Passover

JRF Support of Immigration Reform Initiatives

Rabbi Shawn Zevit — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 17:28:39 -0500

We Were Strangers TooJRF Supports Immigration Reform

The Jewish Reconstructionist Federation continues to work with a coalition of Jewish and interfaith organizations towards comprehensive reform of the immigration system in the United States. Our key partner in this endeavor is HIAS (The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, see http://wewerestrangerstoo.wordpress.com/).

HIAS and our national and local Jewish organization partners have launched We Were Strangers, Too: the Jewish Campaign for Immigration Reform. This campaign calls on Congress to make immigration reform a priority in the 111th Congress.

The We Were Strangers, Too campaign calls for immigration legislation that:

•Keeps families united and decreases the waiting time for family re-unification.
•Creates pathways to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
•Creates a plan for future migration flows in order to protect all workers' rights.
•Empowers immigrants to fully integrate by providing financial support to local governments and community organizations that offer classes and services.
•Establishes border protection and enforcement policies that bolster our national security, while balancing enforcement with economic development and human and civil rights.
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Contact Congress: Schedule an in-district lobby visit with your Members of Congress or send an e-letter to Congress asking for immigration reform.

Show Your Support: Join immigration advocates from around the country to participate in a 100,000 person rally and advocacy day in Washington, DC on March 21-22.

Educate: To Educate leaders in your community, host a Rabbinical Roundtable discussion in your city, which will engage Jewish leadership on the topic of immigration from the Jewish perspective. To educate the general Jewish community, host Welcome the Stranger, HIAS' 90-minute educational program focusing on immigration from a historical and values perspective.

Spread the Word: HIAS offers religious materials on immigration, including sample D'Var Torah and Jewish holiday guides focusing on immigration.

Stay In Touch: Contact Liza Lieberman (liza.lieberman@hias.org) with any questions, to join the national Jewish Task Force for Immigration Reform listserv, or to sponsor the We Were Strangers, Too campaign.
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A Faith Leaders’ Statement on Immigration
Supported by the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation

As the leaders of different faith groups and denominations across the country, are gravely concerned with the current political and policy environment surrounding the issue of immigration. We are troubled by signs that our nation is turning away from reforming our nation’s immigration system and is instead pursuing enforcement policies which are ineffective and inhumane.

Enforcement raids, state and local anti-immigrant ordinances, and harmful rhetoric against immigrants are just a few of the signs that our nation is moving away from civil discourse and toward discord and division. As a result, immigrant families are being separated and immigrant and ethnic groups targeted, creating a climate of fear in all of our communities.

Now is the time to restart the debate on immigration reform and develop fair, balanced, and humane solutions to immigration. We offer the following principles to help guide our country in reaffirming our identity as a nation which welcomes immigrants and believes that the best of America is shown in how we treat those who come to our shores:

Anti-immigrant rhetoric has no place in public discourse and should not be used. As a country, we value civil public discourse as the reasonable way to address our problems and arrive at solutions. Inflammatory statements and dehumanizing categorizations of any person or people, e.g. “illegals”, should be stricken in favor of factual and more accurate descriptions of the people adversely affected by our broken immigration system.

Elected officials should examine all aspects of our immigration system. Examining and reforming only one aspect of our immigration system—such as enforcement---will not meet the challenges we face. The legal immigration system, both employment and family-based, must also be reformed.

Reform of our laws should restore the rule of law and secure our borders. Current immigration law is severely flawed and thus must be corrected in order to re-establish the rule of law. As a sovereign nation has the right to secure its border, any reform should ensure that our country’s borders are secure from outside threats.

Reform of our laws must respect the human dignity of the person. The adoption of new laws must be measured by their ability to uphold basic human dignity. Any proposals which can lead to an abuse of human dignity and human rights must include safeguards to protect against such violations.

