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"A People who take Care of each Other"

Writer's picture: Elissa FelderElissa Felder

"A People who take Care of each Other"

“Every man shall take for themselves a lamb for their father’s house,

a lamb for each house.

And if there are too few in the house to (consume) the lamb (in its entirety), he shall join with his neighbor that is near to his house…” (12:3-4).

If a family has too few members to eat the entire Paschal lamb,

they needed to find a neighbor or

an extended family member to join them

to ensure that nothing would be left over.

Alternatively, they could invite a poor person or

someone who lived alone to join them.

Perhaps the goal was for the whole lamb to be eaten and the means to that end necessitated people to

invite others into their homes.

Or perhaps the goal was for our people to be together and

the means to that end was through requiring

the whole lamb to be eaten?

Either way on that night all Jewish homes were open and welcoming to everyone including the lonely, the poor and the needy.

No Jew was alone or hungry on that first Seder night in history.

The obligation was both on the giver to share,

and on the taker to receive.

Both needed each other.

Neither was considered superior to the other.

Everyone had to have a place to be.

A place where they were welcome and could safely

eat the Pascal lamb with others.

On the night our people became a nation

foundational values were being laid down.

We began our nationhood with the important value of taking care of each other,

of sharing with each other, and

of opening our homes to each other.

God charged us to be compassionate,

to be givers,

to include everyone,

to feed the hungry, and

to house the homeless.

Now in our days let us

live up to those same values

that were demanded of us

at the very beginning of our nationhood,

which are still being demanded of us today.

 Shabbat Shalom and Chodesh Tov

Much love

Elissa

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