Comments on: Passover and liberty

By: Kate

Kate — Sat, 16 Apr 2022 20:13:43 +0000

Thanks, Ben David. The piece I read was by an observant Jew who was having some fun, not a serious item. Your explanation makes sense.

A happy Passover to you.

By: Ben David

Ben David — Sat, 16 Apr 2022 19:53:54 +0000

Kate:
Moses is explicitly excluded from the Passover table to emphasize that G-d alone directs the story and performs the miracles. Similarly, his burial place is unkown to prevent it becoming a shrine.

Trust in a higher power rather than awe of human heroes and tyrants is essential to the Exodus story – and to the Jewish concept of freedom.

Neo – happy Passover!

By: JohnTyler

JohnTyler — Sat, 16 Apr 2022 13:37:15 +0000

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

C. S. Lewis

By: AesopFan

AesopFan — Sat, 16 Apr 2022 07:37:58 +0000

@ huxley > I love the Maccabeats, having discovered them a few years ago in this post:

From Andrea Widburg at Bookworm Room, in 2019.

https://www.bookwormroom.com/2019/04/20/president-trump-is-the-dayenu-president/
“No matter how imperfect Trump is, looking at his record of accomplishments, as to each one I say the Passover word “dayenu” — it would have been enough.”

A good response to the narratives dismissing our President as a do-nothing gadfly, or Putin stooge, or uniquely evil because Mueller said so.

I re-read the post and still think it’s one of her best.

By: Wendy Laubach

Wendy Laubach — Sat, 16 Apr 2022 00:52:03 +0000

And a happy freedom to you.

By: Geoffrey Britain

Geoffrey Britain — Fri, 15 Apr 2022 23:24:12 +0000

“Passover acknowledges that freedom (and liberty, not exactly the same thing but related) is an exceedingly important human desire and need.” neo

I no longer accept that freedom and liberty are an unqualified “human desire and need”. As J.J. asserts, many people can’t handle the personal accountability that accompany freedom and liberty.

Many more people want a benevolent nanny state. Were it not so, the democrat party wouldn’t exist.

A cultural embrace of personal accountability and responsibility is the necessary foundation upon which freedom and liberty thrive societally.

It takes a high degree of maturity and “self-actualization” to fully embrace the personal responsibility that accompanies freedom and liberty.

By: Johann Amadeus Metesky

Johann Amadeus Metesky — Fri, 15 Apr 2022 22:46:44 +0000

The tradition of opening the door during the Passover seder is associated with the infamous medieval Blood Libel that accused Jews of ritually using the blood of Gentile children in the making of matzah. The door was opened to make sure nobody was dumping any bodies on their doorstep.

The door is opened as a portion of Psalm 79 is recited:

“Pour out Your wrath upon the nations which do not acknowledge You, and on the kingdoms that do not proclaim Your Name. For they have devoured Jacob and destroyed his habitation. Pour forth Your fury upon them, and let Your burning anger overtake them. Pursue them in anger and destroy them from beneath the heavens of the Lord.”

By: Kate

Kate — Fri, 15 Apr 2022 20:24:01 +0000

I read an amusing piece by Jeff Dunetz, at Lidblog, about how poor old Moses gets no respect at Passover. A chair and a glass of wine for Elijah, but not for Moses, after all he did.

By: huxley

huxley — Fri, 15 Apr 2022 19:43:44 +0000

Here’s a hilarious and wonderful video of “Dayenu” being performed in multiple musical genres by the Maccabeats. I watch it at this time every year.

–The Maccabeats – Dayenu – Passover
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZgDNPGZ9Sg

Note for Gentiles: At Passover the custom is to leave a cup of wine at the table for Elijah and open the door for him to enter.

Spoiler for video: Elijah shows up!

By: huxley

huxley — Fri, 15 Apr 2022 19:30:06 +0000

To be sure, freedom and liberty are apt values to consider on Passover. However, from having attended a seder and had it explained to me, I was struck by its emphasis on gratitude, specifically the Dayenu (“It Would Have Been Enough”) song:
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If He had brought us out from Egypt,
and had not carried out judgments against them
— Dayenu, it would have sufficed!
Di Da-yenu, Di Da-yenu, Di Da-yenu, Da-yenu, Da-yenu

If He had carried out judgments against them,
and not against their idols
— Dayenu, it would have sufficed!
Di Da-yenu, Di Da-yenu, Di Da-yenu, Da-yenu, Da-yenu

If He had destroyed their idols,
and had not smitten their first-born
— Dayenu, it would have sufficed!
Di Da-yenu, Di Da-yenu, Di Da-yenu, Da-yenu, Da-yenu

If He had smitten their first-born,
and had not given us their wealth
— Dayenu, it would have sufficed!
Di Da-yenu, Di Da-yenu, Di Da-yenu, Da-yenu, Da-yenu

If He had given us their wealth,
and had not split the sea for us
— Dayenu, it would have sufficed!
Di Da-yenu, Di Da-yenu, Di Da-yenu, Da-yenu, Da-yenu

If He had split the sea for us,
and had not taken us through it on dry land
— Dayenu, it would have sufficed!
Di Da-yenu, Di Da-yenu, Di Da-yenu, Da-yenu, Da-yenu

If He had taken us through the sea on dry land,
and had not drowned our oppressors in it
— Dayenu, it would have sufficed!
Di Da-yenu, Di Da-yenu, Di Da-yenu, Da-yenu, Da-yenu

If He had drowned our oppressors in it,
and had not supplied our needs in the desert for forty years
— Dayenu, it would have sufficed!
Di Da-yenu, Di Da-yenu, Di Da-yenu, Da-yenu, Da-yenu

If He had supplied our needs in the desert for forty years,
and had not fed us the manna
— Dayenu, it would have sufficed!
Di Da-yenu, Di Da-yenu, Di Da-yenu, Da-yenu, Da-yenu

If He had fed us the manna,
and had not given us the Shabbat
— Dayenu, it would have sufficed!
Di Da-yenu, Di Da-yenu, Di Da-yenu, Da-yenu, Da-yenu

If He had given us the Shabbat,
and had not brought us before Mount Sinai
— Dayenu, it would have sufficed!
Di Da-yenu, Di Da-yenu, Di Da-yenu, Da-yenu, Da-yenu

If He had brought us before Mount Sinai,
and had not given us the Torah
— Dayenu, it would have sufficed!
Di Da-yenu, Di Da-yenu, Di Da-yenu, Da-yenu, Da-yenu

If He had given us the Torah,
and had not brought us into the land of Israel
— Dayenu, it would have sufficed!
Di Da-yenu, Di Da-yenu, Di Da-yenu, Da-yenu, Da-yenu

If He had brought us into the land of Israel,
and not built for us the Holy Temple
— Dayenu, it would have sufficed!
Di Da-yenu, Di Da-yenu, Di Da-yenu, Da-yenu, Da-yenu

https://www.haggadot.com/clip/dayenu-lyrics-english
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Wiser folks than I have taught the importantce of gratitude in one’s life.