Reform of our laws must protect family unity. Proposals should ensure that families are kept together, to the greatest extent possible, and that children and youth, particularly, are afforded special protection. Too often our immigration laws lead to the disintegration of the family unit and the abandonment of children.

We commit ourselves to working with our own faith communities and others to foster constructive and respectful dialogue on this important national issue. As faith leaders, we will work to ensure that immigrants are treated with respect and dignity. We will speak out and educate our communities about the value of immigrants and the important contributions they make to our lives, while fostering a climate for constructive and civil dialogue on this important national issue.

We also urge our elected officials and all persons of good will to work together to find solutions which uphold the moral fabric of our nation, protect the dignity and human rights of all persons, and restore and maintain the rule of law.

As a nation of immigrants, we must remember our heritage and return to those values which have helped build our great nation—fairness, justice, opportunity, and compassion.

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Political Update: http://jta.org/news/article/2009/03/12/1003677/two-immigration-amendments-extended
New resources on Immigration for the Jewish holidays available at http://advocacy.hias.org/NetCommunity/religious_materials

See http://www.hias.org/progress for more information

Op-Ed by Rabbi Maurice Harris: http://www.jewishaz.com/issues/story.mv?100430+abraham

Sample Programs in JRF communities:

At our Social Concerns Luncheon on a recent shabbat, the topic was immigration. Two speakers from the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) spoke on the topic “Religious Responses to Illegal Immigration and Initiatives for Reform”. The first speaker, HIAS CEO Gideon Aronoff, outlined five Jewish bases for HIAS’s work in helping Jewish and non-Jewish immigrants as well as in supporting “fair and compassionate immigration laws.” The second speaker, HIAS VP of Media and Communications Roberta Elliott, talked about starting the first Jewish detention visitation group in the U.S., at the Elizabeth Detention Center near Newark Airport. The center houses individuals who arrive without sufficient documentation while their applications for asylum and status are considered. Roberta’s descriptions of conditions at the center and her stories about detainees she has met and assisted were moving and inspiring. Several of our members expressed interest afterwards in following up with detention visits and in organizing a book drive for the detainees which is a need of the people there. You can read more on our website, http://www.thesaj.org
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As part of the faith alliance of metro Atlanta, Rabbi Josh Lesser helped organize educational sessions documentary showing in collaboration with many other institutions. Congregation Beit Chaverim has a strong relationship with RRISA (Refugee Resettlement and Immigration Services of Atlanta) and we have partnered with a number of families to provide support. Our school has worked with the Burmese immigrant community. This year our tikkun olam commitee is working with some Latino organizations to do advocacy against proposed state anti-immigration bills and we are planning an educational Shabbat on immigration in Georgia. Lastly, we are creating a Passover seder that explores directly immigration with the passover narrative. Rabbi Joshua Lesser http://www.congregationbethaverim.org/
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Rabbi Dennis Sasso of affiliate Beth El Tzedek, Indiannapolis, IN, is a member of the Board of Directors of the Immigrant Welcome Center in Indianapolis and represented the center and the Jewish Community Relations Council at a conference to sign and launch the Rabbi Sasso's talk is attached to this page. http://bez613.org/
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10 Things You and Your Synagogue can do to Welcome the Stranger- Rebecca Gould (RRC '11)

The list below focuses on Philadelphia and region, but can be adpated for resources and organizational connections in your area:

“When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not wrong him. The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens; you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I the Lord am your G-d.”
- Leviticus 19: 33-34

What can I do to help?

1. Encourage people in your life to use language that honors the divine spark in everyone - use the term undocumented immigrant instead of illegal alien.

2. Donate furniture - free pick up from your home - to furnish apartments for new refugees. E-mail Nicole Kligerman at nicole@hiaspa.org to arrange for pick-up.

3. Go to these websites and join listservs: for state legislation updates - http://paimmigrant.org/ and for national legislation updates - http://capwiz.com/hias and www.interfaithimmigrant.org then make calls and write emails as legislation comes up.

