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No one is truly free until all live in peace
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Passover begins sundown April 19. The Passover Hagaddah states: "Those who hunger, enter and eat." The rabbis were not only speaking of those needing food, but also of those wanting spiritual and human connection.
The story of Passover, which celebrates liberation of the Jewish nation from Pharaoh 3,500 years ago, is retold yearly, reminding us of the universality of national liberation, be it in Tibet, Kosovo, Palestine or Darfur. ''A theology without social action is a dinner consisting only of a menu.'' None of us is truly free unless all of us live in Shalom.
The Talmud discusses the stork (chassida), an un-kosher bird. It received its name because it does chesed (loving kindness) in sharing its food with other storks. Why isn't it kosher? Because it does loving kindness only with other storks and not with any other birds.
The stork may be a symbol for religious communities -- our great strength, but also our problematic nature. The strength of closely knit religious or ethnic communities is the mutual help and support we give to members of the in-group.
Unfortunately, we do not always behave in such humane ways toward those not in our clique. The challenge for our religious-ethnic communities is to behave toward each other as human beings and not like storks, welcoming all those who are hungry for fellowship and spiritual renewal to enter and "eat."
Rabbi Arthur Segal
Hilton Head Island
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