י"ח לחודש הראשון תשע"ג
My friend
Sam Sokol sent me this piece he wrote on the Obama's tradition of holding a Passover Seder. He did a great job of reporting in this piece.
My commentary, and criticism, is of the Obamas and others.
JPost: White House Seder Continuation Of Chicago Tradition
Sam Sokol, March 26, 2013
US president, family, friends celebrate Passover dinner with Seder, the “continuation of a longstanding custom” for the Obamas.
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| White House "Seder" 2013 |
| Photo: Pete Souza/White House |
The
White House tradition of holding a Passover Seder, started by US
President Barack Obama in 2009 during his first term, is the
continuation of a longstanding Obama family tradition, according to
interfaith advocate Rabbi Marc Schneier.*
Schneier is the president of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding and a vice president of the World Jewish Congress.
*Rabbi
Schneier, a graduate of Yeshiva University, needs to go back and review
Rabbi Yosef Soleveichik's teshuvoth (responsa) regarding "interfaith dialogue,"
and not just find ways to support doing what he wants, like his fellow YU alumus, Shlomo
Riskin.
The White House Seders, he said, are the
“continuation of a longstanding custom” by the Obamas who participated
in Seders in their hometown of Chicago.
“In fact, Obama
began observing Passover after moving in the mid 1980s to the mixed
Jewish-African American Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, where he
taught law at the University of Chicago, launched his political career
and formed close personal relationships with a broad spectrum of Jewish
academics, political professions and even rabbis.”
Last
week in Jerusalem, Obama explained that Passover resonates with African
Americans because to his community
“the story of the Exodus was perhaps
the central story, the most powerful image to emerge from the grip of
bondage to reach liberty and human dignity – a tale that was carried
from slavery through the Civil Rights movement into today."
The
Obamas’ ceremony on Monday included a Seder plate given to first lady
Michelle Obama by Sara Netanyahu, the wife of Prime Minister Binyamin
Netanyahu.
Before the holiday, the president issued a
statement of hope. “As my family and I prepare to once again take part
in this ancient and powerful tradition, I am hopeful that we can draw
upon the best in ourselves to find the promise in the days that lie
ahead, meet the challenges that will come, and continuing the hard work
of
repairing the world.
*********
Esser Agaroth (2¢):
I found several things in this piece interesting. Although this it is well-known that
the African slaves drew inspiration from the story of Israel's exodus
from Egypt, I always found it curious that these shared historical
experiences did not bring African Americans and Jewish Americans closer
together. Likewise, South African Jews who fought against the apartheid
government were, for the most part, neither considered white by the
whites, nor non-white by the non-whites, and were often
 |
| M. L. King, M. Eisendrath, A. J. Heschel |
There
was a small space in time, when African and Jewish Americans did seem
to connect, and that was through Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Not only
did Jews march with him and his cause.
So, did African
Americans never appear to relate fully with Jewish Americans, through
the common experience of having been slaves, and oppressed throughout
history in various other ways?
Well, every time I
broached this question with African American friends, the answer was
always the same: Slavery for those of African decent was really not so
long ago, still too fresh in their collective mind, in contrast to the
1,000's of years passed since Israel's exodus.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had it right. When approached by a student who attacked Zionism,
Dr. King responded:
“When people criticize Zionists, they mean
Jews. You're talking anti-Semitism.”
Jews are meant to be in their homeland. Criticize our right to be here, and criticize us. That is what is supposed to be a crucial element to President Obama's above reference to "repairing the world," restoring the Jewish People to its homeland. And, no, there is no room here for those who would take all of it for themselves, and annihilate us.
 |
| PA "President" Mahmud Abbas (Abu Mazen) wants ALL of Israel |
Unfortunately,
President Obama does not seem to understand this.
Do you want to use Passover as an inspiration for your own personal experiences?
Sabbabba**
Many Christians use the Seder has an educational tool. Yet, many other Christians have incorporated it into their liturgy for the purposes of laying claim to the inheritance of Israel or reaching out to Jews, targeting them for conversion, or both. This is unacceptable.
Also unacceptable are those like the Obamas, who make a so-called "Passover Seder," while at the same time collaborate in maintaining the current exile of the Jewish People. That includes funding Islamic, or soon to be Islamic, governments and pseudo-governments.
So-called "Palestinians" want a "freedom" in another people's homeland. Yet, this is what they do at a Passover Seder, a celebration of freedom.
Those who bless Israel will be blessed, those who curse Israel will be cursed.
(based on Gen. 12:3)
President Obama has demonstrated time and time again which of these paths he is on
(Hint: Not the former, but the latter).
Jews in America must also take a lesson from this. Obama's Jewish staffers should first take a look at
what a real Passover Seder is all about.
Rabbis not encouraging an exit from the current
galuth, the
galuth of
Edom (
Esau/Rome/The West), rabbis who are finding new and innovative ways for Jews to become closer with their non-Jews in
galuth for the same of making it more comfortable for Jews to remain in
galuth, are part of the problem, not the solution.
We Jews our taught that during the Seder, we are reliving our own exodus from Egypt, for if the exodus had not taken place, then we, ourselves, would have been born into Egyptian slavery.
Yet, the exodus from Egypt is also directly relevant to today. Although many Jews cannot, or do not want to, realize it, they are again in
galuth, and must make another exodus from it.
After all, whose Passover is it anyway?
It's yours.
*********
**Arabic and Hebrew (colloq.) - "cool"