Cup of Joe & the 5 Books of Mo(ses): Moses’ big day-Passover 2020 Edition By Dina Newman, Associate Director of Youth Engagement, Congregation Rodeph Sholom

Most of us know the story of Passover pretty well, but let’s review, because we KNOW with Torah we can read it again and again each year and always recognize something new….

A QUICK SUMMARY TO READ ON YOUR OWN!

The Passover story begins with the Jews living in slavery in Ancient Egypt. Pharaoh begins to see the Jews as still being a threat despite their enslavement as they continue to grow in numbers. He therefore demands that any new born male Jewish child be killed. He first commands the midwives of Egypt, Shifra and Puah to kill the babies, but when they begin to defy him he instead declares that all the babies must be thrown in the Nile River. One smart mother named Yocheved weaves a basket and secretly floats her newborn baby boy, Moses, down the river instead of letting him drown. He is discovered by Pharaoh’s own daughter who chooses to raise him herself. Moses grows up in Pharaoh’s palace but wanders out one day and sees the treatment of the Jewish slaves. He cannot bare to look on, as an Egyptian beats a weary Jewish slave and he intervenes and ends up killing the Egyptian. He then must flee and finds himself serving for a time as a shepherd in Midian where he meets his wife. As the plight of the Jews in Egypt continues to worsen, he first encounters God in the form of a burning bush. God speaks to Moses and says he is meant to lead the Jews to their freedom and he must go back and petition Pharaoh for their release. Moses argues with God but finally gives in and along with his brother Aaron, he returns to Egypt and speaks with Pharaoh. But, Pharaoh refuses. Moses petitions him a number of other times and Pharaoh will not give in even when Moses warns him of God’s power. God demonstrates this power in the form of 10 plagues visited upon the Egyptian people: the water of the Nile turns to blood, swarms of frogs overrun the country, lice infest everything, wild animals become violent, disease kills the farm animals, Egyptians break out in painful boils, hail rains down, locusts, darkness and finally death of the first born Egyptian. Finally, Pharaoh sets the Jews free and they begin to flee Egypt, so quickly even the dough for their bread doesn’t have time to rise (wink wink: MATZA). When they have just reached the sea, Pharaoh changes his mind and chases after the Jews. Moses slams his staff down and the Red Sea parts allowing the Jews to cross to safety and then crashing down, wiping out Pharaoh and his army. The Jews then begin their journey through the desert.

Today, we are commanded to remember the Exodus from Egypt as if we were experiencing it ourselves. And we do this through a Seder. An evening spent retelling and reenacting this story.

Discussion Guide

Current Events Connections: Let’s talk about the “elephant in the zoom”, COVID19

Passover is traditionally a Holiday of physical gathering (as so many are) but obviously with the current situation and social distancing restrictions, things will be quite different. Let’s use our favorite Torah conversation as an opportunity to process this together. From the Story…

The 11th Plague?

With the timing of this COVID19 outbreak coinciding with the approach of Passover, some people have suggested the virus is like a modern plague or an 11th plague. Check out the texts below on the how the Torah describes the concept of ‘plague’ Do you think it’s accurate to call COVID19 an 11th plague or a modern plague? Why or Why not?

Mishneh Torah, Fasts 2:11

These are the troubles of the community about which we fast and sound [trumpets]: About haters of Israelites making troubles for Israelites; about the sword (foreign troops); about a plague; about evil (dangerous) animals; about [the two main types of] locusts; about blight; about chlorosis; about collapse; about sicknesses; about [the lack of] provisions; and about the rain.

Mishneh Torah, Fasts 2:1313

About sicknesses - how is this? See that [if] a sickness came down upon many people in one city - such as diphtheria or violent fever and that which is similar to them - and they were dying from this sickness, it is surely a communal trouble.

