres: My personal home – invite those to Seder whom you normally would not, such as relatives you’ve lost touch with, neighbors or acquaintances whose Jewish identity is weak, and those who don’t have a Seder to go to; my community home – go to synagogue with your children, and create a quality, empowering encounter with worshippers with whom you are not acquainted; my national home – plan your next visit to Israel, and emphasize Next Year in Jerusalem.

Moty: The Pesach Sheni should be determined as PPP – ‘Passover Peoplehood Party’ – to be celebrated not with your family, as the main, first, Seder is and should remain, but rather with your friends, colleagues, or community members – each year re-writing a Haggadah around a contemporary, updated, and humorous theme based on elements from the original Haggadah.