And You Shall Tell Your Children on that Day - The Passover Story

[drwex]

Many of you know I consider myself culturally Jewish - a member of the tribe. I have problems with the religion, and am generally self-identified as a Militant Agnostic (I don't know and YOU DON'T EITHER). But part of being a tribe is hearing and telling the stories of the tribe, and the Passover story is one of the most interesting and, frankly, contradictory of all. Then there are the traditions surrounding it, many (most? all?) of which are unique. I'm going to pick on four things that are usually glossed over in the story tellings but that stick in my brains year 'round.

For one thing, the Passover story is told in the first person. We do not just commemorate the freedom of our ancestors from slavery, we tell of when *we* were freed from bondage in Egypt. I can't think of any other place in the tradition where this sort of direct displacement (what's the right word for it?) happens. The closest I can think of is Yom Kippur on which day Jews personally atone for sins committed by others, taking on the fault or guilt of these sins as if each of us had personally done them, and praying for forgiveness. But that seems more like community or tribal responsibility, whereas Passover is a direct linking of modern people to historical/ancestral situations.

Early on in the story, Moses and his brother Aaron attempt to convince Pharaoh to let the Hebrews go. Naturally their legitimacy is challenged. As part of that a magical duel occurs. I forget the details but the climax involves the Egyptian priest casting his staff on the ground where it turns into a snake and threatens the Hebrews. In response, Aaron throws _his_ staff on the ground, where it becomes an even larger snake and eats the Egyptian one. This is, to my knowledge, one of? the? only direct magical action attributed to the Hebrew elders and prophets. There are many examples of miracles - including the famous burning bush and parting of the Red Sea in the Passover story - but these are always attributed as miracles done by G-d, not magical acts done by people. The Judaism I learned was almost entirely anti-magical (sorry anotherjen) and yet here we have a big ole magical duel right in the middle of one of the major stories. What's up with that?

The Passover story also presents huge ethical lessons and dilemmas. Most people know about the plagues that were visited on the Egyptians, each more severe than the last. After each, Moses and Aaron go to Pharaoh and ask for the Hebrews' freedom. And G-d hardens Pharaoh's heart so he refuses to free them and things get worse. Yes, really. Go read the Bible, it's in there. What lesson are we supposed to learn from this? Any explanation I've ever seen requires some serious ethical gymnastics or a huge dose of fatalism. In modern times we're instructed to lessen our own joy (symbolically, spilling a little wine) in remembrance of the suffering brought by each plague. Phone call for Mr Mixed Messages!

Finally, we come to the end of the plagues and the Hebrews flee. Pharaoh changes his mind one last time and sends his army to retrieve the ex-slaves. G-d parts the Red Sea allowing us to cross on dry land, but when the army pursues, the seas close up behind and the army is drowned. The Hebrews celebrate, but are admonished not to, because even the drowned soldiers are children of G-d and their deaths diminish us all. Thus the expression "dancing on the shore of the Red Sea" to describe the kind of celebration of schadenfreude one ought not to do. This is close to the essential core of the attractive bits of Judaism for me. To be victorious as an underdog, and yet not lose our essential connectivity to the rest of the human race is a powerful and important motif.

aroraborealis asked what were her readers' favorite haggadot and I think none of them are any good because all of them skip the _interesting stuff_. I tried writing my own, once. That was a flop. I'm still looking for one that'll focus on the story and minimize the other various ritual bits which are, I admit, nice in their own right, but don't compare to the story itself.

Comments

[anotherjen.livejournal.com]

Most of the magic-doing in Judaism is in the Talmud by rabbis, not in the Tanach by patriarchs. Anyway, I'm sure that Moses' serpent trick is ultimately attributed to G-d by rabbinical commentary (as are the magic tricks in the Talmud).

[drwex]

Sure, I'd believe that, but that just begs the question - why is there noplace else in the tradition where similar magic is recorded so that it could later be attributed to G-d? This one sticks out like the proverbial sore thumb.

[roozle.livejournal.com]

Oh if you want magic, may I point you at the tales of Elijah and Elisha in Nevi'im? One of those two, I don't remember which, goes in to the home of a poor woman who makes him a meal with her last flour and oil -- and he blesses her and lo, the pot is now perpetually full of flour. And there are a bunch of other tales of similar miracles. Not sure how much the text says about if God does it or the navi does it. It's been a long time.

[cos]

Not to mention the walls of Jericho.

In every case, though - including the snakes in Egypt - I think the biblical story makes it clear that the deed was done directly by God.

[drwex]

In every case, though - including the snakes in Egypt - I think the biblical story makes it clear that the deed was done directly by God.

Show me where? It would certainly make things more consistent.

[awfief.livejournal.com]

I have problems with the religion, and am generally self-identified as a Militant Agnostic (I don't know and YOU DON'T EITHER).

I don't KNOW. But I believe in certain tenets. I don't skip pork because some mystical being might not take me to paradise. But I do skip grains during Passover as a statement that oppression still exists, on all bases, throughout the world.

