Picture (L to R): Almoonir Dewji (Ismaili Muslim Community), Adam Singer (Community Relations Committee - Calgary Jewish Community Council), Bathyah Charikar (Member of Calgary Jewish Community) and Irene Bakker (Hon. Consul - Consulate of The Netherlands)Today I had the honour of representing the Ismaili Muslim Community at the "Community Passover Seder" held at the Beth Tzedec Synagogue and organized by the Calgary Jewish Community Council. It was a wonderful opportunity for the local Jewish community to share this tradition and its many meanings and messages with Calgarians.
The following is an explanation of this holiday:
Passover is the oldest and one of the most holy of all Jewish festivals. It began when the Jewish people left their bondage in ancient Egypt more than 3000 years ago. There is something truly remarkable about Passover as more than 90% of Jews around the world continue to celebrate this holiday. More Jews celebrate Passover than any other holiday in the Jewish calendar. There are numerous possible explanations:
Passover is both solemn and joyous and this duality makes the holiday so intriguing. The Israelites were slaves to the ancient Pharoah and followed Moses into the unknown, into the desert, up to Mount Sinai, where G-d gave Moses the laws that form the basis of Judaism. The risks were great, the hardship was significant, and the result was stupendous. It is the quintessential holiday of liberation. It reminds us that every year we need to examine our own lives - to consider what enslaves us, to think about our priorities and to celebrate and renew our commitment to personal and societal freedom.
Passover is a holiday for children, not because children receive sweets and presents, rather because it challenges children to ask questions. The seder, which is the ordered ritual of the night, does not simply permit questions, but rather invites questions. We invite the curiosity of the children and engage them from the moment we begin and continue to do so with every ritual than is part of the evening's order.
Passover is celebrated at home, not the synagogue or any other Jewish communal institution. This is part of Jewish living that is passed down from parent to child. No rabbi or cantor is required and one can creatively enhance the seder to suit one's world view.
Some people love Passover because it is a cry against indifference, a cry for compassion.
Also, Passover is the holiday of hope and it is evident that without hope we are lost. Hope sustains us that we can create a more beautiful, caring, loving, world.
Tonight, at this great festival of our freedom, we are, all of us, from the youngest to the oldest, partners in the celebration of freedom, as expressed in the Seder. We might have chosen to celebrate and remember our liberation in other ways, celebrations or festivals, but our tradition and what has been passed on from generation to generation is to celebrate freedom through SEDER - order. One may think that we are celebrating the freedom of the Hebrews -only, but we have to remember that the Hebrews did not leave Egypt alone. "And a mixed multitude went up also with them..;' Exodus 12:38. Many others left with them, also gaining their freedom. This is the most powerful expression of the universality of the message of this holiday.
Passover is both solemn and joyous and this duality makes the holiday so intriguing. The Israelites were slaves to the ancient Pharoah and followed Moses into the unknown, into the desert, up to Mount Sinai, where G-d gave Moses the laws that form the basis of Judaism. The risks were great, the hardship was significant, and the result was stupendous. It is the quintessential holiday of liberation. It reminds us that every year we need to examine our own lives - to consider what enslaves us, to think about our priorities and to celebrate and renew our commitment to personal and societal freedom.
Passover is a holiday for children, not because children receive sweets and presents, rather because it challenges children to ask questions. The seder, which is the ordered ritual of the night, does not simply permit questions, but rather invites questions. We invite the curiosity of the children and engage them from the moment we begin and continue to do so with every ritual than is part of the evening's order.
Passover is celebrated at home, not the synagogue or any other Jewish communal institution. This is part of Jewish living that is passed down from parent to child. No rabbi or cantor is required and one can creatively enhance the seder to suit one's world view.
Some people love Passover because it is a cry against indifference, a cry for compassion.
Also, Passover is the holiday of hope and it is evident that without hope we are lost. Hope sustains us that we can create a more beautiful, caring, loving, world.
Tonight, at this great festival of our freedom, we are, all of us, from the youngest to the oldest, partners in the celebration of freedom, as expressed in the Seder. We might have chosen to celebrate and remember our liberation in other ways, celebrations or festivals, but our tradition and what has been passed on from generation to generation is to celebrate freedom through SEDER - order. One may think that we are celebrating the freedom of the Hebrews -only, but we have to remember that the Hebrews did not leave Egypt alone. "And a mixed multitude went up also with them..;' Exodus 12:38. Many others left with them, also gaining their freedom. This is the most powerful expression of the universality of the message of this holiday.
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