4. Become an American friend by helping new immigrants get settled and learn about living in Philadelphia. Contact HIAS and Council at mmerlin@hiaspa.org

5. Help refugees and immigrants avoid deportation by giving tzedakah to HIAS and Council so we can continue to provide legal representation for those in need. Go to http://hiaspa.org/involved.html to give.

How can my synagogue community make a difference?
1. Create a media watch committee to respond to anti-immigrant sentiment (post on facebook, blog, write op-eds, etc.) Help people fulfill the Jewish values of welcoming the stranger and loving your neighbor by changing public opinion on immigration.

2. Join the PA Immigration and Citizenship Coalition listserv at http://paimmigrant.org/ and participate as a community in local actions for immigration reform.

3. Do an oral history project about your congregants families’ immigration stories. Children and adults can interview relatives. Present creatively and make connections to current day immigration issues. Research immigration issues and history at hias.org

4. Sponsor educational programs and invite speakers from various faiths and backgrounds (tailored for adults or children). Contact Judi Bernstein-Baker, HIAS and Council executive director at jbernsteinbaker@hiaspa.org

5. Do a community drive for household goods and other items to help immigrants and refugees. Encourage bar and bat mitzvah students to take a leading role. E-mail Nicole Kligerman at nicole@hiaspa.org for drive ideas.

HIAS and Council Migration Services of Philadelphia (www.hiaspa.org)
IMMIGRATION: MYTHS VERSUS FACTS

Myth # 1: Immigrants Take Jobs Away From Americans
Immigrants work in niche occupations, including many areas U.S. workers don’t choose to work in. One recent study showed NO correlation between high unemployment and counties with large numbers of immigrants.
(http://immigrationpolicy.org/sites/default/files/docs/Not_In_Competition_3.pdf ; http://immigrationpolicy.org/just-facts/immigration-reform-and-job-growth )

Myth # 2 Immigrants Increase Crime
New immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than native-born Americans. While immigration has increased since 1994, including doubling undocumented populations, violent crime rates fell by 34.2%. This question has been studied for over 100 years and the findings consistently show that new immigrants commit fewer crimes than native born residents. (http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/03/05/immigration_and_crime/ ; http://immigrationpolicy.org/just-facts/immigrants-and-crime-are-they-connected-century-research-finds-crime-r... )

Myth # 3 Immigrants Don’t Pay Taxes
All immigrants pay taxes, whether income, property, sales, or other. As far as income tax payments go, immigrants pay $90-$140 billion a year in federal, state, and local taxes. Even undocumented immigrants pay income taxes, as evidenced by the Social Security Administration’s “suspense file” (taxes that cannot be matched to workers’ names and social security numbers). In 2002, this suspense file grew by $56 billion in reported earnings, with $7 billion in Social Security taxes and $1.5 billion in Medicare taxes largely paid by immigrants who will never enjoy these programs. Immigrants contribute $611 billion to our Social Security system; a moratorium on legal immigration would devastate the system by raising the deficit 31% over 50 yrs.