And G-d hardens Pharaoh's heart so he refuses to free them and things get worse. Yes, really. Go read the Bible, it's in there. What lesson are we supposed to learn from this?

That G-d tests people. Hello, he also asked Abraham to SACRIFICE HIS SON! It's evolution in action. You know that the stories were generated AFTER the fact to explain what happened. If the Jews were enslaved, and horrible things happened, and they were still enslaved, well, then, G-d must have done it. Why *do* bad things happen to good people?

As for the lessening joy, that's basically saying "don't get too cocky!" Even during a wedding, you break a glass. There's always the remembrance of the destruction of the temple. So, yeah, don't get cocky. Which you even get to in your point about dancing on the shore of the Red Sea.

I don't mind the ritual bits of the haggadah. I do mind the praying to strike down our enemies, the goyim.

[drwex]

I don't KNOW. But I believe in certain tenets

I'm OK with people believing things. I recognize the condition of "having faith." I simply don't have it.

G-d tests people

Who, exactly, is G-d testing here? Can't be Pharaoh, because the poor bastard has no choice. If I recall correctly he's ready to let us go after the first plague; if he wasn't ready there would have been no need to harden his heart.

The Abraham analogy is flawed because Abraham had the choice to follow the command or not. Likewise, the slaves were commanded to put the lamb's blood on their doorposts (thus risking the wrath of their neighbors). That was a test, a choice.

You know that the stories were generated AFTER the fact to explain what happened.

No I don't. See above about not knowing (and you don't know thie either). Imagine a continuum. On one end is the explanation that nothing in the Bible is literal, it's all made-up stories. No divine. On the far end is the belief that the Bible is the literal Word of G-d. It doesn't matter where you fall on that spectrum, you still need to explain why this explanation is given. Either someone made up a reason and ascribed some pretty awful actions to G-d, or G-d did in fact do that thing. Either way, you're still obliged to explain why (if you want to tell the Passover story - if you don't then you're in the wrong discussion thread).

[(Anonymous)]

G-d is testing Moses. He told Moses to take the people out of Egypt and then made it really hard to do. Moses didn't give up, because he had faith that G-d would see him through. It's a similar test -- G-d promised deliverance, but made it difficult for Moses to deliver the people to Canaan.

I see it as something that happened over time, and was probably real. Cattle disease were probably rampant anyway. Locusts come every what, 17 years? (in the desert I'm not so sure, but...) Lice and beasts were also rampant. And I believe there have been explanations of how frog infestations could have taken place. Something like turning the water to blood is, I believe, made up as an exaggeration. (10 plagues works better than 6).

Is that a better explanation of G-d testing Moses? That's how I see it.

[drwex]

G-d is testing Moses. He told Moses to take the people out of Egypt and then made it really hard to do.

Hoo rum. OK, I can see that.

[roozle.livejournal.com]

OK, I have to geek out with you on this one.

1. I can't think of any other place in the tradition where this sort of direct displacement (what's the right word for it?) happens.

The midrash says that every Jewish soul that would ever be was present at Mount Sinai. So, Shavuot, to a point. But I don't believe that point of view made it explicitly into the liturgy as it does with Passover.

2. Fascinating as it is, the episode with Moses and the snakes does not appear in the haggadah at all. More to the Passover seder point, Moses does not appear in the haggadah. At all. Yeah, there's all sorts of rationalizations about how yetziat Mitzraim is about God and not human beings, as if we were all about to get confused and start worshipping Moses.

Relevant to the point above is that the haggadah is a document written by people in exile, in repressed and dangerous political circumstances. This comes through all over the place in odd ways. But careful! Wouldn't want to give the authorities-of-the-day the idea that we might have, or want, a Moses around these days.

3. And it gets worse. I totally don't get the paragraph after paragraph of "how do we know that God tormented the Egyptians at the Red Sea with 4 - no, 5 - no, 10! times as much suffering as He brought to them in Egypt?" Immediately following dumping those 10 measly drops of wine. I really really fail to understand (and generally skip) that bit.

So, any number of times I have wound up with "here, you lead the seder", and this is what I do, particularly with a mixed age crowd: I talk about the order of the seder, and the ritual meal in the Temple that it is in remembrance of. And what's on the seder plate, which if I'm doing it includes an orange.
Kiddush, washing, karpas. 4 questions, which I can take or leave myself, but I try to have everyone ask their own question. And always, the final question, "When do we eat?" in memory of my grandfather. Sing Avadim Hainu. Put the haggadot aside and find a reasonable kids book version of the passover story and read that -- Lynne Schwartz had one. I probably can't find the books now.
Go back to the hagaddah for some of the passages that I just can't live without -- ha lachma anya and b'chol dor vador. Personally if I never hear about the four sons again it will be just fine, but I'm funny that way. Then Rabbi Gamliel's explanations of pesach matzah and maror. A song or two from hallel, and then the second cup of wine and the final matzah - maror -hillel sandwich sprint towards the meal.

