Dear OZ family,
The story of our salvation from generations of Egyptian servitude draws to a close with Moshe announcing to his people that the month of our salvation begins a new year (Shemos 12:2). Signs of renewal and rejuvenation were all around, and the constellation of Aries, which had for so long portended power and virility for Egyptian worshipers of the ram, now became a symbol of weakness for them, as their god was being slaughtered before their own helpless eyes. The Egyptian slave-masters and task-masters were powerless to object as the god they worshipped was being roasted whole, on spits all over Egypt, with its blood dabbed on doorposts throughout the land. This would be the first step of taking Egypt out of the Israelites before the Israelites could be taken out of Egypt.
Rejuvenation is in the air here as well. The trees and buds portend the arrival of a new season of possibilities, even as chaos seems to rise all around us. There are those who delight in spreading terror, as we see in Israel and the recent attack on a NYC subway. Recently, as I was walking home from shul after Ma’ariv, I was approaching a person in the other direction on 95th St. between Broadway and West End, and he was walking a little too close to my path, so I moved over and as we crossed paths, he reached out and grabbed my hat off my head, and put it atop the hoodie he was wearing and kept walking. I turned around, followed him and grabbed my hat back, saying, “Excuse me that’s mine.” He never said a word and kept on walking. I don’t believe that was an act of Anti-Semitism, but it was an act of insanity. The debilitating aspect of so much that we see, hear and read is the sheer uncertainty and chaos that is around us. We like to be in control, and when things seem to be spiraling out of control, we have reason to worry.
But I can assure you that this Friday night there will be a wonderful full moon that reminds us of our first Pesach. I can assure you that the beautiful blossoms in our back yards, Riverside Park and Central Park, will brighten our horizons and allow us to revel in the buds with the blossom blessing we make at this time of year. (You can find a pear tree to make this Bracha on the South corner of Riverside and 75th St.) I can assure you that Jews all over the world will be beginning their sedarim with the beautiful invitation for all who are hungry to join us. That may be a little late for some people so if anyone still wants to be a guest at a seder or wants to have a guest, please call my office. I can assure you also, that Someone is at the wheel. May the order that the Seder underscores be a harbinger for the healing that we all need in this time of rejuvenation and renewal.
Be safe. Be strong. Be excellent.
Rabbi Allen Schwartz
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Rabbi Allen Schwartz
Congregation Ohab Zedek
118 West 95th Street
New York, NY 10025-6604
Phone 212.749-5150, ext 200
E-mail ras@ozny.org
Website: www.ozny.org
