The Matzah of Judea (by Jonina Pritzker)

Shalom, everyone.
 
As I was giving a very lengthy pre-Pesach workshop to a very devoted group, many of whom you will meet in Israel this summer, we discussed the fact that of all of our stories and history, the Pesach story is, by far, one of the most well-know, in part because of the seder.  It occurred to me that we wouldn't be playing catch up so much with teaching Jews our own story if, in a simple way, we could tell the story a little further than the seder in Bnei Brak.  Anyway, below you will find my attempt to do that.
 
The Matzah of Judea by Jonina Pritzker

(To be inserted after reading about the seder of the sages in Bnei Brak)
                                 
As we read about this ancient seder that took place in Bnei Brak, we think of our rabbinic sages observing Pesach in the land of Judea, what is now called the modern State of Israel.
 
We put the Matzah of Judea on our seder tables, as we think of the continuous presence of our Jewish people in Judea, in Israel, from ancient times until today.
 
Like Pharoah, the ancient Romans were great oppressors of the Jews. They destroyed the ancient Temple in Jerusalem; they murdered over one million Jews, including our beloved Rabbi Akiva, of whom we read in our hagaddah; they made the practice of Jewish life a crime punishable by death; they expelled the vast majority of Jews from our land, changed the name of Jerusalem to a Roman name, and similarly changed the name of Schechem, where Joseph is buried; they erected a pagan temple on the ruins of where our holy Temple once stood, and they changed the name of our eternal homeland of Judea to Palestine, nearly two thousand years after the first Jews began to live in Judea, now called, Eretz Yisrael, the land of Israel. These enemies of our people did all of this in an attempt to rob us of our homeland, our history, and our heritage.
 
We think about our ancient homeland of Judea with love and with conviction.  Our Jewish people worshipped for over 400 years at the Temple that King Solomon built in Jerusalem; and they lived, at that time, as a free and sovereign nation in the Land of Israel for 700 years, from the time Joshua re-entered the land with the Israelites, until the Babylonians destroyed the Temple in 586 BCE.  Seventy years later, our ancestors lovingly rebuilt the holy Temple, which then stood for centuries until the Romans destroyed that Temple in the year 70 CE.
 
Many conquerors tried to consume Judea within their own empires: the Babylonian empire, Persian and Greco-Assyrian , Roman, Byzantine, Arab Caliphates, Turkish, Crusader, Ayyubid, Mameluke, and Ottoman.
 
But in all of these attempts, the land of Israel, this ancient land of Judea which bears our name, remained the country of only one people, and Jerusalem has served as the capital of only one nation –  that of our Jewish nation.
 
Through every banishment and forced exile, our Jewish people continually looked to our ancient homeland, prayed for our return to our own land, included the mention of Israel and Jerusalem in our prayers every day, imbued each life-cycle gathering and festival celebration with the yearning for our return to the land of our ancestors, the land of Judea which is the modern State of Israel.
 
For centuries, Jews living in exile joined their prayers together with the prayers of She'arit Yisrael, the remnant of our people, who always and continuously lived in the land of Israel, from ancient times, until today, to express our enduring yearning for our ancient homeland.  Nearly two thousand years after these ancient Romans destroyed our holy Temple and tried to destroy our people, our Jewish way of life, and our connection to the land of Israel, we are still here, and our prayers and yearnings were answered in the founding of the modern State of Israel.
 
Ours is an ancient history in Judea, in our land of Israel.   As we behold this Matzah of Judea, we devote ourselves to continue to work today to ensure that the history of our people is remembered. The war that numerous empires waged against us continues, even in our day.  The tactics employed by the ancient Romans are being used again, as historical places are renamed, as artifacts are removed, as enemies conspire once again to rob us of our history, our heritage, our homeland.
 
At one time, we added the Matzah of Unity to our seder table as we prayed for the freedom of Jews from the former Soviet Union.  Today, many of these refusniks are living in the land of Israel.  At one time, we added the Matzah of Hope to our seder table as we prayed for the freedom and survival of Ethiopian Jews.  Many of these Jews of Beta Israel are now living in the land of Israel. Today, we add the Matzah of Judea, and we look with hopeful eyes towards the day when our Jewish people can live in freedom in our own homeland.
 
We stand firm against our adversaries; they will not defeat us, just as the Pharoah did not defeat us in days of old.  As a united people, we uphold our heritage, we treasure our history, and we affirm the ancient and eternal connection of the Jewish people to our historic, ancestral homeland, the land of Israel.

Used Furniture

From: Denise Troutman
To: Alex Traiman
Sent: Wednesday, April 1, 2009 9:22:20 PM
Subject: used furniture

Hi Alex,
 
We are temporarily moving out of our Temple while it is being reconstructed.  Are you still in need of items for your Temple?

Thank you,
Denise Troutman
Facility and Events Coordinator
Temple Beth El
5101 Providence Rd.
Charlotte, NC 28226

====

From: Alex Traiman
Sent: Wednesday, April 01, 2009 5:04 PM
To: Denise Troutman
Subject: Re: used furniture
 
Denise, Shalom.

Thank you so much for your email.  We were fortunate to buy some old but sturdy used furniture several months ago, as part of a longer (slow) initiative to fix up our hilltop synagogue on the actual mountain where Yaakov dreamt in Biblical Beit El. 

Suffice to say that the project is ongoing, and nowhere near finished.  Thus far, we have replaced the seats, the roof, and the ark curtain.  We need to replace the ceiling, lights, the floor, and take care of the walls plus some other things.  We are trying to turn a double caravan into a synagogue befitting of the holiness of the location. 

Please let me know what you have in mind, and how you might be able to send it.  We are always grateful for any donations, of money or physical items.

Thank you again very much for contacting.  If you don't mind my asking, how did you hear about our synagogue needs? 

Have a happy and kosher Passover.

With Blessings,
Alex

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From: Denise Troutman
To: Alex Traiman
Sent: Thursday, April 2, 2009 4:34:09 PM
Subject: RE: used furniture

Hi Alex,
 
I found a comment from you with your email address when I googled used synagogue furniture.  What state is your synagogue?  I am sure as we get closer to our move out date there will be items we need to have removed. 
 
I apologize but I am not Jewish so the statement "our hilltop synagogue on the actual mountain where Yaakov dreamt" doesn’t give my any clues as to your location.  I hope you have a happy and kosher Passover,
 
Thank you,
Denise Troutman
Facility and Events Coordinator
Temple Beth El
5101 Providence Rd.
Charlotte, NC 28226

====

Denise,
 
Thank you for the email.  Our synagogue is in Israel.  Our town, the original town of Beth El from the Bible, is recorded as the place where Jacob had his famous dream with the ladder.  This synagogue sits atop that very mountain, and is one of the holiest places in the world.
 
Today Beit El is a Jewish settlement with 7000 residents located in the Biblical province of Samaria, commonly referred to today as the West Bank.  And the synagogue sits atop an outpost with 30 families that live in caravans.
 
Our town is 20 minutes north of Jerusalem, and about 2 minutes north of Ramallah.
 
If your Temple Beth El has any desire to connect with the Biblical Beth El of its ancestral heritage, then we would be more than grateful to receive a donation.
 
Many thanks,
Alex

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