One of my favorite ?two-liners?:
?How many Orthodox rabbis does it take to change a light bulb??
?Change?!?
The essence of the entire Pesach (Passover) experience, I suggest to you, is all about change. G-d?s momentous decision to intervene in order to free us from slavery implants forever into history the imperative that we can change, that we must change, in order to move the universe along to its ultimate goal and destination. That is why Moshe introduced himself to Bnei Yisrael (the Children of Israel) with 3 ?signs?: Water into blood; his staff into a snake; and his healthy hand into a leprous one and then back again. All the signs proclaim the same message: Change.
That is also why the Exodus is so central to Jewish life: It's in our mezuzot, in our tefilin, it is said at kiddush and twice each day in the Shema prayer. We had no chance whatsoever of breaking out of bondage, of defeating the cruelest, most powerful nation on Earth, but Hashem broke the mold of history, overrode the natural course of events and the laws of probability and took us out of Egypt. We are forever indebted to Him for that, but we are also forever to conduct ourselves as a people of change, of teshuva, of dynamic potential.
Among the most well-known cliches of the Hagada - and of Jewish life in general - is ?mah nishtana halayla hazeh?? - ?How is this night different from every other night?? It seems like such a simple, innocuous phrase, even the littlest toddler knows it by heart. Yet, I suggest that the ba'alei Hagada (compilers of the Hagada) have given us a profoundly important message in these words, if we only know how to read them.
The word nishtana is strange, for a better word would have been shoneh, different. Therefore, these four words are actually a dialogue between us and Hashem:
?Mah, nishtana?? - ?What? We can change??
?Halayla Hazeh!? - ?Yes! On this night!?
On the night of Pesach, Hashem opens the door to us to change, to transform ourselves. On this night, we can be anything we want to be! We only have to seize the moment, grab the opportunity and we can turn our situation ? right here, right now - into the moment of ultimate Geula (Redemption) and the complete triumph of Am Yisrael (the People of Israel).
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Rabbi Weiss is Director of the Jewish Outreach Center in Ra?anana.
?How many Orthodox rabbis does it take to change a light bulb??
?Change?!?
The essence of the entire Pesach (Passover) experience, I suggest to you, is all about change. G-d?s momentous decision to intervene in order to free us from slavery implants forever into history the imperative that we can change, that we must change, in order to move the universe along to its ultimate goal and destination. That is why Moshe introduced himself to Bnei Yisrael (the Children of Israel) with 3 ?signs?: Water into blood; his staff into a snake; and his healthy hand into a leprous one and then back again. All the signs proclaim the same message: Change.
That is also why the Exodus is so central to Jewish life: It's in our mezuzot, in our tefilin, it is said at kiddush and twice each day in the Shema prayer. We had no chance whatsoever of breaking out of bondage, of defeating the cruelest, most powerful nation on Earth, but Hashem broke the mold of history, overrode the natural course of events and the laws of probability and took us out of Egypt. We are forever indebted to Him for that, but we are also forever to conduct ourselves as a people of change, of teshuva, of dynamic potential.
Among the most well-known cliches of the Hagada - and of Jewish life in general - is ?mah nishtana halayla hazeh?? - ?How is this night different from every other night?? It seems like such a simple, innocuous phrase, even the littlest toddler knows it by heart. Yet, I suggest that the ba'alei Hagada (compilers of the Hagada) have given us a profoundly important message in these words, if we only know how to read them.
The word nishtana is strange, for a better word would have been shoneh, different. Therefore, these four words are actually a dialogue between us and Hashem:
?Mah, nishtana?? - ?What? We can change??
?Halayla Hazeh!? - ?Yes! On this night!?
On the night of Pesach, Hashem opens the door to us to change, to transform ourselves. On this night, we can be anything we want to be! We only have to seize the moment, grab the opportunity and we can turn our situation ? right here, right now - into the moment of ultimate Geula (Redemption) and the complete triumph of Am Yisrael (the People of Israel).
----------------------------------
Rabbi Weiss is Director of the Jewish Outreach Center in Ra?anana.