Passover

My husband surprised me by suggesting we find a public seder to attend this year. In the past, we have celebrated with friends or family, but this year we found our calendar empty for the first and second nights of Passover. We realized this on Sunday, so it was a bit of a scramble to find a place at any table. However, I believe God led us to the right fit.

I had never noticed it before, but the synagogue is not far from our apartment. We entered and were led into a small room with sheets hanging from the walls, to give us the feeling of being inside a tent. People of all ages sat together in a circle, surrounding the female rabbi. The atmosphere was warm and relaxed. As we moved through the Haggadah, we sang songs and used props to illustrate the story of Exodus.

This was the first seder where I began to seriously contemplate the theological questions around Passover. My husband and I started celebrating seders together several years ago, and during that time I have been absorbing the unfamiliar customs and rituals. This year, I think something more opened up for me. I considered how Exodus illustrates the cyclical nature of violence–from the killing of the firstborn sons of the Hebrews to the killing of the firstborn sons of the Egyptians. I have many questions. Does Exodus imply that God condones the cycle of violence? Or is it a cautionary tale about starting the cycle of violence? Should Moses and the Hebrews have challenged God’s decision to kill the firstborn of Egypt, as some key figures have challenged God in other parts of the Torah? Or does Exodus imply that all freedom comes at a cost? How have Jewish scholars made sense of these questions, and read new meaning in to the story of Exodus and the traditions of Passover?

This must be an example of how questions are more rewarding than answers, because I said to my husband as soon as we left the synagogue, “I want to go back again.”

Now, you may be wondering how this experience fits with Unitarian Universalism. Unitarian Universalism embraces the practice of other religious traditions. Because Unitarian Universalists are not required to adhere to a specific creed, we can explore the traditions and beliefs of other religions. Here are some figures about Unitarian Universalists: “almost half” of us are Humanists, 19% are followers of “an Earth/Nature centered faith,” 9.5% are Christians, 4% are Buddhist, and 1.3% are Jewish.

This is not to say that the integration of two traditions is an easy process. Practicing two traditions, we must be willing not only to lay claim to a second tradition, but also to let that tradition claim us. We must let ourselves be shaped again by that tradition, even as we learn and interpret it. This is a prospect that I personally find daunting (”Haven’t I been shaped enough already?!” “Don’t I have enough obligations with only one house of worship?!”), but I am starting to consider the rewards as well.