In 2012 I heard a talk by Dan Mark Cohn-Sherbok, a rabbi of Reform Judaism and Jewish theologian, who once had a congregation to tend, but who is now Professor Emeritus of Judaism at the University of Wales. On the occasion I heard him, he was speaking about his book, The Palestinian State: A Jewish Justification, publ. Impress Books. ISBN 978-1-907-60529-1.
What follows owes a very great deal to Professor Cohn-Sherbok, and what he said that day.
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There is a narrative for this period of the year that informs both Jewish and Christian thought processes, and it is recorded in the Christian Bible, in the book of Exodus, coming to a climax in chapter 12.
The enslaved Jewish people, the children of Israel, known then as the Hebrews, were rescued from their oppressors of Egypt, by God.
It happened like this. The Hebrews were to slaughter a lamb for their evening meal and mark the doorposts of their houses with the blood of the lamb. All of the lamb was to be eaten, and eaten quickly, with all leftovers to be burned in the fire. They were to eat “fast food” with the lamb: unleavened bread, not waiting for the sourdough to rise; bitter herbs for flavour, but otherwise nothing fancy to be cooked. For they were on the eve of travelling, of making their escape. They were in haste, and were to be in their travelling clothes as they ate.
During the night, God punished the oppressors by killing the first born offspring of all their families and all their cattle — only families where the doorposts had been marked were spared. God passed over those doors; this was God’s Passover.
And during the night, while the Egyptians were in the midst of the chaos and grief of what had happened, they ejected the Hebrews, who got out of Egypt quickly before the Egyptians could change their minds.
This is the story of the Passover, and the meal associated with it is known as the Seder. And the command was given and received, that this feast of the Passover shall be celebrated every year and by all generations of Jews, ever more.
And the journey undertaken to escape is known as the Exodus.
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The Jewish theology of liberation is that the message of God is that there is to be relief of oppression for all. It is a statement of hope, too: a steadfast belief that there will be God’s justice for all.
This is the meaning of the Passover celebration.
So Jewish thought, and those who inherit their thinking from Jewish thinking, must be sensitive to oppression wherever it occurs.
And linked to the Exodus is God’s Kingdom, the realm of God, which cannot be installed without justice and elimination of social misery. This is a human responsibility and is not a metaphor; this is not a command to fulfil a personal, tranquil, internal state, but rather a responsibility to satisfy the outward, practical conditions of freedom and justice for all humans alive.
Moreover, the Passover is not an isolated event in the narrative of the Jews. Many Jewish prophets called the Jews to treat all people as equal, Jews and non-Jews alike. The God of the Jews, the one God, has a track record of requiring the freedom of all, and of justice for all.
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It was to celebrate the feast of the Passover that Jesus left Galilee for Jerusalem, around the year we call 33 CE. On the first day of the week (Sunday), he arrived in Jerusalem, for the seven day period of contemplation, and the daily eating of unleavened bread, as described in Exodus Chp 12 vv 14-20. No work was to be done. A quiet time was to be had by all. And then the feast of the Passover would be celebrated and the Seder meal eaten, on the seventh day, the Saturday, the Sabbath.
The arrival of Jesus is described in the Christian Bible and celebrated by Christians as Palm Sunday. Jesus is said to have arrived in Jerusalem astride a donkey. He will then have embarked on a period of domestic quiet in the company of his family and followers.
But somehow in that quiet week spent with his followers, it became apparent to Jesus that not all his followers were true to him and his cause; to his teachings about the way to instal God’s Kingdom on Earth; and the need for justice by way of love of, and service to, those oppressed. Judas, it was, who had become disillusioned and who had sold Jesus out to the Jewish authorities, perhaps as a heretic. On the Thursday of that week Jesus shared his last evening meal of unleavened bread and wine with his followers, including Judas. In his mystical, esoteric way, Jesus endowed great meaning to the elements of the meal, and we can argue to this day about the meaning of the words attributed to Jesus, as they ate. One thing is sure: according to the reports of the meal recorded later, Jesus was being completely congruent with the idea that the Seder meal is inextricably linked with liberation, justice, love, humanity as one, and one with God in the realm of God.
Sadly, Jesus did not get to enjoy the Saturday feast of the Passover that year. He had already been executed by the Romans, on the Friday, as a sop to the excitable Jewish crowd, who probably knew little, actually, about Jesus; on the weak pretext that Jesus was an agitator and subversive, threatening Roman rule.
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Unitarians are beginning to make a point of celebrating the ideas of oneness with God and the whole created cosmos with a Seder meal. And at present much of the world is in an enforced quiet, contemplative time, responding to the COVID19 virus pandemic. Not so very different from the traditional preparation for the Passover.
If you are interested in reflecting in a new way on these Judaeo-Christian narratives, and the significance of the Seder meal in relation to liberation, justice, and relieving the burdens of people marginalised by mainstream society, perhaps you might like to participate in an online Seder service, next Saturday, 11 April 2020, 5:15 pm BST, organised and provided by New Unity Unitarian congregation in London.
Have a look at the wonderfully full description of the event, which will be accessed via Eventbrite, at the link below. The link will also allow you to register for the event.