After the meal, you only get the die-hards. The kids are all razzed up and distracted after the afikoman hunt, some people are busy cleaning up and putting away from dinner, and only the people who really want to say birkat ha mazon and sing a bunch of songs stick through to the end. Sometimes we can call back a quorum for opening the door for Eliahu (another bit of the Seder that could be high up on your list of "why is this night weirder than all other nights") but not always. Not to get fussed over.

[drwex]

I love this. I/we should do Seder with you some year. I'm with you on the orange, btw.

the episode with Moses and the snakes does not appear in the haggadah at all.

Agreed, and this is part of what frustrates me, because I remember it clearly from my childhood - where did it go? When did it get dropped?

I'm all fine with the talking about the bits of the Seder, but where in there do you tell the Passover _story_? Again, something I remember from my childhood that seems to have vanished. I've been through countless seders that refer to the story without actually telling it. If you have a good kid's version I'd be happy to see it but all the ones I've seen have been even more miserable than the adult versions.

opening the door for Eliahu (another bit of the Seder that could be high up on your list of "why is this night weirder than all other nights")

This is a must-have, imo. I agree it's a strange ritual but it's hugely definitional in what it means to be a modern Jew. That's another whole essay but in this one I wanted to focus on the Passover story, not the whole seder.

[roozle.livejournal.com]

The Four Questions by Ori Sherman, illustrated by Lynne Sharon Schwartz is both beautiful and readable, and what I used for telling the Passover story at several seders when my kids were young.

Where did it go? When did it get dropped? I don't know what your childhood seders were like, but that story was never in the traditional seder text. See whole rant on no Moses, leading to your perception of seder after seder that never tells "the Passover story". It's in Exodus, but not in the traditional Haggadah. Now oddly enough, the story of Laban attempting to kill Jacob (who was worse, because by killing Jacob he would've killed the whole Jewish people, whereas pharoah sought to kill "only" the firstborns? Huhhh?) *is* in the traditional text. Another bit that I generally skip.

As I write this, it occurs to me that "the Passover story" is a misnomer. In that, we are not talking here about a story told for the sake of historical accuracy, but a story told for the sake of understanding a particular point. In the case of the seder, we have a ritual that is telling at least four stories. First, the enactment of the passover sacrifice in the temple, carefully without making any pretense that we are actually *performing* the passover sacrifice in the temple; second, the story of Passover that means "God will always redeem his people Israel"; third, the story of Passover that means "history moves from slavery to freedom and from darkness to light"; fourth, and most controversially, the story that says "eventually we will be avenged on our enemies who have attempted and failed to destroy us". That fourth story is very out of fashion in our days and causes much of the cognitive dissonance of the seder. But the rabbis who put the haggadah together to tell these stories were fairly uninterested in the historical story, the one that starts with "once upon a time we were slaves to Pharoh in Egypt" but for the fact that the biblical injunction to tell that story gave them a ritual upon which to hang the stories they felt needed telling.

Interesting idea, us doing a seder together. Perhaps sometime.

[drwex]

I don't know what your childhood seders were like, but that story was never in the traditional seder text.

I believe that. I am pretty sure I pulled it out of reading Torah and commentaries around that time. This of course begs the fundamental question of who put that story together in the first place and why isn't more of Exodus in it?

we are not talking here about a story told for the sake of historical accuracy, but a story told for the sake of understanding a particular point.

Precisely. I totally agree. This is my original point about the Jewish culture and the importance of its stories. That we are specifically commanded to tell _this_ story makes it more interesting and compelling to me.

And poking at the odd bits of the story itself is mostly me figuring out what lesson(s) we're supposed to learn/teach.

[candle-light.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the pointer to "The Four Questions". It looks really good and I'll be getting it from the library tomorrow. It's really past time to try to explain more about Passover to The Boy (and Girl) and I need as much help as I can get.

[slfisher.livejournal.com]

I think, actually, Moses threw his staff down first, and the Egyptian priests also turned theirs into serpents to show that it was just a parlor trick, and then Moses' serpents ate their serpents.

[drwex]

OK, I'll grant that. But it's still a direct magic (or Magik) performed by a person, not a miracle performed by G-d.

[sweetmmeblue.livejournal.com]

Actually it was Aaron who threw down the staff, not Moshe.

[shades-of-nyx.livejournal.com]

We used an atrocious Haggadah in my childhood, and are still searching for a good one. The best my family has come up with are Haggadot focusing on social justice issues. "While one person is a slave, none of us are free." We don't focus on the magic, but on the people. If the midwives had not refused to kill the infant boys, we would not be. If Pharoah's daughter had not taken in the infant Moshe, we would not be, etc. If Nachshon had not had the courage to take the first step, none of us would have crossed the sea of reeds. The story of liberation and guts is what is important... Anyway- Judaism is difficult for me, as in my heart I'm a witch. But, a Jew I remain.
Grins-
R