Myth # 4 Immigrants Don’t Contribute Economically to Society
The immigrant community is not a drain on the U.S. economy but, in fact, proves to be a net benefit. Research reported by both the CATO Institute and the President’s Council of Economic Advisors reveals that the average immigrant pays a net 80,000 dollars more in taxes than they collect in government services. For immigrants with college degrees the net fiscal return is $198,000. Furthermore, The American Farm Bureau asserts that without guest workers the U.S. economy would lose as much as $9 billion a year in agricultural production and 20 percent of current production would go overseas. In the Philadelphia region, immigrants have accounted for nearly 75 percent of the area’s labor growth since 2000 and, when compared to native born, more are employed (73 percent versus 71.5 percent) and self-employed (10.7 percent versus 7.9 percent). In addition, immigrants have a high rate of entrepreneurship, opening businesses and creating jobs. And new groups have tremendous buying power. The growth of the Latino press is an example; at a time when newspapers are struggling for readership, Latino radio and T.V. offerings are increasing. Since 1990 Latino purchasing power has increased by 349% and Asian buying power by 92%. (Source: New Brookings Institution study, “Recent Immigration to Philadelphia: Regional Change in a Re-Emerging Gateway.” CATO Institute, CATO Handbook for Congress: Policy Recommendations for the 108th Congress, http://www.cato.org/pubs/handbook/hb108/hb108-63.pdf; Executive Office of the President: Council of Economic Advisors, “Immigration’s Economic Impact,” June 20, 2007, http://www.whitehouse.gov/cea/cea_immigration_062007.html; Derrick Z. Jackson, “Undocumented Workers Contribute Plenty, The Boston Globe, April 12, 2006, http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/04/12/undocumented_workers_contribute_pl...)

Myth # 5 Immigrants Don’t Want to Learn English
Immigrants and their children learn English today at the same rate as Italian, German, and Eastern European who emigrated in the 19th and early 20th centuries. There are not enough English classes to accommodate all the immigrants who want to learn English. Nevertheless within 10 years, 75% of immigrants are able to speak English well. 91% of second generation immigrants are fluent or near fluent English speakers. By the third generation, 97% speak English fluently or near fluently. (Source: Shirin Hakimzadeh and D’Vera Cohn, “English Usage Among Hispanics in the United States,” http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?articleId=10487 Pew Hispanic Forum, 12/6/07. http://pewhispanic.org/reports/report.php?ReportID=82; Janet Murguia and Cecilia Muñoz, “From Immigrant to Citizen,” The American Prospect 10/23/05; http://www.immigrationforum.org/images/uploads/MythsandFacts.pdf)

Myth # 6 Immigrants Have a Way to Immigrant Legally; They Just Need to Wait Their Turn
There are no legal possibilities for many immigrants. Visa caps, complex laws including 1996 changes in the law means if an immigrant leaves and tries to apply to re-enter, they could be separated from their family for 10 years or more. There are virtually no permanent employment visas for unskilled immigrants; the wait is 8 years and no employer will hold a job open that long. Immigrants can’t wait in line, because there is no line.

JRF Supports 2012 JCPA-MAZON Hunger Seder and 2012 USA Farm Bill

Rabbi Shawn Zevit — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 11:29:52 -0500

For Passover, the JCPA along with MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, is once again offering a phenomenal mobilizing event through which JRF communities, congregations from every Jewish stream and local JCRCs can engage community members in meaningful anti-poverty advocacy: The Hunger Seder.

Hunger Seder participants observe the ancient traditions of Pesach (Passover) in the context of a stark reality: that too many of our fellow Americans are still going hungry. The Seder serves a vital purpose and presents a call to action for the American Jewish community to end hunger America.

Hunger Seder Guide: http://engage.jewishpublicaffairs.org/c/627/p/salsa/web/common/public/content?content_item_KEY=9867

In the coming weeks, as Congress works to reauthorize the 2012 Farm Bill, we are confronted with an opportunity to protect and strenghten anti-hunger and nutrition programs that assst hungry Americans. This omnibus legislation impacts everything from agricultural production and federal food assistance programs, to conservation practices that protect the land, air and water from harmful pollution or abuse.

We are urging JRF Communities to hold the Hunger Seders around the nation during the week before and during Passover, March and April 2012. There will be a JCPA/MAZON National Seder held in the Nation's capital. The JCPA has secured the commitment of a number of Jewish denominational movements and youth groups to promote participation in these Seders to their local affiliates.

