When you walk into the doors of Or Chadash, you will see on the left, hanging on the wall above our Food Basket, a framed bright yellow card.  Written on that card is a beautiful translation by Rabbi Rami Shapiro of the words in Pirkei Avot 1:17 from the Talmud. His interpretation helps us better understand their meaning. The card reads: Shimon ben Gamliel said: Study is not the goal, doing is. Do not mistake "talk" for "action". Pity fills no stomach. Compassion builds no house. Understanding is not yet justice.

In a little more than 24 hours we will be celebrating Pesach - our spring festival of freedom and redemption from enslavement. "Let all who are hungry come and eat, let all who are oppressed find redemption," we will declare. Freedom from Egyptian slavery is what the story in our Haggadah will retell; redemption from the tyranny of oppression is what we will celebrate. But we are all well aware of the myriad forms of slavery and oppression that still exist in our own day.  Across the globe over 30 million children are enslaved workers --TODAY!  Sadly, in America, even right here in Hunterdon County, there are individuals who are oppressed by the economic injustices that the perverted distribution of wealth has created in a nation that routinely celebrates freedom. The share of wealth owned by the top 0.1% is almost the same as the bottom 90%.  How can we celebrate freedom when all around us others are enslaved by this oppression? 

The Passover dinner event is often a time of family tradition, sharing stories not only from the Book of Exodus, but also from more recent history in our own families' lives.  Incumbent on each of us is the Mitzvah to experience at the Seder the sense of freedom that our ancestors must have felt.  That's a tall order for us.  If we can read, have access to a computer, and can sit down for a civilized meal knowing where and when our next one will be, we are already living in the rarified space of the less than 1% of the population. And yet our Seder comes to remind us and increase our awareness of the need that still exists to redeem others from bondage of all kinds.

Jonathan Safran Foer, in his New American Haggadah (2012), adds the following insight to the Seder.  As the Matzah is passed around the table and the group is reminded that this Matzah is the bread of affliction, the words "Let all who are hungry come and eat" are a bit unsettling, he shares. "Maybe this passage should be read a week, or a month, before Passover, when there would still be time to issue a meaningful invitation to a hungry person.  Is the Haggadah being cruel? Or merely disingenuous? How, as we fill our bellies with brisket, can we mourn the existence of hunger in the world and not feel like hypocrites? The Haggadah, Of course, might be making a point at our expense. Could it be teaching us that this night, in one crucial way, is just like all other nights? On all other nights we eat to satisfaction without a thought for the hungry stranger. Tonight, we speak of hunger, but do nothing to alleviate it. In Judaism, it is not the thought that counts, but the deed."

Shimon ben Gamliel lived 2000 years ago.  Pity filled no stomachs then.  Foer is a contemporary of ours.  Our understanding today still does not bring justice. Freedom from hunger continues to elude far too many of us.  Perhaps in the days ahead and in the year that lies before us we will create a place at the table for those still in need of redemption.  That is the real purpose of our celebration - to move us to action.

Wishing you a sweet and healthy and fulfilling and redemptive Passover.

Shalom,

Rabbi Joseph M. Formam

Just last week I was lucky enough to join my mom at an all women's Seder put together by the Hadassah Chapter in

The Seder was a terrific participatory experience, but what fascinated me the most were the stories in the room. Most of these women were born or alive at the cusp of the Depression and World War II. They were the first generation to try and figure out how to balance mothering with work and for many of them, my own mom included, they were the first women in their families to seek higher education.  There were immigrants from Israel, children of Holocaust survivors and those with their own challenges and triumphs. There is surely a book or movie in this gathering of women.

Caryn

Author Jennifer Weiner shared her thoughts on becoming an adult in this heartwarming and feel good Opinion piece in The New York Times (March 29, 2015) All Grown Up and in Charge of the Seder.

Sometimes, she explains, it is a specific moment that makes us feel like we are adults, or an occasion. For Ms. Weiner, most of her recent adulthood feelings have been tied to food and religion as she hosts family and holiday events at her home.

Like the author, hosting holiday and prepping family meals-- that first Thanksgiving turkey, homemade applesauce for latkes, creating a Seder plate, straining the chicken soup, and using my family matzo ball recipe with the secret ingredient of seltzer water (light and fluffy) was a leap into adulthood. Another strong memory for me is when the roles were reversed in the front seat of the car and my mom became the passenger and I became the driver.

Ms. Weiner's article on marking the day, or the year, that childhood was left behind reinforces the concept of "becoming an adult" as a process--not a moment.  In teaching our students about the process of becoming a Jewish adult, we have introduced activities to encourage our students and parents to think about this important lifecycle event as a process and not "just" a ninety-minute service on a Shabbat morning or afternoon.

Growing up is not a function of time, but of reconsidering our identity-through the responsibilities we are tasked with and the roles we assume from an earlier generation as now ours.

This academic year we introduced many new student and family activities to help with this concept of "process versus event, driver's license versus graduation" and to encourage our students to better understand that becoming an adult is a different experience for all. In helping our students explore "adulthood", our sixth grade students were tasked with interviewing family members and friends to identify the events, activities and experiences that made them most feel like an adult.  A sampling includes: getting a first job, getting a driver's license, voting in an election, shaving, and serving in the military.

We followed up the interviewing activity with a very personal activity.  Our twelve-year-old students were tasked with creating a list of the items that would help move them towards adulthood.  Our sixth graders' lists were very diverse and included items such as getting their own email address, opening a savings account at a bank, and being able to go to the mall unaccompanied by an adult.  During our January family workshop the students along with their parents looked at the these lists and began developing action plans to help their sons/daughters achieve these goals--if, of course, their parents thought the students' adulthood goals were reasonable.

Adulthood, for better or worse sneaks up on all of us. Hopefully our young adults will look back and savor the memories.

Chag Pesach Sameach,

Betsy Zalaznick