Shalom, my dear friends:
I was not an action figure kid growing up, I had no desire for a “GI Joe” or anything like that. But a few years ago, I did come into the possession of a small plastic version of Moses and one of Pharaoh. I have them set up in my office just the way I imagine them in the story we will tell around our seder tables when Passover begins with the full moon this Saturday night. Moses, face-to-face and toe-to-toe with Pharoah. That’s the classic stance of prophets literally speaking truth to power.
Imagine the courage it would take for a Moses to confront the most dominant and terrifying force in the land, speech impediment and all. But the righteousness of his cause must have enabled Moses to overcome. People should not be enslaved and oppressed. We are born to be free.
Moses and Pharaoh, the action figures, have become part of our CRC congregational second seder. During the Maggid section of the Hagaddah, when the story of our journey from oppression to liberation is told, I hold up Moses and Pharaoh and ask the seder community to channel their inner prophet and yell out, “Let my people go!” At first, it is a tentative and low-volume chant. But just like in the story, we try again and again. By the last attempt, our voices together form a mighty roar! “LET MY PEOPLE GO!!” Like we mean it.
This is a form of spiritual preparation, a dress rehearsal of sorts. While we don’t use the term “prophet” very much in our contemporary lives, we all have moments when we need to fearlessly confront wrongdoing. Especially when it comes to protecting and serving people or a group facing discrimination, marginalization, bigotry, or injustice. I think it is clear to us that as much as we wish we were in the Promised Land, we are still in the proverbial wilderness, and our prophetic selves are needed now more than ever.
Ultimately, Passover is trying to teach us empathy. The fact that it is “we” who were slaves (not “them”) is repeated over and over. Therefore, as the Hebrew Bible reminds us 36 times, we should know how people who are being treated like strangers feel, for we ourselves were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Fortunately, we are not alone, there are many people from many backgrounds who are looking out for the victims of modern-day Pharaohs. I always keep in mind that in every oppressed group, there are faces, stories, individuals and families that call out for us to care and to act like Moses did. In the hagaddah that I compiled (inspired by a CRC workshop I took before I was a rabbi in 1994!), there is a powerful passage by the late writer and activist Julius Lester, a Jew of Color. Lester wrote that to be a slave was to be a human being under conditions in which their humanity was denied. They knew that despite the suffering and degradation, their humanity was more pure than those who were treating them like objects. He concludes: “They were not slaves. They were people. Their condition was slavery.”
I hope that you all have a happy, liberating, sweet and meaningful Passover. Take care of yourselves and of one another and maybe use this season to practice speaking truth to power. I have the action figures if you’d like to give it a try.
Chag Sameach with Love,
Rabbi Randy