As the debate grows near, we call upon Congress to prioritize reducing hunger and poverty through a just Farm Bill (see the Jew & the Carrot blog posting here: http://blogs.forward.com/the-jew-and-the-carrot/152276/advocating-for-a-just-farm-bill-on-capitol-hill/)

We recognize that putting together a Hunger Seder is a big commitment. The JCPA has tried to anticipate the resources that you and your community will need to participate. In addition to the resources provided in this memo, we will be sending out sample op-eds and letters to the editor, legislative updates, and will arrange best practice sharing calls in the months to come in order to help facilitate your community's engagement.

Though the Seder is a one-time event, it is meant to serve as a gateway to engage participants in more sustained anti-poverty advocacy. Part of the planning process will also be to develop structures and relationships through which future advocacy and activism can be more easily planned and more quickly implemented.

If you have any questions on hunger and mobilizing your community around the legislation, or questions on implementing the Seder in your community and/or how to best partner with your local Jewish Community Relations Council, please contact Josh Protas

JRF Anti-Hunger and Poverty Initiatives:

http://www.jrf.org/hunger
http://www.jrf.org/omer2008-hunger
http://jrf.org/omer/2006/intro

Ann Arbor Reconstructionist “Hav” Sponsors Shabbaton with Rabbi Alan Lew

Abby Weinberg — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 14:56:18 -0500

Start: Apr 4 2008 - 6:00pm

End: Apr 6 2008 - 2:30pm

Rabbi Alan Lew, a leader in the budding Jewish meditation movement, will be visiting Ann Arbor from April 4-6, 2008. All are invited to partake in this weekend of pre-Passover spiritual preparation. The weekend will include several talks, text study, and experiential components to take place at several Jewish venues around Ann Arbor, MI.Alan Lew 2/08

Erev Shabbat will begin with a Shabbat Dinner at 6 pm, followed by Shabbat Services including a sermon by Rabbi Lew. On Shabbat morning services will be based on a traditional model but will include considerably less text, and considerably more chanting and silence. Saturday afternoon themes of discussion will be “The Four Cups of Freedom; Four Aspects of Spiritual Liberation,” and “Leave-Taking; The Biblical Pre-Requisite to Spiritual Liberation.” The afternoon program will conclude at Beth Israel Congregation with a seudah sh’lisheet (third meal).

Sunday morning will be devoted to a meditation workshop based on his most recent book, Be Still And Get Going. "It will be an examination of Yetziat Mitzraim (the Exodus from Egypt)," says Lew, "the seminal moment of Biblical leave-taking, and the extraordinary Five-Step program for transformation that we find there."

Rabbi Alan Lew served many years as the spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Sholom in San Francisco, where he is currently the emeritus rabbi. He is also the founding director of Makor Or, a center for Jewish meditation adjacent to Beth Sholom. He has published several books, travels and lectures extensively, and has won numerous awards.

The cost for the whole weekend is $36. For more information, please contact Devon Fitzig at 665-4744 or dfitzig@templebethemeth.org, or see the attached flyer.

The Journey to Find Wheat Free Matzah

Rabbi Shai Gluskin — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 15:52:04 -0400

Vote for RachelOur own Rachel Robbins, currently working at JRF as an administrative assistant, has entered Public Radio Talent Quest with her story of finding wheat free matzah.

It's a fun, funny and insightful story.

To listen and vote, you will need to
1. Register at: http://www.publicradioquest.com

2. Go to this link and listen and vote for me: http://www.publicradioquest.com/node/2096

Go Rachel. You are awesome!

Technique for Leaven Search

Rabbi Shai Gluskin — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 10:12:57 -0400

View the video.

Fun 25-second video showing a technique for picking up a piece of bread as part of the search for leaven (chametz or cho’metz in Yiddish pronunciation) that takes place on the night before the first seder.

The Mishna in Pesachim 1:1 instructs that a house be searched by the light of a candle on the 14th of Nisan. The Mishnah seems to discourage obsessive cleaning as it instructs, "No place to which hametz has not been brought need be inspected."

The Mishnah lends no validity to the kind of thinking that would lead one to ponder, "what if an animal brought chametz from one location to another?" It says that such thinking would create a situation in we could never rest for fear that the dreaded chametz could be anywhere.

