Rabbi Knopf's Blog

The Talmud teaches that 30 days before Passover, we should start learning about the holiday and its meaning. In that spirit, I humbly offer "30 Days of Liberation." For each of the next 30 days, I will offer a brief message drawn from the wisdom of Passover. I hope you find these messages meaningful and inspiring. Feel free to share/forward.

30 Days of Liberation: Day 28
One might say that the Seder ritual is divided into two parts. There’s the pre-dinner portion, which focuses on the story and symbols of the Exodus from Egypt. And there’s the post-dinner portion, which, by contrast, is decidedly forward-facing. We pray for a time when none will go hungry and for the rebuilding of Jerusalem. We open the door for Elijah the Prophet, and pray for him to arrive, heralding the messianic era. We sing about God ultimately righting a messed up, dog-eat-dog world (or, rather, a dog-eat-cat-eat-goat world). And we affirm the hope that next year, we will celebrate the Seder in Jerusalem, in a repaired and perfected world. Taken as a whole, it’s as if the Seder tells us: yes, you were redeemed from the house of bondage in Egypt. But you still live in a broken world, filled with violence, hatred, oppression, poverty, and injustice. You may no longer be a slave to Pharaoh, but your redemption is incomplete until everyone is liberated. The object of our Seder is to inspire us to build a world where everyone has reason to celebrate together in the year to come, a world where the hungry are fed, where wrongs are set right, and where peace and justice reign.

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