Two Minute Torah Podcast

Tzav (Shabbat Hagadol) 5772 by Rabbi Barry Dov Katz

Shalom, my name is Barry Dov Katz, rabbi of the Conservative Synagogue Adath Isarael of Riverdale. In the Bronx, NY. Welcome to KOACH’s Two-Minute Torah; a project of the College Department of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism

I want to share a a midrash, a rabbinic story, thats it says something important about who deserves to sit at the Seder table.

In the Midrash, God is speaking to Moshe. God says that God remembers the promises God made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and that God will remember these promises and take Moshe and his generation from Egypt to Israel.

Then the midrash moves in a surprising direction. God turns to Moshe and says:

It’s a shame about those who are no longer with us, those we remember still.

Haval Al D’avdin v’lo Mishtachahin.

At first read it’s wistful. Like looking around a seder table and thinking about those who are no longer there for all kinds of reasons. It was nice to have Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Sarah Rebecca, Rachel and Leah and the kids around the table….

But as the midrash continues- God reveals a surlier mood. “You know what Moshe? Despite the fact that I’ve shared less of myself with A, I, and J, they never questioned me. But you Moshe, when I made you promises you wanted to know my name. You ancestors seemed to have patience in their faith but you Moshe, you need proof of my existence.”

The midrash seems to be heading for some awful break. God telling Moshe- Who needs you and your questions? It seems to be heading to the place in the Haggadah where the recalcitrant child is told that if he had been in Egypt he would not have been redeemed.

But then the midrash offers one last turn: Don’t worry Moshe. In spite of all this, in spite of your doubts, in spite of the people’s lack of faith, I am here ready to fulfill my promise. I hear the cries of the Israelites. And I will bring them out from from Egypt. V’ezkor et briti- I will remember My covenant.

This midrash is a rejoinder to the Haggadah’s answer to the recalcitrant child. In this story, no one is cast out for lack of faith.

Moshe had questions. He wanted to know about this God who was asking him to return to Egypt and free the Jews. Who are you God? Where have you been these last few hundred years as we have suffered under Egyptian Slavery? In spite of these questions, even though his faith was not Avraham’s, God finds a way to embrace him as well.

It’s a midrash for us as we get ready for Pesah. Some of us are like our earliest ancestors- full of faith and ready to do whatever it takes to move the world closer to redemption. The world is not perfect. That’s no news. Like A, I, And J we work with what is and try to make things better.

Others are more like Moses- we have questions about the world. We despair of ever having enough answers to give us the faith that we imagine they used to have. We work too but wonder if God is doing God’s part. We listen to the Haggadah and are saddened by all of the ways that the world has yet to approach the liberation promised there- the many ways in which people are literally and figuratively enslaved, ancient hatred that erupt in violent ways.

And to all of us the holy doubter and the people of faith- God says-

V’ezkor et briti- I will remember My covenant.

In our family we don’t just open the door for Elijah, we go outside. Its often quite cold and it wakes us up. We go outside and we sing hoping to find Elijah. Inside, the table sits empty. No movement except perhaps an imperceptible sip from the cup of Elijah. But that empty table is very full. All of the people I have ever celebrated Pesah with are there. And all of my hopes and dreams for myself and my family and the Jews and the world are there as well. It is very full.

And I am outside looking for Elijah and trying to hold on to the message of the midrash.

No matter what,
God promised to bring us out,
to save us,
and to redeem us
and to take us from Egypt.

Each one of us.

No matter what.