Enslavement

Passover is a holiday about Freedom. In retelling the story at our seders each year we’re meant to feel as if we too were enslaved. Each of the foods on the seder plate are meant to represent that enslavement. Often, and Jewish educators talk about “what enslaves us today” or what you might personally feel that you are “a slave to”. Uniquely this year, we’re all quarantined and “trapped” in our homes the way the Jews were in Egypt. What do you think, how it is the same, how is it different?

• More recent history for troubled times- Holocaust story of Hope & Passover Mordechai Eliav’s Passover in Feihingen Concentration camp (Share)

Wandering the Desert of the Web, A Community in Exile

What does it mean to be “in exile” from a community?

Some people are saying that in fact, this particular moment we are experiencing is a uniting of the Jewish Diaspora—this unification is mentioned many times in the Torah but assumed to be in the land of Israel. Today, Jews around the word have and continue to unite on the world wide web! What a fascinating time. Does this count? What does it mean that the Jewish people feel united in a time like this?

Value of Human Life, Pharaoh & Our Elders

• There’s a famous midrash we often read during the story of Passover. It tells the story of God’s perspective when the Red Sea closed upon the Egyptians after the Jews crossed safely. Some of you might remember this text from a past Cup of Joe session in the book of Exodus. In this story, the angels in heaven rejoice because the evil Pharaoh and his Egyptian army have all been drowned when the sea closed in on them. God yells at the angels to stop celebrating. God says that this is not something to celebrate, it is something to mourn because even they were creations of God.

At the beginning of the COVID19 outbreak, people kept saying not to worry that only “old people and people with underlying conditions were in danger”. I’ve also heard people say things about hoping that politicians they don’t like would get this awful disease.

Based on this Midrash what do you think a Jewish response to that would be? Can you think of any other times in the Torah or Jewish texts that echo this same idea?

A few more texts on the Jewish value for life:

,Pikuach nefesh (a Jewish value) is usually translated as "saving a life". The Hebrew however פִּ ּקּוח נֶפֶ ׁש pikeach is used for a person who is able to פִּּקֵּח implies "seeing life" within the other person. The term sagi nehor, "lots ס יגִּ נְהֹור yver which denotes the person who is blind (also called עִּ וֵּר see, as opposed to of light" in Aramaic).

Leviticus 19:16 You shall not be a tale-bearer among your people; you shall not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor; I am Adonai.

Sanhedrin 37a:13 (The Talmud-book of laws) Therefore, Adam was created alone, to teach that anyone who destroys one soul from the Jewish people, it is as if he destroyed an entire world. And anyone who sustains one soul from the Jewish people, the verse ascribes him credit as if he sustained an entire world.

Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chayim 329:1(The is a guidebook to “Doing Jewish” 1. All cases of saving a life supersede , and he who hurries in these matters is praised. Even if there is a fire in a different yard and there is concern that it will move to this yard and cause danger, we put it out to ensure that it does not spread. • There’s also been a lot of controversy lately about Hasidic Jewish communities in Brooklyn that are still gathering in large groups for prayer or for weddings or funerals. Based on the texts above, do you think they’re really following Jewish law?

Miriam in Quarantine (inspired by Girls in Trouble Curriculum by Alicia Jo Rabins)

DID YOU KNOW?! -Not long after the Jews escape from Israel, Miriam, Moses’ sister and a main figure in the Passover story (and the one with the awesome tambourine) faced a quarantine somewhat similar to ours!

Numbers 12:1–15 Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses about the Cushite woman he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman……God heard it…………. Suddenly God called to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the Tent of Meeting.” So the three of them went out. God came down in a pillar of cloud, stopped at the entrance of the Tent, and called out, “Aaron and Miriam!” The two of them came forward; and God said, “Hear these My words: …………………………….. How then did you not shrink from speaking against My servant Moses!” Still incensed with them, God departed. As the cloud withdrew from the Tent, there was Miriam stricken with snow-white scales! When Aaron turned toward Miriam, he saw that she was stricken with scales. And Aaron said to Moses, “O my lord, account not to us the sin which we committed in our folly. Let her not be as one dead, who emerges from his mother’s womb with half his flesh eaten away.” So Moses cried out to God………………………………………… But God said to Moses, “If her father spat in her face, would she not bear her shame for seven days? Let her be shut out of camp for seven days, and then let her be readmitted.” So Miriam was shut out of camp seven days; and the people did not march on until Miriam was readmitted.

