After the seder each year comes the Sabbath of chol ha-mo’ed Pesach (the intermediary days of the holiday).
The question is no longer just, “What does the story mean?”
It is the urgency of: “What are we going to do with it?”
Passover does not end when the seder concludes. In some ways it begins there.
In the days since seder night, perhaps some of those questions have stayed with you. I’ve been especially moved by a set of reflections shared by my colleague at Temple Sinai in Brookline—my former chavruta (study partner), Rabbi Andy Vogel—which have continued to echo for me in these in-between days:
What does it look like, in our time, to push back against forces that diminish human dignity, not only in dramatic ways, but in the quiet, daily choices that require courage? Who are the people, like Pharaoh’s daughter, whose moral clarity inspires us and how might we follow their example?
Who are the “wandering Arameans” in our lives today—the immigrants whose stories, past and present, remind us what it means to be vulnerable and to endure? What fears do they carry, and what strength sustains them? How can we be more empathetic to their plight?
How have we responded to the reality of hatred and, more specifically, antisemitism in our world? And how might we respond in a way that strengthens connection rather than deepening division?
And as we continue to say, “L’shanah haba’ah b’Yerushalayim,” next year in Jerusalem, let us reflect on the Jerusalem we are working toward, not only in word, but in action? What kind of world are we trying to build, and who are we building it with?
We left Egypt but the work of freedom is ongoing.
May this Shabbat offer rest and renewal. May the questions of the seder continue to echo in meaningful ways. And may we each find a path from memory to action.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Yoshi