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Thursday, May 9
Rabbi's Message
April 19, 2024
12 Nisan 5784
PARAHAT MATZORA
Leviticus 14:1 - 15:33A
Dear Friends,
Passover is upon us and soon we will be sitting with friends and family. We find ourselves in a tenuous moment. Blindly going through the motions of the seder is certainly not good enough, but then again, ossified ritual has the capacity to lose why the ritual matters in the first place. We are engaged in a process of creating meaning. The Talmud teaches us that in order to have a Seder one need have only two people present. The task before us is to tell the story. And we are told that we must tell it in every generation. Yet in every generation the story is heard and processed according to the times in which we are living.
This year as we tell the story of liberation from slavery, the Haggadah has the capacity to remind us not only of the suffering of the Jewish people, but the suffering of those around us. We are not alone on the journey. We are reminded to welcome those who are hungry to come and eat. The entire seder is constructed so that we will feel an affinity for those who were and are enslaved. With all of the ritual prompts from the food on the seder plate to the matzoh to the celebratory meal, we are meant to experience the full journey from enslavement to freedom. The Seder invites us to feel many things at once, which, given the world in which we live in, is par for the course for so many of us.
Wishing you all a Passover of hope, love and a sense of wonder even in these most difficult of times.
Mitzvah of the Week
How appropriate – the beginning of Passover and Earth Day fall on the same day. One of the major elements of the Passover Seder is a recognition of spring and the power of the natural world even as we recount miracles. The elements on the Seder plate have a dual purpose as they remind us of the natural world and our deep connection to it.
Earth Day is one way to honor and celebrate our remarkable planet. “Earth Day is a reminder of the importance of environmental conservation and sustainability, encouraging us to come together and take action for a healthier planet and brighter future.”
What can we do around Earth Day? We can take composting seriously. How?
First, be aware that the city is expanding the Curbside Composting program to all 5 boroughs, beginning in October 2024. Currently, our zip codes (10463 & 10471) are part of the program, but others are not. Click HERE for more information, which includes information sessions being held right now.
At the same time, the Adams administration is evicting Big Reuse from their composting site under the Queensborough Bridge. Big Reuse has been the most consistently active organization to provide food scraps pickup in New York City, including during the pandemic. The city has gone back and forth on composting, and there is always the chance that the program will simply be taken away. All the while, no matter what, Big Reuse has made composting happen. Please SIGN THE PETITION to save the Queensbridge site.
| Oseh shalom bimromav, hu ya'aseh shalom aleinu ve'al kol Israel, ve'imru, Amen. |
| May the One who makes peace in the heavens, make peace for us all and all the people of Israel. |
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