And indeed, after the search for hametz has been completed, the ritual has us declare that all remaining hametz that has been been left in our posession is now no longer chametz, but is officially considered "dust of the earth."

The message seems to be, "Try your best, but then let go."

Have a sweet and liberating Passover.

Two New Passover Recordings Available for Free Download

Rabbi Shai Gluskin — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 00:35:58 -0400

Shabbat UnpluggedHappy Passover Everyone!

Two new recordings are now available in the resources section of this site. The first is for Hassal Siddur Pesach, the concluding prayer of the Hagaddah. The second is a recording of the Kiddush (prayer sanctifying the beginning of the holiday). Enjoy!

Allegorical Interpretation of Song of Songs

Rabbi Leah Richman — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 23:58:30 -0400

Rabbi Leah Richman: Spiritual Leader of Oheb Zedeck Synagogue in Pottstown, PA.The Song of Songs, sometimes called or The Song of Solomon, is one of the five scrolls read on various holidays throughout the year. It is designated as the scroll we read for the holiday of Pesach. The entire book is a series of love songs in poetic form.

This book is unique in the books of the Bible in that not only does it not mention G-d, it also doesn't deal with religious themes explicitly. While the book of Esther also fails to mention G-d, the spirit of nationalism and the Jewish people pervades that book in a way which is lacking here.

Although this book is unique in the Bible, it is common among literature of the Ancient Near East. There is a long history of love poetry in Egypt and Mesopotamia, and Israel was probably no exception. The song has many of the common features of Hebrew poetry but does seem to have been weaved together from many sources given its different types of Hebrew.

Despite how short the book is, much has been written about it. Part of the reason for this is that people feel compelled to explain why it is included in the Bible in the first place given its seemingly secular nature.

Around the close of the 1st century CE there were great debates about whether or not it should be included in the Biblical canon. Even with all the discussion and scholarship, there is still a great deal of debate about the book's unity, origin, purpose, date, how many characters are speaking and who they are.

So why do we read this book on Passover and what can we learn from the Passover story by reading the Song of Songs? One explanation is that the Song of Songs is really an allegory for G-d's love for the people Israel. Since the story of the Exodus is also the beginning of the love relationship between G-d and Israel, Passover is an appropriate time to learn about this love.

The lover in the song is taken to be G-d, and the beloved is the people Israel. This allegorical reading was widespread among the rabbis in our tradition by the 1st century CE. The song was ascribed to King Solomon because of the few times his name is mentioned in the book and because there are references to a king. The strongest support for the allegorical interpretation comes from Rabbi Akiba who said this book was the holiest among all of the writings.

The song has also been variously interpreted for the Christian church, as a drama, as a cultic liturgy, or on its literal level as a secular love song.

In the allegorical interpretation however, we can learn more deeply about the love of G-d for Israel which is our connection to the lessons from the Passover story.

Rashi's introduction to the song puts the book in perspective of other allegories in the bible. He says that King Solomon had a type of inspiration from G-d or where he could foresee the many exiles Israel would have in the future. He also foresaw that Israel would lament the situation which had been caused by her own sin and want to return to G-d. For example, Hoshea 2:9 says that Israel is like a wife who has strayed saying, "I shall return to my first husband for it was better with me then than it is now." Hoshea was not the only prophet who described the relationship between G-d and Israel as that of a faithful husband and a straying wife. According to Rashi, the Song of Songs is this same type of allegory.

In this poetry we see that G-d has not forgotten Israel, but rather that Israel is still G-d's beloved. This is a message of hope and consolation and was interpreted in each generation as needed. In times when it seems that G-d has left us we can remember the G-d who began by saving us from Egypt with miracles and who continues to love us according to the prophets and the allegory in the Song of Songs.

