Shabbat Forshpeis
A Taste of Torah in Honor of Shabbat
PESACH 5763
THE CRITICAL ROLE OF RITUAL
IN THE QUEST FOR MEMORY
PESACH 5763: APRIL 18-19, 2003 / 17 NISAN 5763
The only events in Jewish history that are powerfully remembered
are those which have become part of Jewish ritual. Consider the Exodus from Egypt. It is remembered precisely because of the Seder ritual, which serves as a paradigm for the way ritual works.
During the seder, we say that in every generation there is an obligation to see oneself (lirot et atsmo) as if one is leaving Egypt. Lirot comes from the root ra-ah, to see. But ra-ah in the Torah goes well beyond ocular ability. Rather it deals with empathizing and feeling emotionally attached to that which one is thinking about.
The first step of feeling the Egypt experience leads to a second, the mandate to tell the story of the Exodus to ones children and grandchildrenve-hegadeta levincha (Exodus 13:8). Here, the feeling of the evening is translated into the spoken word: to actually verbalize what occurred.
This two step process of feeling and verbalizing the Exodus event is not unique to Passover. Every morning and night we are mandated in our prayers to recall Egypt. At the Seder, however, we take those dimensions to a third level, that of re-experiencing. Concerning Passover the Torah states "zachor et hayom hazeh, remember this day in which you came out of Egypt." (Exodus 13:30). A similar formula is used relative to Shabbat, "zachor et yom ha-Shabbat le-kadsho, remember the Sabbath day to sanctify it." (Exodus20: 8)
Just as "zachor" of Shabbat means re-enacting Gods resting on the Sabbath, so does "zachor" of Egypt mean re-enacting the Egypt experience. Hence, at the Seder, we relive those moments in the past when our mothers and fathers were slaves and were ultimately freed. We eat matzah and bitter herbs representing servitude even as we consume wine and recline, representing freedom.
These three steps, feeling, speaking and reenacting are all crucial ingredients in the way ritual observance achieves its goal-to help us remember the past.
It is during Passover when ritual abounds that one cant help but note the dearth of ritual concerning the Holocaust. The contrast is especially stark given that the Warsaw Ghetto uprising occurred during the Passover holiday. It is my belief that despite all our efforts to keep the memory of the six million alive, the Holocaust will not be remembered because, unlike the Egypt story, it has not been ritualized.
Only when our community makes a commitment to develop Shoah ritual will the Shoah be etched in Jewish memory forever. If we fail in this endeavor, the Shoah, I fear, will one day be relegated to a footnote in Jewish history.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Avi Weiss
|
|
|
