Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome, I'm Rabbi David Lyon from Congregation Beth Israel in Houston.
And this week the holiday of Passover has come, and
chooes around the world are observing it. We learn first
in Exodus chapter twelve, from verse seventeen, you shall observe
the feast of unloved bread, for on this very day
(00:22):
I brought you or ranks out of the land of Egypt.
You shall observe this day throughout the generation as an
institution for all time. In the first month, from the
fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat
unleven bread until the twenty first day of the month
at evening. This verse begins to tell us that the
(00:43):
feast of unloven bread, when we eat matsa for a
full week, reminds us when God redeemed the Israelite people
from Egyptian slavery after four hundred and thirty years, embarking
on a wilderness journey, they would bring our people ultimately
to Sinai and then the Promised Land. Further, in Exodus
(01:03):
chapter twelve and verse twenty four, it says you shall
observe this as an instruction for all time, for you
and your descendants. And when your children ask you what
do you mean by this right and ritual, you say,
it is the Passover sacrifice to God, because God passed
over the house of the Israelites in Egypt and smote
(01:23):
the Egyptians, but saved our houses. And further, in Exodus
thirty four, you shall observe the feast of unloved bread,
eating unloved bread for seven days, as I have commanded you,
at the set time of the month of Aviv, for
in the month of Aviv you went forth from Egypt.
These verses begin to tell the story that's written in
(01:48):
the book called Hagada, because Hagada is the word that
means a story, the book where we tell the story
of our people that passover. And as Jews join around
table for the sator meal, satyr means order, and the
story that is told is laid out in a particular order,
symbolized by foods that we eat that retell the story,
(02:11):
especially to keep the attention of children who join us there.
They ask the famous four questions, and we answer them
by telling them the story of Passover. Further Passover, which
begins on the fifteenth day of the Hebrew month of
Nissan and lasts for seven days. According to Torah, commemorates
this festival holiday. In the Torah, it's designated by several names,
(02:36):
hug Hamaviv the Spring Festival, hag Hamatsut, the Festival of
Unloved Bread, and haug haPesach the festival of the Paschal.
Lamb current Passover observant is a unique blend drawn from
the agricultural and pastoral origins of the festival, as well
(02:57):
as from very important events in Jewish history. The liberation
of the Jewish people from Egyptian bondage has become such
a powerful symbol of redemption, not only the redemption of
the Jewish people, but the redemption of the entire world,
because the story of the Exodus is everybody's story. Everybody
(03:19):
has gone from one place to another, moved from one
place out of dire circumstances to arrive at a place
through a wilderness to a place that would be a
blend of opportunity and plenty. The Hagada, therefore, the book
filled with the story, reflects the historic experience of the
Jewish people, recognizes that slavery is not limited to physical bondage,
(03:43):
but that spiritual slavery and social degradation are no less
potent methods of depriving human beings of liberty, And so
there are many hagadas, many books that tell the story,
and every year, based on the circumstances of the world world,
it seems that authors and editors of hagadas create something
(04:04):
new for us, so that the telling of the story
isn't only the telling of the story that begins in Egypt,
but the Exodus story that continues to live with us
as we seek each of us literally, physically, spiritually, and
emotionally redemption from that which holds us back, the things
that are our forms of bondage. And so many hagadas
(04:27):
tell a meaningful story with contemporary readings to reflect on
these themes. The only hagada I don't recommend is a
five minute hagada, a ten minute hagada or a thirty
minute one, which have become popular on the Internet, just
to get through the story and arrive at the sator meal,
which is specially prepared and usually very delicious. But to
(04:49):
miss the story to attach it to our own current
contemporary concerns is to miss the point altogether. The highlight
of the passor of observants is the satyr itself, with
its many symbolic foods and its elaborate liturgy. The satyr
is designed to recreate the events of redemption, as we
(05:11):
learn in every generation, each of us should feel as
though we ourselves had gone forth from Egypt, as we
read in Torah, and you shall explain to your child
on that day, it is because of what the eternal
did for me when I myself went forth from Egypt.
