Passover is the beginning….
Do you know the concluding words in the Passover Haggadah? In many ways, they are more important than the beginning words.
The central message of Passover is that God liberated Israel from 430 years of Egyptian slavery, and that all humans have the right to live in freedom. We tell the story to remind ourselves, and to teach our children, of both the sacrifice our people made and that God freed us from oppression.
At the Seder, after telling and teaching the history of our people, the Passover meal commences. For many of us, however, the evening concludes once dinner is finished. That’s not, however, where the evening ideally concludes.
The Seder ends with the words: L’shana haba-ah b’yrushalayim (next year in Jerusalem). One might understand these words literally, in the hope that next year we actually will celebrate Passover in Jerusalem. I would suggest another meaning.
Jerusalem is not just a physical location; it represents the Jewish spiritual and moral epicenter. It is an ethereal concept, which we should aspire to incorporate into our religious lives. Concluding our Seder with “Next Year in Jerusalem”, implies that we are on an ongoing journey to a deeper connection and level of Jewish understanding. In other words, next year, may we be more spiritually and morally committed as Jews.
In other words, we were liberated from the shackles of Egyptian slavery for the purpose of “becoming Jerusalem”.
Commencing on the second day of Passover we count the next 49 days leading up to Shavuot; Shavuot commemorates the moment when God gave the Torah at Mt. Sinai. We literally “count the days” from the holiday of liberation, Passover, to the holiday of the receiving of the Torah, Shavuot. That the two holidays are so deeply interconnected is yet another reminder that our liberation from slavery was just the beginning of a very long and meaningful journey.
Rabbi Woznica is a rabbi of Stephen Wise Temple
