Rabbi Bulka
CJN
It is a pleasure to extend Pesah greetings to you all, on behalf of the Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC), including my wonderful co-President Sylvain Abitbol, and the dedicated CJC team.
Another year, another Pesah.
As much as it seems like same old-same old, we do whatever we can to not make it seem like same old-same old. Certainly, those around the table will immediately sense if we treat the seder that way; i.e., as a chore that has to be done, the quicker the better.
Without some measure of excitement, the seder will lack energy, purpose, and meaning. So, it is highly recommended that we enter Pesah with renewed vigour.
Admittedly, this is easier said than done. But, if you contemplate the issue more comprehensively, it will become apparent that this challenge of renewal is not restricted to Pesah. It is around us everywhere we turn – be it as spouses, as parents, as employees.
The more we see every day as a new opportunity, to be seized with enthusiasm, the more likely we are to succeed in our appointed mission, be it to infuse marriage with true affection, to transmit unconditional love to our children, or to achieve the best results at work.
But we would be super human if we never felt a drop in enthusiasm, a sense of being tired, perhaps even drained. And the onerous preparations prior to Pesah, interspersed as they are with our usual obligations, become a recipe for exhaustion.
This is not a case of outsiders asking the impossible. Everyone is aware of the challenge without being asked by others. We ask this of ourselves, knowing full well that a good burst of fresh energy is most desirable, but not knowing where is the reservoir from which to gain that energy.
There are no magical answers, just some of the old stand-bys, like daily exercise, periodic time-outs, days off, sharing the load, etc.
This year, we enter Pesah if not with new energy, at least with a new, as in 21st century, challenge. We have seen this develop before our eyes – the slow but steady stream of antisemitic invective, sometimes couched in an anti-zionism cloak, sometimes more blatant. And it is everywhere. Antisemitism is not new, but the modern variety is a new variation on an old theme.
Thankfully, we have a government that is vigilant in fighting this, for which we are extremely grateful. We are also heartened that the official opposition supports the government in this vigilance, as do the other political parties, who have also spoken out strongly against antisemitism and intolerance. The fact that all political parties are on the same wavelength demonstrates that this is not merely a Jewish fight. It is a fight to maintain Canada and its sacred values intact, as a respectful, appreciative, harmonious society.
Pesah is well appreciated as the Festival of Freedom. To be free means to have human dignity, something we wish for everyone, including the estimated 27 million people who as you read this are still living as slaves. Yes, 27 million. If not more. And we are not including in this count those who are living under brutal, oppressive regimes.
On Pesah, the focus has been not merely on gaining freedom, but on what we do with that freedom, graduating from freedom from to freedom towards.
That should not change. But we cannot escape the immediate communal challenge to achieve freedom from hate, from ill will, from denigration, from enmity.
That is a challenge for which we will need renewed individual and collective energy, at least as much energy as those adversaries who purvey the distasteful and often venomous words and deeds that are contrary to what we are all about, to what Canada is all about.
Where to find the reservoir for that energy? Perhaps in that effervescent well known as “no choice.” We have no choice but to energetically confront this evil, because there is no choice, no acceptable alternative to a society infused with friendliness and a cooperative spirit.
I wish you all a meaningful, vigorous, fulfilling Pesah.
