This article was written by Rabbi Neil F. Blumofe, President of iACT’s Board of Directors and Senior Rabbi at Congregation Agudas Achim
Central to the Passover seder celebrated by Jews around the world, is the phrase: all who are hungry, come and eat. At the beginning of our celebrations, our doors are thrown open and anyone, regardless of background who would like to sit at the table, hear about the Israelites moving from slavery to freedom, and eat a delicious meal, are most welcome.
Like most rituals in religion, this expansive and generous invitation has a more complicated history. The custom of opening our doors at the beginning of the meal originated in the Middle Ages, when Jews living in European Christian lands were regularly despised. They were accused of the outrageous, false blood libel – kidnapping and murdering Christian children, in order to use the blood for the preparation of matzah (unleavened bread). In response, the doors of the Jews were opened wide at the beginning of the celebration of Passover to demonstrate to the larger world that there was nothing to hide – that there were no crimes committed, as the seder began.
Thankfully, the custom of opening the doors took on new meanings as the slander of blood libel mercifully subsided. Self-defense gave way to welcome – a common, universal spirit repudiated persecution. Over time, the seder was transformed from a private ritual into a sweeping gesture of emancipation and redemption from the ills and all of the slaveries of this world. All inhabitants of the world were invited to participate and to be included. A once narrow outlook, goaded by ill-treatment, was transformed into a blazing path of emancipation for all the oppressed. No one can be truly free until all people have the opportunity to pursue freedom.
In the Jewish belief, all that is wrong with the world is healed by the seder celebration. As part of the Passover ritual, we invite Elijah the Prophet into our homes to herald a new paradigm. At this time, we are encouraged to give voice to our slaveries, and to name the plagues around us. What keeps us up at night? What will be the quality of life for us as we continue to age? What kind of a world will our children and grandchildren inherit? All that has proliferated like weeds around us spurred by difficulty and suspicion, can grow differently, nurtured by the warming confidence of overcoming our travails, together.
Where once the Jewish people felt isolated and exploited, we have come to realize that we are not alone – and that the world desperately needs moments like the Passover seder to draw attention to all of the injustices in our lives, that wrack and fiercely challenge this world. All who are hungry, come and eat is a rallying cry not only for a day of Festival. It is rather for each generation to find kindness out of adversity, and practical solutions past discrimination and the bleak status quo reinforced by our own apathy and exclusive self-interest.
Once we realize that the pain of our neighbor is part of our own pain, we can utilize the grand traditions of faith and belief to shine light on all of that which casts a shadow. We are to develop resilience, knowing that the groaning from the pressures in our own life are heard and cared about by unseen, positive forces. We are to summon improvement into our world by the industry of our own efforts. We are to bring God near, by how we grapple with the ills around us.
We bring people into our seder to eat matzah with us – to taste its dryness and to brainstorm ways out of our crises, by realizing that we are all bound to each other. Are you hungry for improvement? Together, we can address our spiritual poverty. Together, we can learn how to taste life, made safer and more delicious by our willingness to engage in honest study, difficult conversations, and mutually uplifting transforming actions.