It's more than empathizing. It's more than sympathizing with the
(05:33):
Israelites of the past or current day, people who are
forced out of their homes to live somewhere else, or
refugee seeking asylum. It is truly about understanding that the
theme of Exodus continues all the time, and to feel settled,
as many of us do, is not to be taken
(05:53):
for granted, but something to understand, to be grateful for,
and to preserve, because others want to be part of
such a settled life where anxiety and angst about tomorrow
is diminished because of what we've been able to acquire
and do and celebrate. So we call this season the
(06:15):
season of our liberation. Zman Rutenu Passover as a constant
reminder of the responsibility to those who are oppressed or
enslave physically, intellectually, or ideologically. On Passover, we express our
solidarity with other members of the Jewish community who are
unable to celebrate Passover in freedom, but we also celebrate
(06:37):
it in observance of those all over the world who
feel stuck, who are struggling, who are in pain. The
experience of redemption in the Passover celebration inspires all of
us to assist in the future redemption of humanity. It
is truly a special hope. As the mid Rush, the
(06:58):
rabbinic interpretation teaches, is just as the Red Sea did
not split until the Israelites stepped into it, so redemption
cannot come until we take the first step, and many
first steps are difficult to take. In the mid Rush,
we learn that a man named nach Shon was the
first one to put his toe his foot into the
(07:21):
Red Sea. He had to believe and have faith that
what Moses proposed to all the people, that they would
be able to walk in a dry river bed across
to freedom, was possible. Noch Showon led the way, and
so it's possible that in our own generation we might
look for a person who is like nach Shoon. Maybe
(07:43):
it's you, maybe it's me, maybe it's somebody else. We
come to know who in times of trouble, who say
it's time to go, it's time to do something differently,
it's time to stand up or advocate for the purpose
of redemption and salvation. We need the person who is
not a profit necessarily, but a leader in a time
(08:04):
that needs leadership. That Knach shown is a person who
leads the way so that others can follow. And our
holiday of Passover is all about mitzvah. It's about the
commandment to keep the rights and rituals of Passover, but
to learn deeply about what it's come to mean for us.
So it's a mitzvah. It's a commandment to prepare one's house.
(08:28):
If we're commanded to eat on leaven bread matsa during
the week, then we should remove from our house anything
that is leavened. And there are categories of goods and
food products bread products that we remove from our house
or put in a cabinet and lock to be sure
that nobody should open it or use it during the week.
(08:49):
As well, there are holidays that are observed on the
first and last days of Passover. There festival holidays when
we come to synagogue to pray, and on the last
day we also include memorial prayers to appreciate those who
have gone from life but who are part of our
story of exodus, redemption, salvation and revelation. Preparing the Sator
(09:11):
meal is very special, and if you have the privilege
to attend one in your own Jewish family or with
Jewish friends, you'll see the extent to which families go
to express at the table in the Hagada, in the
foods that are prepared, a deep connection to family roots
and heritage, recipes that come out only at this time
(09:33):
of year, to prepare the chicken or the roast, or
the gafilter fish, and many other items that make the
meal delicious and special. But as I said before, one
of the special purposes of this meal is to be
sure that the children learn all about the story of Passover.
So as we recite even the plagues of frogs and
(09:56):
boils and hail and darkness, etc. Juvenile ways of using
puppets to display the plagues, And while it sounds only
fun and games, the whole purpose of the satyrs to
teach and to engage the children in the story. When
I was a child and sat around my own parents
(10:17):
sadyer table, my father loved to lead a traditional satyr,
but a traditional satyr wasn't very interesting to young children
back then or even today. Sometimes we got ourselves in
a little trouble because we needed a time out from
the table. But as I look back, I understand now
why my father took it so seriously, because, frankly, so
(10:38):
much was at stake to be Jewish in this country
many years ago, but even now is not an easy
thing to do, and so we don't take freedom or
opportunity for granted. We dedicate ourselves to the themes of
the Passover story to be sure that we're continuing to
live up to those expectations for ourselves and for others
who depend on those lessons too. So the satyr that
(11:01):
my father led does bring back many memories, not only
of getting in trouble because of misbehavior at the table,
but the beautiful songs, the prayers, the foods, and the
serious message that ultimately was all about retelling the story
year after year after year, just as the tour tells
(11:22):
to do in every generation at this season. For those
who are new to the story, it may seem like
a long time to sit and retell a story that's
been told for two thousand years or more before the
meal is served. But the story is worth it, and
the story isn't only told, it's really a conversation. So
(11:43):
it's appropriate to interrupt the speaker or to ask questions
or as the speaker leads, and if the leader asks,
does anybody have something to raise a point, a message,
or a contribution to the narrative, then it's appropriate to
speak up because there are people who are suffering we
don't know about, and they suffer in so many ways,
as we said, emotionally, physically, intellectually, and ideologically. And although
(12:09):
there may be opinions to be shared at the table,
and certainly there are mixed opinions too, the point isn't
to resolve it. The point is to be heard, and
the point is to learn from one another how much
work we have to do in a time of passover,
as we retell the story of the exodus. So hospitality
(12:30):
is one of the mitzvahs that we demonstrate at Passover time.
It's called in a Hebrew Hahnasat or him. We welcome
guests to join the satyr. Anybody who is available, who's
looking for a sata is welcome. An extra chair is
always there, and very often non Jewish friends, Jewish allies
and friends are always welcome, because the Mitzvah says, let
(12:53):
all who are hungry come and eat. Let all who
are in want share the hope of passover. Exactly what
it is, It's a hope because near the end of
the Satyr we open the door because it might be
that this year the Prophet Elijah is coming to announce
that the Messiah has come. And every year we open
the door, and the Messiah has him come, and neither
(13:15):
has Elijah. But we open the door every year anyway,
because who knows, maybe one day Elijah will come to
say that peace has come to all the earth and
all God's children. I'm Rabbi David Lyon from Congregation Beth
Israel in Houston. To listen again or to share this message,
please find it at my podcast called Heart to Heart
(13:37):
with Rabbi David Lyon at Sunny ninety nine dot com,
are on the iHeart radio app. Passover, like Easter, is
a season of hope. We celebrate them differently and for
very different reasons. But springtime is renewal, rebirth. The green
is growing again all around, and we hope for the
(14:01):
world that these ancient but timeless messages become incorporated into
our lives and our hopefulness, that we confine solutions even
to the darkest and deepest problems that have plagued us,
because it is with faith that we carry on, and
it is with hope that we continue to build a
future together. The table that we join at is only
(14:23):
the beginning. We sit as family and friends, sometimes as strangers,
and then as friends, to retell the ancient story, which
is the story of every civilization and culture, an exodus,
a journey from one place to another, to be sure
that we arrive at the places we need to be
with hope and faith in humanity and always with God's blessing.
(14:47):
I hope it's true for you and that you have
the opportunity to join a satyr to be a part
of this eternal story of hope and redemption. Thank you
for joining me. I look forward to being with you
again next time.
Welcome, I'm Rabbi David Lyon from Congregation Beth Israel in Houston.
And this week the holiday of Passover has come, and
chooes around the world are observing it. We learn first
in Exodus chapter twelve, from verse seventeen, you shall observe
the feast of unloved bread, for on this very day
(00:22):
I brought you or ranks out of the land of Egypt.
You shall observe this day throughout the generation as an
institution for all time. In the first month, from the
fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat
unleven bread until the twenty first day of the month
at evening. This verse begins to tell us that the
(00:43):
feast of unloven bread, when we eat matsa for a
full week, reminds us when God redeemed the Israelite people
from Egyptian slavery after four hundred and thirty years, embarking
on a wilderness journey, they would bring our people ultimately
to Sinai and then the Promised Land. Further, in Exodus
(01:03):
chapter twelve and verse twenty four, it says you shall
observe this as an instruction for all time, for you
and your descendants. And when your children ask you what
do you mean by this right and ritual, you say,
it is the Passover sacrifice to God, because God passed
over the house of the Israelites in Egypt and smote
(01:23):
the Egyptians, but saved our houses. And further, in Exodus
thirty four, you shall observe the feast of unloved bread,
eating unloved bread for seven days, as I have commanded you,
at the set time of the month of Aviv, for
in the month of Aviv you went forth from Egypt.
These verses begin to tell the story that's written in
(01:48):
the book called Hagada, because Hagada is the word that
means a story, the book where we tell the story
of our people that passover. And as Jews join around
table for the sator meal, satyr means order, and the
story that is told is laid out in a particular order,
symbolized by foods that we eat that retell the story,
(02:11):
especially to keep the attention of children who join us there.
They ask the famous four questions, and we answer them
by telling them the story of Passover. Further Passover, which
begins on the fifteenth day of the Hebrew month of
Nissan and lasts for seven days. According to Torah, commemorates
this festival holiday. In the Torah, it's designated by several names,
(02:36):
hug Hamaviv the Spring Festival, hag Hamatsut, the Festival of
Unloved Bread, and haug haPesach the festival of the Paschal.
Lamb current Passover observant is a unique blend drawn from
the agricultural and pastoral origins of the festival, as well
(02:57):
as from very important events in Jewish history. The liberation
of the Jewish people from Egyptian bondage has become such
a powerful symbol of redemption, not only the redemption of
the Jewish people, but the redemption of the entire world,
because the story of the Exodus is everybody's story. Everybody
(03:19):
has gone from one place to another, moved from one
place out of dire circumstances to arrive at a place
through a wilderness to a place that would be a
blend of opportunity and plenty. The Hagada, therefore, the book
filled with the story, reflects the historic experience of the
Jewish people, recognizes that slavery is not limited to physical bondage,
(03:43):
but that spiritual slavery and social degradation are no less
potent methods of depriving human beings of liberty, And so
there are many hagadas, many books that tell the story,
and every year, based on the circumstances of the world world,
it seems that authors and editors of hagadas create something
(04:04):
new for us, so that the telling of the story
isn't only the telling of the story that begins in Egypt,
but the Exodus story that continues to live with us
as we seek each of us literally, physically, spiritually, and
emotionally redemption from that which holds us back, the things
that are our forms of bondage. And so many hagadas
(04:27):
tell a meaningful story with contemporary readings to reflect on
these themes. The only hagada I don't recommend is a
five minute hagada, a ten minute hagada or a thirty
minute one, which have become popular on the Internet, just
to get through the story and arrive at the sator meal,
which is specially prepared and usually very delicious. But to
(04:49):
miss the story to attach it to our own current
contemporary concerns is to miss the point altogether. The highlight
of the passor of observants is the satyr itself, with
its many symbolic foods and its elaborate liturgy. The satyr
is designed to recreate the events of redemption, as we
(05:11):
learn in every generation, each of us should feel as
though we ourselves had gone forth from Egypt, as we
read in Torah, and you shall explain to your child
on that day, it is because of what the eternal
did for me when I myself went forth from Egypt.
It's more than empathizing. It's more than sympathizing with the
(05:33):
Israelites of the past or current day, people who are
forced out of their homes to live somewhere else, or
refugee seeking asylum. It is truly about understanding that the
theme of Exodus continues all the time, and to feel settled,
as many of us do, is not to be taken
(05:53):
for granted, but something to understand, to be grateful for,
and to preserve, because others want to be part of
such a settled life where anxiety and angst about tomorrow
is diminished because of what we've been able to acquire
and do and celebrate. So we call this season the
(06:15):
season of our liberation. Zman Rutenu Passover as a constant
reminder of the responsibility to those who are oppressed or
enslave physically, intellectually, or ideologically. On Passover, we express our
solidarity with other members of the Jewish community who are
unable to celebrate Passover in freedom, but we also celebrate
(06:37):
it in observance of those all over the world who
feel stuck, who are struggling, who are in pain. The
experience of redemption in the Passover celebration inspires all of
us to assist in the future redemption of humanity. It
is truly a special hope. As the mid Rush, the
(06:58):
rabbinic interpretation teaches, is just as the Red Sea did
not split until the Israelites stepped into it, so redemption
cannot come until we take the first step, and many
first steps are difficult to take. In the mid Rush,
we learn that a man named nach Shon was the
first one to put his toe his foot into the
(07:21):
Red Sea. He had to believe and have faith that
what Moses proposed to all the people, that they would
be able to walk in a dry river bed across
to freedom, was possible. Noch Showon led the way, and
so it's possible that in our own generation we might
look for a person who is like nach Shoon. Maybe
(07:43):
it's you, maybe it's me, maybe it's somebody else. We
come to know who in times of trouble, who say
it's time to go, it's time to do something differently,
it's time to stand up or advocate for the purpose
of redemption and salvation. We need the person who is
not a profit necessarily, but a leader in a time
(08:04):
that needs leadership. That Knach shown is a person who
leads the way so that others can follow. And our
holiday of Passover is all about mitzvah. It's about the
commandment to keep the rights and rituals of Passover, but
to learn deeply about what it's come to mean for us.
So it's a mitzvah. It's a commandment to prepare one's house.
(08:28):
If we're commanded to eat on leaven bread matsa during
the week, then we should remove from our house anything
that is leavened. And there are categories of goods and
food products bread products that we remove from our house
or put in a cabinet and lock to be sure
that nobody should open it or use it during the week.
