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marc275
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| Joined: | Sat Feb 4th, 2006 |
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| Posts: | 1 |
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Posted: Sat Feb 4th, 2006 04:32 am |
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Introduction
It has been estimated that there are more than eight million Jews in the U.S. – less than half of whom belong to temples or synagogues.
This large, unaffiliated, population is clearly more secular than not. I include myself among them. Yet, being Jewish is more than having a religious affiliation; it is about being part of a culture, about having a history, holding certain values, about belonging to a civilization. The question might be asked: How can a Jew still be a Jew and not be a member of a Congregation?
The answer is to be found in Judaism itself. Jews do not need a synagogue to celebrate many of their rituals. Passover, the holiday that traditionally celebrates the exodus of the Jews from slavery in Egypt, is one of those rituals traditionally observed at home rather than in a Temple.
Ritual serves an important purpose in human societies. Myths and shared ceremonies bind us to others and serve to center our consciousness beyond ourselves. They tell the stories of our culture in order to impart values.
When I was a child my family drifted from orthodoxy – finally observing only a few holidays. Passover was never omitted. My father, whose life began in an Ukranian shtetl, had memorized the entire Hagada (the story of Passover) of his childhood, and sang it every year replete with haunting traditional melodies.
But, following along and reading the English translations of the Hebrew text, I found parts of the content objectionable. Finding joy in the plagues - including the death of each Egyptian families’ firstborn child - seemed bizarre and unworthy.
It was one reason I drifted toward a rejection of the narrow Judaism of my childhood. For a time I attended Unitarian Fellowships and Churches - and for a brief period even considered becoming what I termed, tongue-in-cheek, a Unitarian Rabbi.
However, the emotional resonance of my memories of the traditional chanted prayers and the warmth of the extended families – my own, and others I grew up with in Brooklyn - touched my heart.
Such factors, combined with increasing consciousness of the Holocaust – I served in the Air Force in post World War II Germany – created the desire to experiment with an alternative Passover ceremony. I sought one that did not limit itself to Jews - but might reach out to include all those who wished to celebrate freedom – both personal and societal.
I discovered that Passover has historically been celebrated in many ways in many places. For example, it was traditional in some villages of Portugal for the community to rewrite
the Seder ceremony every year.
Even more surprising, what has become the Passover celebration existed long before the Jews may have come out of Egypt.
ETZ HAYIM, a new Torah and Commentary, published by the official publishing house for the Conservative Jewish synagogues in the United States, based on the best historical evidence, suggests that neither Abraham nor Moses ever existed, and “that the entire Exodus story as recounted in the Bible probably never occurred.” (N.Y. Times 3-9-2002).
Beacon Press, the Unitarian - Universalist publishing house, accelerated my efforts when, in 1962, they republished in paperback the remarkable small work: PASSOVER, Its History and Traditions, by Theodor Herzel Gaster. (This book first appeared in 1949 in a hardcover edition under the auspices of Henry Schuman, Inc. It is long out of print.)
An early version of this Hagada came to the attention of Arthur Waskow before he decided to become a Rabbi. He reports it was partly responsible for his creating his Freedom Seder in 1969, one of the early efforts of, and stimuli toward, the movement for Jewish renewal.
It seemed to me that a new version of the Exodus story was warranted -- to celebrate not only the now doubtful past event, but freedoms that are yet to be. So many people still suffer as a consequence of war, totalitarianism, race, class, gender, or sexual orientation.
And each of us seeks liberation – often from unemployment, or mindless and meaningless work. In this confused and seductive consumer oriented society, the search, in many ways becomes all the more difficult.
Yet, little known work in science, technology, economics and social thought, most of it presently beyond the pale of ready acceptability, may hold the keys to an abundant, increasingly peaceful planet.
The tragic events in Iraq, and of September 11th, 2001, awaken us to some of the shoals that threaten. If we can illuminate increasingly wise paths, perhaps the shores of the first genuinely free civilization in human history might be attained during the current century.
Mark Goldes
Attachment: SEDER 2003 Marc Goldes.doc (Downloaded 44 times)
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zippybk
Member
| Joined: | Sun Apr 13th, 2008 |
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| Posts: | 1 |
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Posted: Sun Apr 13th, 2008 03:47 pm |
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| I would like to read and most likely use your version of the Seder for our Seder next week. How can I view and download it?
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Current time is 07:45 am | |
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