Thought Of The Week: 7 April 2016
Written by Writings & Sermons by others — 7 April 2016
This Shabbat is Shabbat HaChodesh, the Sabbath which celebrates the beginning of the month of Nisan, the month in the middle of which is the festival of Pesach. There is an extra Torah reading to remind us that Pesach is coming soon and it is time to get ready. Every Wednesday the Alyth Rabbis run a class called Judaism-The Essentials, which takes you on a yearlong journey through everything you need to know to be an informed and empowered adult Jew. It is a fascinating and engaging curriculum devised by Rabbi Josh. I taught this week’s class all about Pesach, the festival as a whole. Next week will include learning with Rabbi Josh about the Seder by experiencing all of its elements.
We looked up all the references to Passover in the Torah and saw the developing nature of the festival, the Matzah, the bitter herbs, the festival days which have become our services, the multi-generational coming together, the remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt, so that we become people who empathise with the experience of the oppressed. We heard from Roman-Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus what Pesach was like in Jerusalem in 66CE. We learned about Passover Kashrut, the different degrees that people observe throughout the Jewish community, and considered how we as Reform Jews make our decisions about how we will keep Kosher for Pesach.
This stood out for all of us: Pesach is a festival that each individual is to find themselves within. It is a community experience, it is a family experience and it is the experience of the individual feeling themselves as if they came out from Egypt. One way in which Alyth is going to express this, this year is by creating the option of experiencing the Seventh night of Pesach and its service as part of an extraordinary evening at the London Olympic Park in Stratford. The idea is this – London Citizens is an organisation, of which Alyth is a member, which brings together hundreds of faith communities who all feel that making a difference to the world and building social justice is part of their faith. So on this night we are coming together to hear directly from the mayoral candidates Zac Goldsmith and Sadiq Kahn how they plan to be part of this. We will especially be asking how they aim to help to solve the housing difficulties of so many Londoners.
This will take place in the context of a celebration of faith in our city, including our Alyth Youth Singers. If feeling yourself as if you came out of Egypt motivates you to help our own city to feel more like a Promised Land then please join me by booking your place through the links in this weekly e-mail or on the Alyth website and details are below. We will of course also be holding our regular Seventh night of Pesach Study Service here at Alyth.
18:00-21:30 Thursday April 28 London Citizens Mayoral Assembly, the Copperbox at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford – On the seventh night of Pesach you can be part of a massive social action. Alyth, Finchley Reform and Finchley Progressive Synagogues are offering the opportunity to join an Erev 7th Day Pesach Service at this gathering of 6000 Londoners from over 200 faith communities to hear in person from Mayoral candidates Zac Goldsmith and Sadiq Khan their plans to address the housing crisis and other issues in London. Alyth’s Youth Singers will be part of the programme, performing before 18:30. For your free ticket to the event, and also if you wish to request transport from and back to Alyth, please reserve your place with Bonnie@alyth.org.uk or 020-8457 8784 by Monday April 11. Rabbi Mark will be leading the Alyth delegation. Please feel welcome to contact him at mark@alyth.org.uk or 020-8457 8791 if you would like to know more.