Yesterday night, when we had seder a young child could ask
“Why is this night different from all other nights?”
making us prompted to respond with technical answers:
on other nights we eat leavened bread, while tonight we eat matzah, for instance.
But what if we heard the imperceptible incredulity in our children’s voices when they ask that question?
On that night, we saw ourselves as personally enslaved so that we can know the heart of the oppressed. On that night, we deride bondage and celebrate liberation. On that night, we see injustice set right and sing songs of praise.
Why not other nights, too?
Why,
our children are asking,
IS this night different?
Why,
they demand,
is EVERY night not like this night?!
How will we answer them? How can we even look them in the eye?
On 14 Nisan and the following days, up to 22 Nisan, we commemorate salvation and redemption.
Purim represents salvation.
The Jews of Persia are saved. But their situation at story’s end is fundamentally the same as at the beginning. They are still subjects of the King.
On the other hand, the Passover story is about redemption.
In the Exodus, the Israelites’ situation is radically transformed, from serving Pharaoh to serving God alone.
Purim reminds us of the intermittently violent, intermittently safe, but ultimately unredeemed world we inhabit. As the ancient sage Rava said,
“We are still slaves of Ahaseurus.”
Passover, on the other hand, reminds us of the redeemed world that might yet be. The two are connected to teach us that we have redemptive work yet to do.
Purim represents the reality and brutality of the existing patriarchal order. Passover represents the possibility of its being resisted, dismantled, and replaced with true equality. We connect the two holidays to remind us where we are, and where we are called to be.
The Israelites were enslaved in Egypt for centuries.
“the Israelites were groaning under the bondage and cried out; and their cry for help rose up to God.”
God’s message to Moses:
I am freeing the Israelites from Egypt because redeeming the oppressed advances an agenda of one-ness. Their responsibility, once liberated, is to continue the work of building a world that reflects God’s unity, a world where all creations are one with each other and with their Creator.
The Elohim wants us to feel united. In us there has to be a oneness, which makes us different from other people in this world. The world has to see the difference between the Chosen People of God, His loved ones and those who refuse to have the God of Israel as their Only One True God. In ancient times God’s People where in bondage under the Egyptians, but today they have become enslaved to many material products and gadgets, which do not add anything positive to their soul.
The HaShem has created us in His image, man and woman to be in one union. Man had to be part of the universe God created. The Bore made everything to be part of His universe, in balance and for reason that it would please Him. The Elohim also gave in man the feeling of being at one with the divine principle, being part of Creation.
Everything in the world is there because the Bore allows it to be there. the Bore also created all things so that everything in the world is interdependent and influenced by each other, making the whole as an ongoing “being” allowed by the Most High. Man should know his place in that creation, but should not be enslaved to it. though today we notice lots of people have become slaves of their work and their surroundings.
Without feeling the oneness with the creation and its Creator, people are like dead. Life is what we remember these days. By bringing death over the lambs, putting their blood on the doorposts, made those inside of those houses saved. The Egyptians wouldn’t even dine with the Israelites, considering them abominable, subhuman.
Today we respond by saying that everyone with an appetite — that is to say, everyone period — is as deserving of a seat as are we.
The meal the Jews in Egypt had we remember, but this time we invite all those who want to listen to the story God has to tell mankind.
When Moses begins his campaign to free the Israelites, the Israelites themselves rail against him: They said, “May the LORD look upon you and punish you for making us loathsome to Pharaoh and his courtiers—putting a sword in their hands to slay us.” The Israelites may have been slaves, but even in their oppressed state they enjoyed a fairly comfortable status quo. As soon as Moses starts to agitate for change, their situation worsens. They demand he stop speaking out. His political agenda was making them profoundly uncomfortable. Fortunately for them, and for us, neither God nor Moses recognizes the people’s comfort as a primary value. Justice, liberation, and God’s truth: all primary values. But not making anyone uncomfortable? Not so much. The question is not whether the prophet’s message makes us uncomfortable, or even whether the oppressor responds with deeper injustice. The question is whether the message is true and the cause is just. If so, even through discomfort, we are duty-bound to listen and act. {30 Days of Liberation 2018}
Today we also do find a lot of people who find it very uncomfortable when we speak about God and His promises. Not many are willing to listen to the messages of the nevi’im and to those who preach in the Name of God. The warnings concerning bad times to come, look bizarre for many and far away from their bed. Mots of the people see no reason to unite and prefer more to divide, keeping themselves far away and different from others. Most prefer to exclude others.
