As each plague is mentioned, take a drop of wine from the cup and recite:
[A Night of Questions, A Passover Haggadah, page 61]
Blood.
Frogs.
Lice.
Wild Beasts.
Pestilence.
Boils.
Hail.
Locust.
Darkness.
Slaying of the First-born.
As Jewish progressives, throughout the whole year, we speak out for those who do not have the strength or capacity to speak out on their own. We add our voices of support for those who need it most. We stand in solidarity with those who are seeking rights. This year has had no shortage of such people and causes. Eman al-Obeidy, a Libyan woman, whose courage captured and humbled people worldwide. The Fukushima nuclear plant workers, who rose up to meet their own personal tragedies, as well as those of a nation. Wisconsin workers, who inspire us, with their creative perseverance and their fight for a better future. At their core, these were all human tales of universal struggles and aspirations. Likewise, at its core, the Passover story is a human tale, one of suffering, struggle and hope.
It is because of our progressive values and intentions that the story of the ten plagues can be especially difficult to reconcile with our modern beliefs. How do we synthesize this section of the story with how we act during the rest of the year?
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Fortunately, Judaism is an interpretative religion. Most Jews do not believe in the literal word of the bible, rather in rabbinical interpretations of the bible. Jews hold a wide swath of beliefs, from the ultra-observant to the atheist. With every variant and position in between. The multi-layered Exodus story has something for each strain of Judaism. In the interpretative tradition, many rabbis, throughout the centuries, have wrestled with the ten plagues’ text.
Rather than justify the plagues, some modern-day commentators instead try to sharpen our awareness of the suffering caused by these plagues in order to help us empathize with others who are oppressed.
One modern interpretation, of the ten plagues, is that of Rabbi David Teutsch:
Many contemporary explanations of the ten plagues attempt to reconcile the presumed suffering of the Egyptians with modern-day conceptions of ethics and treatment of the other. Rabbi David Teutsch, a former president of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College…suggests that God is not, in fact, the author of the harshest plague--that of the murder of the firstborn of Egypt. Rather, he says, it is human beings who interpret this event as divine.
No matter how we interpret these plagues, remembering and reciting the ten plagues forces us to confront, not only difficult subjects, but also perhaps conflicting ideas. But, such difficulty is also an opportunity. The ten plagues prompt the question of if we are capable of making space, for others' suffering, while in the midst of our own?
As we prepare to spill wine from our cup at the mention of each plague, we recall the sentence of the Bible, "Rejoice not when your enemy falls". Our Rabbis taught that when the children of Israel sang songs of praise to God as the Egyptians drowned in the sea, the angels on high wished to join in these songs and were stopped by God who said, "These are my creatures who are drowning in the sea! For this you would sing songs of praise?". Thus we too lessen our joy at Passover time at the mention of these plagues, for there can be no rejoicing at the death or suffering of human beings, even our enemies. And so we diminish this cup of joy, for our redemption had to come through the destruction of others.
As we think of our ancestors’ suffering in Egypt, we can pause to think about the suffering of others, both humans and animals, who were afflicted with the plagues. The action of spilling drops from our own wine represents our compassion. Dipping our fingers in the wine glass and subtracting drops of wine onto a plate, for each plague, becomes a meaningful symbolic action. Not just the thought of compassion. Not just the words. But the practice of compassion.
As much as we strive to do otherwise, our busyness, sometimes thoughtlessness, means that too often during the year, we turn away from suffering, both our own and that of others'. Reciting the ten plagues gives us a sacred time to reflect on this suffering, too.
In mindfulness meditation (pdf), we sit and observe our body's own pain and suffering. Not judging. Not analyzing. Not devolving into guilt. Just sitting and observing. Accepting what is and just being with whatever is, in the moment. As simple as it sounds, is how difficult it can be. During the Passover Seder, we retell the Exodus story. But during the ten plagues, we must concentrate fully on how God liberated our ancestors from their hardship. Focus fully on how, in so doing, God visited misery upon the ancient Egyptians. If we incorporate a mindfulness practice, pouring or spilling wine out of our glass can become a meditative and contemplative action. A time in which we are fully connected to both our ancestors’ suffering and to the Egyptians’. As we pour or spill wine, we can sit and observe. Feel fully the extent of the suffering. Without judgment and without anger. With acceptance and acknowledgment. In these moments of observation and acceptance, we can hold the two conflicting notions at once: feeling empathy for those who suffered because God saved our ancestors and feeling oneness with our ancestors who suffered under ancient Egyptian rule.
During Passover we are instructed to read the story, not as if it happened to our ancestors, but as if you or I were struggling to go out of Egypt.
In every generation, each individual should feel personally redeemed from Egypt, as it is said: “You shall explain to your child on that day, it is because of what the Eternal One did for me when I went free from Egypt.” (Exodus 13:8). For God redeemed not only our ancestors; God redeemed us with them.” (Deuteronomy 6:23)
[A Night of Questions, A Passover Haggadah, page 70]
Because we envision ourselves as going out of Egypt, reciting the ten plagues also offers us a time to sit with our own suffering. Not only in the time of the Exodus, but also in the present. What ails or burdens us as we sit, in the moment, at our seder? In the meditative spirit, we can sit, for a moment to reflect on these ills and burdens. With no judgment. With no anger and with no guilt. Each drop of wine becomes its own meditation on suffering.
The Passover Story is a story of hope, of how our ancestors came out of a narrow place (Egypt/Mitzraim) of suffering and into the Promised Land. Stripped of its religious elements, the tale is, at its core, a human tale, filled with universal struggles and aspirations. But, most importantly, the tale’s essence is the fulfillment of hope. The same thing we wish for Eman al-Obeidy, the Fukushima workers and Wisconsin’s workers. We tell the story each year, with the benefit of hindsight, with the knowledge that our ancestors did make it through their persecution and out of Egypt. Knowing our ancestors fulfilled their hopes, gives us the courage to sit with the ten plagues’ difficulties, each year. In turn, the fulfillment of hope, as exemplified in the Passover story, can, inspire and inform our progressivism, year round. We can speak out, voice support and stand in solidarity, all with the intention that our hopes will be fulfilled.
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