The Movement for Reform Judaism

The Haggadah is a revolutionary and radical document. The rabbis who wrote it were not afraid of innovation–even of turning Torah on its head. Think about this morning’s first Torah reading. “This is the law of the Passover; No stranger shall eat of it; But every man’s servant who is bought for money, when you have circumcised him, then shall he eat of it. No foreigner or hired servant may eat of it.” (Exodus 12: 43-45). Passover was to be for Israelites only–anybody else had to go through some kind of conversion ritual before being allowed to take part in the feast.

Now turn to the Haggadah and listen to the opening declaration: “This is the bread of poverty our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt. All who are hungry, let them come and eat, all who are needy, let them come and celebrate Passover with us.”

There is nothing here about excluding the stranger. On the contrary everyone is invited. The rabbis made the change by the bold step of jettisoning the central food, the lamb which the Torah says explicitly no stranger must eat. From now on the central food is matzah. Pesach becomes chag hamatzot , the festival of unleavened bread. And thus it was, in the days of the Romans, that the Jews alone had the strength to rebel and to fight their Empire, because they had enough food in their bellies. They looked after the poor. “All who are hungry, let them come and eat.”

In our days, we have toned down the radical message. We take the line seriously, but only for our own family and guests. Eating is something we Jews take very seriously. Look at how laden with food the delis become before Pesach, and look at all that extra food the supermarkets get in. At Christmas we may be outdone in buying power by our non-Jewish neighbours, but we sure make up for it at this time of year. One thing is certain - no expense is spared.

“All who are hungry - let them come and eat”. So let us spare a thought this Pesach for those who really don’t have enough to eat. I am delighted that the Reform movement is part of the “Make Poverty History Jewish coalition”. On September 11th 2001, I was at a briefing at the Houses of Parliament by the then Overseas Development Minister, Clare Short, a briefing especially for the Jewish community about the government’s plans to help to ensure that everyone in the world would have at least a dollar day to live on by the year 2015. The plans were big, the briefing well organised. But the choice of day turned out to be unfortunate, to say the least. Nine-eleven lives on in our memory, but the plans to help world poverty and indeed Clare Short herself have long been forgotten.

So it’s high time to think about it once again. Why is the Reform Movement involved? Because, as they themselves have put it, the Jewish mission has never been realised by power or by might, but by the religious spirit that has sustained us. We Jews have a mission to give of the universal values of Judaism to wider society, to be a blessing to all the nations of the earth.

And why now? The Make Poverty History campaign reminds us that in July the UK will be hosting the G8 summit in Gleneagles, in Scotland. Poverty in Africa will be a main topic for discussion. In the second half of this year the UK will be holding the chair of the European Union. The 20th Anniversary of Live Aid will be on 13th July and will draw the public's attention back to issues of poverty in Africa and encourage western governments to take urgent action. The original Live Aid has been described as the greatest musical event of all time and the simultaneous concerts in London and Philadelphia raised millions for famine relief.

That’s what the campaigners say, to which I would like to add, that when I speak on this subject, I speak from the heart. Throughout my adult life I have supported Third World Charities. I always try to ensure that whatever I give to charities at home, I give as much if not more to those in real need in developing countries. For I know that however distant they may seem at times, that their need is greater, far greater than ours. As we begin our Passover seder we lift up the matzah and we say the words HA LACHMA ANYA–strange words in the strange Aramaic language. It is often translated “This is the bread of affliction” but a better translation would be “bread of poverty”. “This is the bread of poverty that our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt.” They had no funds to buy bread, they had no time to bake bread, they only had a quick dash with the flour and water and no time for the dough to rise. They escaped, but we remember their poverty.

And this is not just my interpretation of what it means when we lift the matzah. This is what Rabbi Shlomo Riskin writes in his edition of the Haggadah:

“Lifting up the matzah is not a dignified demonstration for the benefit of the guests at the Seder alone. It is a call to the street, to the ghetto, to the village, to the world, that the poor need not despair. In the same Sprit the prophet Isaiah shouted to the world, ‘All you who thirst, come and drink from the living waters.’”

And when we are full, at the end of the seder meal, we eat matzah again. Strange how the taste changes. That longed for morsel at the start of the meal, when we are hungry, becomes a dry tasteless wafer when we are full. There is a lesson in that. Food is at its best when we need it most. The extra food which our bodies store as fat could be life itself to those in need. One countries butter mountain is another country’s lifeline.

So that’s why this Pesach I’ve committed myself by wearing the Make Poverty History white wristband. It’s only a symbol. I wasn’t asked to give up all my extra Pesach food in order to buy it, but it does make me feel part of something. Back in 2001 it wasn’t just Clare Short. It was the whole of the G8 who committed themselves to halve world poverty by 2015. The targets set then are now slipping behind, and we want to put this issue back on the world’s agenda. The aims are very very simple. A little food for everyone, safe water for all, and a school for every child. Nothing could be simpler to express, easier to agree with, but harder to achieve.

Following lobbying from the Make Poverty History coalition, the political parties will devote today to their aid and development policies. Today has been designated World Poverty Day. How appropriate that this event should happen on the first day of Pesach. “Take care, ” says our second Torah reading this morning (Deuteronomy 8:11-14) Take care, in case you eat and are full and forget it is not by your own efforts that you got there, but through the gift of God. Take special care in times of prosperity when you have a nice house and plenty of flocks and herds (the investments of ancient times). Take care when you have your house and your investments lest you forget God. Do not think that it something you have done that got you where you are–you too born in different circumstances could easily find yourself with the same talent and the same skills you have now but trying to live on nothing. That’s why we must every day thank God for our good fortune and remember the Egypt from where we came. And in time to come when your children ask “What does this seder mean” You can reply “It’s not just the past. This seder commits us to build a fairer future for our world”. We can fulfil in our time the vision of the prophet (Isaiah 11:4) VE-SHAFAT BETZEDEK DALIM With righteousness he will judge the poor ... for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.”

click here to find out more about Make Poverty History

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed