Towards the beginning of the Torah, God selects
Avraham for a unique mission, saying:
“Go for yourself from
your land, from your relatives, and from your father’s house to the land that I
will show you. And I will make of you a
great nation, and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who
curses you I will curse; and all the families of the earth shall bless
themselves by you.” - Bereishit 12:1-5
God made this call directly to Avraham, but the
Israelites in Egypt harkened to this same call during the Exodus. The Jewish people were formed at Mt Sinai as
a result of the story revealed in the Haggadah; Israel became a nation, the
Jewish people began to reshape the history of mankind for the better, and like
Avraham, to become a great name and to be a blessing.
At the end of the Torah, Moses calls upon the Jewish
people:
“I call heaven and earth
to bear witness against you; I have placed life and death before you, blessing
and curse. And you shall choose life, so
that you will live, you and your offspring.” – Devarim 30:19
Avraham had the choice of life and death, blessing and
curse. Would he live the life of his
father, a life of idolatry and anger and lack of compassion? Or would he leave that life to follow God and
do chesed to everyone he encountered,
to teach us to respect everyone and open our homes to the needy and the weary? Avraham chose a life of blessing. In Egypt, the Jewish slaves were given the
choice of life and death, blessing and curse.
Would they remain enslaved and less-than-human, unable to have children
and raise families? Or would they follow
God, raise the next generation, cross the Red Sea, stand at Mt Sinai and become
the Jewish people? The Jewish people,
led by Moses and Miriam and Aaron, chose a life of blessing.
In our own lives we have the same choice: life and
death, blessing and curse, are placed before us all. Will I become angry at an annoying question
or rude person, or will I be patient and composed? Will I gossip about my co-workers or will I
remain silent? Will I welcome the new
neighbor or will I ignore their presence?
Will I spare some change for the poor man on the street or will I walk
by him and ignore his existence? Since I
began wearing a kippah, I have been approached by many non-Jews who have told
me stories of their interactions with other observant Jews; they felt a sense
of fondness for me without even knowing me because of the positive imprint on
their lives made by a fellow religious Jew.
This is what it means to be a light unto the nations. This is what it means to choose life, to
choose blessing. We all have this choice
every day, with every interaction.
On the Seder night we view ourselves as slaves being
led out of Egypt by God’s right hand.
Tomorrow, we will interact with a co-worker, or a neighbor, or a friend,
or a stranger, and need to view ourselves in their shoes. The choice of life and death, blessing and
curse is a constant one. It is not easy to
always choose the correct option, it is easy to rationalize or let oneself slip
at times. But the Seder night is a good
time to begin to choose a life of blessing. And so the Seder begins…
Chag Pesach Sameach!
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