Pesach 7th & 8th Day 5785

Did you know that in traditional Orthodox families some of the delicacies that we consider part of our Passover, are only prepared and eaten on the eighth day? Heresy, that one can only eat matzah balls on the eighth day! But taking matzah flour and combining it with any liquid is the same as taking flour and mixing it again in water. It’s called “gebrokts.” But on the eighth day, which Biblically is no longer Passover, it is permitted. Imagine, no matzah brei until the eighth day!

As Lisa and I were preparing for Passover we traveled to the Butcherie, in Brookline, MA. There they had all kinds of prepared foods for Pesach, including everything from General Gaus Chicken to meat and potato knishes. One item that caught my attention was Passover kreplach. It was an oddity for me. Kreplach for me is a pre-Yom Kippur fast tradition, in the same fashion that matzah balls are on the first night of Pesach. So I looked at the ingredients to find that they were made without matzah flour, non gebrokts; perfect for those who do not partake of matzah balls in their chicken soup. I thought of those kreplach with Passover tomato sauce - meat ravioli, or fried and with Passover duck sauce - wonton. I decided to pass on putting them into our shopping cart, since its matzah balls in our home. But, one can dream and imagine. Or one can wait until after Pesach.

Our seventh day Torah reading is the reading of the Crossing of the Sea of Reeds and the beautiful song of Moses and Miriam. The visual is one that is quite magnificent to behold. A multitude of people crossing through the walls of water on dry land, as they make their way to freedom. But freedom does not come easily! Even the Children of Israel found that freedom wasn’t simply baking matzah and following Moses and Aaron out of Egypt. They encountered an Egyptian army in pursuit, as Pharaoh changed his mind about letting the people go. And then there was the sea of water in front of them.

In many ways we in the Jewish world find ourselves in a similar predicament, with questions that we are still waiting for answers for and resolutions not yet in the offing.

Rabbi Danny Gordis was asked a most interesting question as Passover was about to be observed:

“So, can you think of another instance in Jewish history in which there were Jews being held hostage, and the Jews were waiting for someone else to get them released?”

Rabbi Gordis continues in his daily blog suggesting that Israel will not be able to achieve the freedom of the hostages on their own, with 75% of Hamas tunnels still in operation. But that alone is not the only factor. Many Israeli reservists are refusing to return to the battlefield, with “severe troop shortages.” He states: “Most Israelis have their opinions on those questions and a slew of related ones, but regardless of what each of us thinks about all those, one thing is clear - on our own, we’re not going to get the hostages out. The State of Israel cannot save them. We’re going to need Trump, or Qatar, or Egypt, probably all three, and perhaps other actors as well.”

At his seder table he asked a different question which is also quite illuminating on what we as Jews are feeling following the Molotov cocktail attack on Governor Joshua Shapiro’s state residence following his first night seder, as his family slept.

“Can you think of a time when there was a major wave of anti-Semitism somewhere and it just died down, without any major calamity taking place before it was over?”

I am not a historian. But it is quite clear to me that the environment which we are living in does not have a simple answer. And we are living with many different players with differing views, both in the Jewish world and in society in general.

I recently read of the actor Ben Platt and his husband Noah Galvin have spoken out supporting the Palestinian people living in Gaza, and being horrified with Israel. His mother, on the other hand, is a staunch supporter of Israel having served as the chair of the Board of Trustees of the Jewish Federations of North America , and is the interim chair of the Board of Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania.

Platt states that “"[My] personal connection to Judaism is cultural, emotional, and interpersonal and is not defined for me by the state of Israel." And while he denounced protests against anti-Semitism in front of the theater in New York, where he portrayed Leo Frank, I wonder if his current statements help foster not only an anti-Israel bias but also fan the fire of anti-Semitism, in a manner that even he does not fully understand.

As we are about to commemorate Yom HaShoah in the week to come, the question becomes even more poignant and one that continues to remain unanswered, but one that is quintessential to our Jewish presence and our security.

Clearly, these questions are more important for us to ask during these final two days of Pesach, than whether we can eat matzah balls and matzah brei. Then again, if they are symbols of how to experience freedom, then perhaps the question is not as insignificant as one might think.

Bring them home now!!!

Am Yisrael Chai!

Chag Sameach

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi K