Page 44 - HaMizrachi Pesach 5782 USA

JEWS

with
VIEWS Rabbi Judah Yael

Mischel Lebowitz

ll around us there’s a proliferation of uestions aren’t as exciting as they once
amazing Torah content: another insight- were. Once upon a time, if you asked
ful haggadah, a new sefer, countless a good question, it would engage the
hours of shiurim online. As wonderful people around you, engender a sense of
Aas all the information, vortlach and com- Qcuriosity. It would get people thinking,
We asked five mentaries are, the goal of Seder night is not to and talking, and debating. Today, we walk
present as many explanations and insights as
around with hand-held computers and have
possible. In fact, this could distract us from the access to the aggregate of all human knowledge.
accomplished visceral experience of redemption that Chazal Every question we have can be answered within
insist on: “seeing ourselves” as redeemed.
milliseconds. Some of the magic embedded in
Pesach enables us to draw close to Hashem
Jews from in the most joyful and personal of ways. When the experience of asking questions has been lost.
And so perhaps this year, rather than
we approach Pesach with simple faith, our rushing to answer the questions asked at the
around the experience will be natural and personal, and we Seder, let’s encourage those around our table to
will feel less pressure to give over a list of new
ideas, explanations – and answers. come up with questions, and then sit with those
questions for a bit. Swirl them around in our
world for open-ended questions, triggers for conversation, minds. Feel the discomfort of not knowing. Let’s
Actually, the Seder invites us to immerse in
inner exploration and self-revelation. The encourage children to pose questions to their
tech-unsavvy grandparents and watch as those
their top tips haggadah might seem fixed and scripted; even children learn the subtle distinction between
the questioning can feel predetermined, such
as when it says “And here, the child asks...” knowledge and wisdom. Let’s encourage the
for engaging Nevertheless, the flow of the Seder is meant to adults around our table to wait patiently as
the youngest at the table articulates what he
be dynamic and alive; it’s our time to experience
people of Yiddishkeit in its immediacy by celebrating the or she is thinking – and watch as those adults
remember what it feels like to wonder.
main question: “What is this avodah (service) to
This year let’s replace data with dialogue,
me?” algorithms with affection; let’s replace the
all ages at questions. Listen to others. Don’t be afraid metaverse with the process of our mesorah.
Encourage conversation and personal
to allow meaningful discussion to float ‘off-
the Seder script’, beyond the pages of the holy text. Bechol
dor va-dor chayav adam lirot et atzmo k’ilu hu
yatzah miMitzrayim – “In every generation, we
are obligated to see ourselves as going out of
Mitzrayim.”
This Pesach, let’s strive for contact over content.

Rabbi Judah Mischel is Executive Director of Camp Yael Leibowitz teaches at Matan Women’s Institute
HASC, Mashpiah of OU-NCSY, founder of Tzama for Torah Learning and is a frequent lecturer in
Nafshi and the author of Baderech: Along the Path North America and the United Kingdom. For more
of Teshuvah. of Yael’s writing, visit yaelleibowitz.com

44 |