What is similar now with the COVID19 quarantine and Miriam’s? What is different? Is there anything here we can learn as our government and society decide how to move forward?

Can you imagine what Miriam’s quarantine was like? These artists did. Do their images reflect what you imagined? Do they capture any of the feelings people might be experiencing today too?

Moses Confronted by Aaron and Miriam, c. 1370–1300, Byzantine, Greek, illuminated manuscript from the Vatopedi Octateuch In this image, Miriam is on the right, Aaron is in the center wearing his priestly garments, and Moses stands on the left. Our art history advisor confirms that Miriam’s face and hands are indeed depicted with leprosy here; it’s not just damage on the art.

James Jacques Joseph Tissot, Miriam Shut Out From the Camp, c. 1896– 1902, The Jewish Museum, NY Tissot, a French artist, painted images of the poor for years. He then had a religious awakening and began to paint Biblical images. This image seems to combine the two

Siona Benjamin, Finding Home #77 (Fereshteh) “Miriam”, 2006, American, gouache and gold leaf on paper Siona Benjamin is a contemporary New Jersey-based artist and Bene Israel Jew (originally from the Indian Jewish community).

Dig a Little Deeper in the Text! (Advanced)

o One of the Hebrew words used for plague is ‘Dever’- which has the same root as the word to speak ‘Daber’

-Do you think there is any connection?

-How might this connect to the idea of “Social Distancing”? Do you think there was such thing in Torah times?

o Irwin Keller recently pointed out the similarity between the term COVID (as in COVID19, a scientific name for Coronavirus), and the Hebrew words koved and kavod. The roots of these words ultimately mean a heaviness/weightiness. Koved literally means a heaviness and it appears in the Torah in reference to our reverence for God. It is not a negative heaviness. The sages teach us in the Talmud that this term refers to a deep concentration and introspection. The Talmud tells us that when we sit with our ‘heavier’ feelings as Hannah, a childless woman of the Torah, did in prayer, good things can result. It’s no coincidence that the word Kavod shares this same root. The word Kavod means honor, respect. We honor those who overcome, who do something we perceive as difficult. Often when someone does something worth of praise we say “Kol haKavod” which literally means “All the respect”. We have all the respect for those who do the difficult but righteous things.

-This is obviously a difficult time for many of us either financially, emotionally, physically or maybe all three. How will you honor and respect someone you know during this time?

-Who deserves honor and respect? Is your answer different today than before this situation?

Elements From Holiday Celebration/Observance….

• The 4 Children in 3 Perspectives- Let’s learn a little about the 4 Sons (or Children) of the Haggadah

The Four Children originated in four distinct passages in the Torah that instruct us to teach our children about the story of Passover. The labels given to these children, as well as their questions, were compiled from the Torah and other Jewish sources over time.

The wise child asks details about the specific meaning of the laws of Passover observance: “What are the testimonies, the statutes, and laws which Adonai our God has commanded you?” to which we respond with one of the very specific laws of the Passover seder.

The wicked child asks, “Whatever does this mean to you?” The authors admonish this child as one who is not concerned about the laws personally, but only for others. This exchange reminds us of the importance of not separating ourselves from our community or from traditions that might seem uncomfortable or foreign to us, but rather to engage with them in ways that enable us to connect with our community.

The simple child asks, “What does this mean?” to which a straightforward summary of the story is given, directly from the Torah: “It was with a mighty hand that God brought us out from Egypt, the house of bondage.” (Ex 13:14).