(08:49):
As well, there are holidays that are observed on the
first and last days of Passover. There festival holidays when
we come to synagogue to pray, and on the last
day we also include memorial prayers to appreciate those who
have gone from life but who are part of our
story of exodus, redemption, salvation and revelation. Preparing the Sator
(09:11):
meal is very special, and if you have the privilege
to attend one in your own Jewish family or with
Jewish friends, you'll see the extent to which families go
to express at the table in the Hagada, in the
foods that are prepared, a deep connection to family roots
and heritage, recipes that come out only at this time
(09:33):
of year, to prepare the chicken or the roast, or
the gafilter fish, and many other items that make the
meal delicious and special. But as I said before, one
of the special purposes of this meal is to be
sure that the children learn all about the story of Passover.
So as we recite even the plagues of frogs and
(09:56):
boils and hail and darkness, etc. Juvenile ways of using
puppets to display the plagues, And while it sounds only
fun and games, the whole purpose of the satyrs to
teach and to engage the children in the story. When
I was a child and sat around my own parents
(10:17):
sadyer table, my father loved to lead a traditional satyr,
but a traditional satyr wasn't very interesting to young children
back then or even today. Sometimes we got ourselves in
a little trouble because we needed a time out from
the table. But as I look back, I understand now
why my father took it so seriously, because, frankly, so
(10:38):
much was at stake to be Jewish in this country
many years ago, but even now is not an easy
thing to do, and so we don't take freedom or
opportunity for granted. We dedicate ourselves to the themes of
the Passover story to be sure that we're continuing to
live up to those expectations for ourselves and for others
who depend on those lessons too. So the satyr that
(11:01):
my father led does bring back many memories, not only
of getting in trouble because of misbehavior at the table,
but the beautiful songs, the prayers, the foods, and the
serious message that ultimately was all about retelling the story
year after year after year, just as the tour tells
(11:22):
to do in every generation at this season. For those
who are new to the story, it may seem like
a long time to sit and retell a story that's
been told for two thousand years or more before the
meal is served. But the story is worth it, and
the story isn't only told, it's really a conversation. So
(11:43):
it's appropriate to interrupt the speaker or to ask questions
or as the speaker leads, and if the leader asks,
does anybody have something to raise a point, a message,
or a contribution to the narrative, then it's appropriate to
speak up because there are people who are suffering we
don't know about, and they suffer in so many ways,
as we said, emotionally, physically, intellectually, and ideologically. And although
(12:09):
there may be opinions to be shared at the table,
and certainly there are mixed opinions too, the point isn't
to resolve it. The point is to be heard, and
the point is to learn from one another how much
work we have to do in a time of passover,
as we retell the story of the exodus. So hospitality
(12:30):
is one of the mitzvahs that we demonstrate at Passover time.
It's called in a Hebrew Hahnasat or him. We welcome
guests to join the satyr. Anybody who is available, who's
looking for a sata is welcome. An extra chair is
always there, and very often non Jewish friends, Jewish allies
and friends are always welcome, because the Mitzvah says, let
(12:53):
all who are hungry come and eat. Let all who
are in want share the hope of passover. Exactly what
it is, It's a hope because near the end of
the Satyr we open the door because it might be
that this year the Prophet Elijah is coming to announce
that the Messiah has come. And every year we open
the door, and the Messiah has him come, and neither
(13:15):
has Elijah. But we open the door every year anyway,
because who knows, maybe one day Elijah will come to
say that peace has come to all the earth and
all God's children. I'm Rabbi David Lyon from Congregation Beth
Israel in Houston. To listen again or to share this message,
please find it at my podcast called Heart to Heart
(13:37):
with Rabbi David Lyon at Sunny ninety nine dot com,
are on the iHeart radio app. Passover, like Easter, is
a season of hope. We celebrate them differently and for
very different reasons. But springtime is renewal, rebirth. The green
is growing again all around, and we hope for the
(14:01):
world that these ancient but timeless messages become incorporated into
our lives and our hopefulness, that we confine solutions even
to the darkest and deepest problems that have plagued us,
because it is with faith that we carry on, and
it is with hope that we continue to build a
future together. The table that we join at is only
(14:23):
the beginning. We sit as family and friends, sometimes as strangers,
and then as friends, to retell the ancient story, which
is the story of every civilization and culture, an exodus,
a journey from one place to another, to be sure
that we arrive at the places we need to be
with hope and faith in humanity and always with God's blessing.
(14:47):
I hope it's true for you and that you have
the opportunity to join a satyr to be a part
of this eternal story of hope and redemption. Thank you
for joining me. I look forward to being with you
again next time.
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