When we read Song of Songs this year, one kavanah (intention) we can have is to think about this love and how it can be relevant to our times and lives today both on the national level and the personal level.

The Tension Between Law and Redemption on Passover

Rabbi Shai Gluskin — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 17:03:01 -0400

Image from Searching the Leaven: by Shai Gluskin. See the leaven searching video.Read the article.

In this article I argue that the tension between law and rebellion, between status quo and the desire to bring redemption now, is played out richly and artfully in the liturgy of the Passover Seder.

Specific references to the text are explained in this light.

Read the article.

Learn Seder Symbols with Rabbi Dan Ehrenkrantz

Fri, 30 Mar 2007 13:59:56 -0400

Study the symbols of the Passover seder plate with Reconstructionist Rabbinical College President Rabbi Dan Ehrenkrantz. A 30-minute audio file and companion PDF text are downloadable from the RRC's web site.

Family is at the Root of Passover Commandments

Aaron Seidman — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 14:30:41 -0400

Kosher for Passover Coke: by Mark H. AnbinderThis week's portion is Tzav and it falls on Shabbat Hagadol (The Big Shabbath), when it is traditional to talk about Pesah (Passover), rather than the parashat hashavua (the portion of the week). In this case, however, the week's reading relates to the coming hag (holiday), although not necessarily in an obvious way. The title is taken from the imperative form of the Hebrew verb, 'to command,' which has the same root as the noun for command, mitzvah, and is the first distinguishing word in the parashah.

It begins (Leviticus 6:1):

Hashem spoke to Moshe, saying "Command Aharon and his sons thus: This is the torat olah (the teaching about the burnt offering) ...

The Torah continues, discussing the precise technique to carry out this and other sacrifices. These details are, in some ways, analogous to the rules we follow for Passover.

For many people, Pesah seems to elicit a great concern for ritual. Some who are casual about kashrut (Jewish dietary laws) the rest of the year are compulsive about cleaning out all the places in which crumbs might possibly have fallen. I had a conversation a few years ago with someone who went to work on the holiday (which is forbidden by Jewish Law), but insisted that nothing come into his house during Pesah that was not strictly kosher for Passover.

Some people work like a slave, concerned to obey a vast array of strictures in preparation for the hag. Indeed, some prepare in advance almost all the food they will need, because halakhah (Jewish Law) tells us that in case a tiny bit of hametz (forbidden food or ingredients on Passover) gets into food prepared in advance, we can disregard it, but food prepared during Pesah must be 100% hametz-free. The up side of this, of course, is that when they finally sit down to the seder, they can really experience a feeling of liberation; this process is a kind of re-enactment of the going-out from Mitzraim (Egypt, literally: the narrow places).

We hear the tzav, the command, to purify our houses and our hearts and a lot of us act on the command. But why? We put a great deal of effort into preparing to commemorate an event that may or may not have happened, brought about by a supernatural being whose existence many of us doubt.

I think it is a matter of belonging. Mordecai Kaplan, whose writings laid the foundation for the Reconstructionist movement, argued that belonging—meaning belonging to the Jewish people—comes first. Pesah is primarily a family affair, not a community event. We hold services on the hag, but it is not really a synagogue holiday in the way Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are. It is not the stylized agricultural holiday that we encounter on Shavuot and Sukkot. It is not a regular occurrence like Shabbat.

It is a celebration centered on the home. We first belong to family, and only secondarily to the community. Most of us were involved in some aspect of Pesah preparation and participation as children, strengthening the link between the holiday and the people to whom we felt closest. It is a link that brings us back, year after year, either to family or to others whose similar affinity for Pesah makes them surrogate family.

It is my contention then, that it is this feeling of belonging that creates the sense of commandment. It starts with the family and expands to include the community. Pesah is perhaps the most extreme instance, but we also find it in our commitment to tzedakah (social justice work), our commitment to each other in times of joy and times of trouble. We do not have to believe in the supernatural to believe in the force of commandment.