In response to the child who does not know how to ask, we are instructed to “open it up” and explain, “It is because of what God did for me when I went free from Egypt” (Ex 13:8).

o When the COVID19 outbreak started and even today, people are reacting very differently. Some people ran out and bought all the toilet paper, and some thought nothing was really happening. If you had to write the 4 Sons of COVID19 what would they be? What kinds of questions would they ask?

o Similarly, in the Pop Culture world, some celebrities really epitomized the original 4 songs—Wise, Curious, Uneducated and Uncaring. Can you think of specific celebrities who represent each of these kinds of reactions to the Corona Virus? Ex: Celebrities complaining about being stuck in their huge mansions on big islands, Celebrities saying things shouldn’t have been cancelled.

o How would you depict the 4 Children of the seder using social media? Are there 4 types of Tik Tok users that might line up with the idea of these 4 different ways of asking the same question? Are there multiple different ways to participate on Social Media? Tell us a few!

• The New 4 Questions Each year on Passover the youngest person at the table is meant to read the 4 Questions which ultimately ask, “Why is this night different from all other nights” in multiple different ways. This year, it’s clear that the night of Passover will be really different not just from all other nights, but from our past years of Passover too. If you had to come up with 4 NEW Questions for Passover what would they be and why?

Here are the original 4 questions found in the Haggadah:

How is this night different from all other nights?.....

On all other nights, we eat chameitz and matzah. Why on this night, only matzah?

On all other nights, we eat all vegetables. Why, on this night, maror?

On all other nights, we don’t dip even once. Why on this night do we dip twice?

On all other nights, we eat either sitting upright or reclining. Why on this night do we all recline?

• Finding a Sense of Seder in the Chaos The word “Seder” literally translates to “Order”. The steps of the seder help us not only retell the story of Passover but also experience it anew and UNDERSTAND it. When things are in order we often find them easier to process. How are you finding a little “seder” or “order” in the craziness of the situation right now?

o The actual order of the seder is outlined below:

▪ Kadesh-The first of four cups of wine is poured; the blessing is said to sanctify the feast day. ▪ Urechatz- The hands are washed before handling the karpas. ▪ Karpas-A vegetable is dipped in salt water, then eaten. ▪ Yachatz-The middle of three matzos is broken. The larger half is wrapped in a napkin and hidden for afikoman (dessert). ▪ Maggid-The second cup of wine is poured, and the story of the flight of the Jewish slaves from Egypt is told. ▪ Rachtzah-The hands are washed before the meal. ▪ Motzi-A prayer is said before breaking bread. ▪ Matzo-The matzo is blessed. ▪ Maror-The bitter herb is tasted. ▪ Korech-A "sandwich" of matzo, bitter herbs, and charoset is eaten. ▪ Shulchan Orech-The meal begins. ▪ Tzafun-A child discovers the afikoman, which is then eaten. ▪ Barech-The third cup of wine is poured, and the grace after meals is recited. An extra cup of wine is also poured for the prophet Elijah, and a child opens the door of the house to invite him in. ▪ Hallel-The fourth cup of wine is poured, followed by psalms of praise and a prayer. ▪ Nirtzah-The fun songs at the end

DID YOU KNOW: It’s literally part of the seder to wash your hands TWICE. Urchatz & Rachtzah. And we Jews have kind of been following the CDC 20 second handwashing for thousands of years….

Here’s an excerpt from that guidebook, the Shulchan Aruch, again:

Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chayim 4:18 The following things require washing the hands in water [after them]: One who rises from bed, goes out of the bathroom, or of the bath house, one who cuts his nails, takes off his shoes, touches his feet, or washes his head, some say: also one who goes among the dead, or touched the dead, one who cleanses his clothes of lice, has sexual intercourse, touches a louse, or touches his body with his hand. Anyone doing any of these and not washing his hands, if he is a scholar, his studies are forgotten, and if he is not a scholar, he goes out of his mind.