Behind the Scenes at the Obama Seder

NOTE: we live in a time of much hatred, name calling and "my side" versus "your side". Sad. That said, if I'm not wrong, Barack and Michelle Obama were the first President and First Lady to host Seder at the White House and they do it every year. In fact, the tradition started on the Obama campaign trail. You may have an opinion or two, but it sure is nice to see the President at the seder table. 

Why this night was different from all others:  A hyper-contemporary menu of gourmet holiday foods and a #Passover #selfie tweeted from inside the seder by former presidential aide Arun Chaudhary... 
Washington, DC - With rain pouring down and high winds ripping the newly opened magnolia blooms off the historic trees surrounding the White House, President Barack Obama andFirst Lady Michelle Obama on Tuesday evening welcomed 21 guests--friends and current and former staffers--for their sixth annual Passover seder.
  
The closed-to-press dinner made with beloved family recipes offered by the guests and some elaborate specialties created by the White House chefs--beef brisket, seared salmon, Tuscan kale, wilted spinach, and quinoa were part of the mix--began at 6:30 PM in the Old Family Dining Room, an intimate, yellow-walled dining room on the State Floor. 

"On Tuesday, just as we have every year of my presidency, my family will join the millions taking part in the ancient tradition of the Seder," Mr. Obama said in his Passover message.  

"We will enjoy the company of friends and loved ones, retell a timeless story, and give thanks for the freedom we are so blessed to enjoy."

Mr. Obama is the first President to mark Passover at the White House, and most of his guests on Tuesday--including former Senior Advisor David Axelrod, Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett, Chicago friend Dr. Eric Whitaker, and former bodyman Reggie Love--have previously attended his seders.  Jarrett and Whitaker sat side by side at the head of the table.

Wearing a dark suit and no yarmulke, Mr. Obama sat in the center of his guests, across the antique mahogany table from Mrs. Obama, who wore a black and white jersey print dress, her hair pulled into a bun.  Click to Keep Reading

IDF Chief Rabbi: Passover is the People of Israel’s Gift of Freedom to the World

Brig. Gen. Rabbi Rafi Peretz, Chief Rabbi of the IDF, shares his thoughts for Passover.

This week, we will all sit at the Seder table –  some of us in our homes with our families, some of us on IDF bases, and some of us in the field, protecting the people of Israel so that we can celebrate the Festival of Freedom in peace.

3,326 years ago, our nation celebrated its miraculous release from slavery in Egypt, an event which marked the beginning of the journey to the land of Israel. The journey was long and arduous, and full of ups and downs, but in the end an entire nation walked to freedom.

There are those who see the exodus from Egypt as something much more than the salvation of a people from cruel oppressors. This event sent a message of hope that echoed across the world, because for the first time in history, the idea of living as a free people in our land became a possibility.

Brig. Gen. Rabbi Rafi Peretz, Chief Rabbi of the IDF

Egypt did not accept our legitimate claim to freedom, out of a concern that the Egyptian economy, which was based on slavery, would collapse. For many generations afterwards, slavery was perpetuated by regimes and cultures around the globe. But the people of Israel’s cry continued to be heard throughout the world, and turned the world into a better place. It wasn’t for nothing that the leaders of the anti-slavery movement in the United States chose as their rallying cry the eternal words of Moses: “Let my people go” (Exodus 5:1). The torch of freedom that was carried by the people of Israel is to this day still the source of inspiration for enslaved nations, who aspire to freedom and liberty.  CLICK TO KEEP READING

Passover, Anti-Semitism, and Rising Above Hate

the Algemeiner April 11, 2014

NOTE: Another thoughtful peace on understanding our place in the world. 

In 419 BCE, the Persian king Darius issued a decree concerning the Jewish garrison at Elephantine on the Nile Delta (near the cataracts of what is now called Aswan). It was directed towards the governor, Arsames, and instructed him to make sure that the Egyptian priests of Khnum did not attack the Jews or try to stop the Passover celebrations at the Jewish temple there. You may well wonder at the prospect both of a Jewish military garrison in Egypt two-and-a-half thousand years ago, and at a Jewish temple where sacrifices were made outside of Jerusalem. But that’s for another time.

Tension between the Egyptian priests and Jews was exacerbated by the Jewish tradition of slaughtering sheep, something the Egyptian religion forbade; this Egyptian antipathy is explicitly stated in the Torah (Genesis 46 and Exodus 8:22). Sadly, nine years later, with Arsames no longer there, the priests of Elephantine destroyed the Jewish temple and its population.

Alternative versions of the Exodus have existed for a long time. Just as alternative narratives about the Middle East proliferate nowadays. Each has its own agenda, some constructive and some destructive. Hecataeus, an Egyptian historian who lived around 320 BCE, talks about bands of exiles coming to Egypt, being driven out, and then taking over an uninhabited Judea. They were led by a man called Moses who founded a new religion that Hecataeus described as unsocial and intolerant!  CLICK TO KEEP READING

What We Can’t Learn From the Passover Story

The incompatibility of Manichean moralizing and the modern Middle East

By Yair Rosenberg|April 11, 2014 9:02 AM

NOTE: Obviously we'll be posting a lot of Passover Themed articles. This one is wonderful! 

There are many distinctive colors which Jews encounter at the Passover seder. There is red for wine and blood, green for the plague of frogs, and black for that of darkness. But there are no shades of grey. Nuance is a scarce commodity in the Passover account. In fact, the story of the Exodus is the prototypical black-and-white moral narrative. There are the innocent and enslaved Israelites, and then there are the cruel and literally baby-killing Egyptians.

There are not two sides to this story. There is no “Egyptian narrative.” Though Jews do briefly note the tragedy of the loss of human life during the seder, pouring out drops of wine for each plague inflicted on their tormenters, this commemoration in no way excuses or sympathizes with the biblical Egyptians themselves. We are presented with an oppressed and an oppressor—a right and a wrong.

The inadequacy of this foundational Jewish narrative to address certain fundamental Jewish questions today was brought home to me as a college student several years ago. Mere hours before the onset of Passover, an email was sent to my school’s Progressive Jewish Alliance listserv with a link to the news that the Israeli government would be closing off the West Bank border for the duration of the holiday. The author of the email appended one question: “What does it mean if on Passover, the celebration of freedom, we lock in the people living under our control?”  CLICK HERE TO KEEP READING

People, Get Ready.....

What would Moses Do?

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