And You Shall Teach Your Children

When the Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 ACE, Judaism as it was practised then ended. For Passover, that meant there could be no more pilgrimages to Jerusalem, and there would be no more whole roasted Pascal lamb eaten together by the whole family at night.

How could the leader of the household keep the biblical injunction that one should tell one’s children about the Exodus? How would the traditional singing of Hallel at home at the Seder continue? The trauma of the events surrounding the destruction of the Temple and the mourning for the form of Judaism that was destroyed with it, must have continued for generations.

Yet all was not lost. According to the Talmud, Judaism’s core beliefs, stories and traditions were rescued by Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakkai who was sneaked out of besieged Jerusalem in a coffin. He established a Yeshiva in Yavne, from where a new form of Judaism was created. Passover Seders continued, and young children continued to ask “mah nishtanah” — why is this night different. Gamliel II went on to reinterpret the seder and new traditions were created. Over the next 1,000 years, slight changes to the Haggadah were made. Three questions became four questions. New tunes were brought to old words. We still sing Hallel. We still have a lot to be grateful for. We still eat bitter herbs and matzah.

The seder is not a record-player of old events. It is a living, transcendental experience performed by and for everyone present. We teach our children that they too came out of Egypt, that their ancestors were once slaves in the Land of Egypt, that they too were miraculously redeemed and freed to continue their journey through Sinai and beyond.

But we worry. Will our children create that experience for their own children? Will our beloved traditions end with us? We worry that our divisions and infighting will break us. We worry about the threats to our Jewish bodies. We experience moral loneliness, social alienation and a sense of meaninglessness.

Masorti Judaism understands that fear. We understand the desire to belong to a Jewish community where you can bring the whole of yourself, with all your inherited memories and traditions, as well as your need to keep learning, adapting and connecting. We are committed to making a difference to helping all people at all stages in their Jewish journey.

We hope that that the parts of our tradition that we love will be alive for us at our Seders this year. We trust that love of our tradition can be transmitted beyond us, onwards to the next generation.

‘You shall teach your children’ is perhaps what we should relearn ourselves. Our tradition is resilient and alive and relevant. We have survived and in one form or another, we will survive yet again.

Chag Pesach Sameach!