We should know that first of all we need to trust God and be strong in Him and in the Power of His Might. We have to face the slavery of man, mainly by seeing how man gives himself to the world and in a certain way is the chooser of that slavery. Most people are not wiling to wrestle against flesh and blood. Though we all have to battle against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. And it is up to us to leave those dark rooms the world has prepared for us.
United we shall be able to be stronger to take up the whole armour the elohim has provided for us. When we go for Him and come under the Passover sign we may be able to withstand in the evil day. These days we listen to the Words God has given His people and we follow the story how Moshe guided those looking for freedom.
First there were the “unblemished” lambs for liberating God’s People, but then the Elohim requested His only begotten beloved son to come to Him too as an “unblemished” lamb, this time not only to save Jews but for salvation of all people, who from then onwards would also be called to unite under Christ. For that reason Jeshua also asked his closest friends to go out into the world and to repeat what he did that 14th of Nisan, breaking the bread as a symbol for a New covenant made for all.
In that sense the 14th Nisan has become a very special night for all people. It has now become a night not only to remember the salvation of Bnei Yisroel, but also to to remember the Last Supper of Jeshua and him giving himself as a Lamb for God, as a sign of a renewed relationship between God and man and a call for unity.
Jeshua is
“the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”
We being all sinners can from then onwards look forward to a salvation from the curse of death (because of sin), when we are prepared to come under Christ Jesus, united as one people, all being children of God.
These days we spend time reading the bible and talking about what happened to God’s People. Taking special time to consider how we can fit in the picture, we can feel our unity and invite others too to become united with us, in oneness with Jeshua and in oneness with all who love God, the Elohim HaShem Jehovah.
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By the way, according to research published by the American Psychological Association, people who adhere to the spiritual teaching of oneness appear to have greater life satisfaction than those who don’t. But those who believe in god and His promises have even bigger expectations with their faith in oneness, because we may look forward to find a united people going up to Jerusalem as the capital of the land of Freedom and of the Kingdom of God.
In reaction and with use and thanks for a writing by Rabbi Michael Rose Knopf, who wants to use the wisdom of the Jewish tradition to help people thrive. Working to build a vibrant and inclusive Judaism. Seeking God, Torah, and truth.
The Talmud teaches that, during the 30 days before Passover, we should learn about matters related to the holiday. In that spirit, he composed a brief message for each of the previous 30 days, drawing from the wisdom Passover imparts. On these messages we added our views and feel free to share his views 30 Days of Liberation 2018 far and wide.
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Preceding
A meal as a mitzvah so that every generation would remember
Let’s Think About Redemption Differently
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Additional reading
- True God giving His Word for getting wisdom
- Getting out of the dark corners of this world
- Concluding thought by the article series “Key to the Bible”
- This day shall be unto you for a memorial and you shall keep it a feast to the Most High God
- Maintaining unity of Spirit in the bond of peace becoming one with God
- Christians having the right heart to call others to go to God
- Being Religious and Spiritual 7 Transcendence to become one
- A House for God in our 21st century
- Decrease in church attendance not only a recent feature #5 Necessity of attendance
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Further related
- The 10 Plagues: Bible and Science Mesh
- Pesah 2018……It’ Almost Time to Gather ’round the Table
- Passover
- Haggadah Highlights in the ‘Rhodesli Tradition’ from Neil Sheff
- Pesah Lyrics….Un Kavritiko and Kien Su Piense
- Passover 2019
- Passover marks a moment in time
- Happy Passover! Chag Pesach Sameach!
- chag Pesach samech!
- Happy Passover
- Jews have the Ultimate Support System
- Passover/ Torah Portions
- Happy Passover
- Trillions of cells
- Oneness
- Eternal Life
- People with a Sense of Oneness Experience Greater Life Satisfaction, Says Study
Jeshuaisten / Jeshuaists 
13 gedachten over “A night different from all other nights and days to remember”