The Legacy “Passed Down” (or Passed Over) to Us

This week, I’ve thought quite a bit about legacy.  I’ve had the luxury over the last couple of days to study alongside nineteen other ministers and faith leaders about fundraising!  Yes, fundraising!  I’m pursuing the Executive Certificate in Religious Fundraising as part of the Lake Institute of Faith and Giving.  Although we’ve addressed the ins-and-outs of making a fundraising plan, the heart of our conversation has focused on personal legacy.  One lesson I’ve taken to heart: we each are moved to become generous people because of our very human need to create a legacy.

Yesterday, I was given the chance to reflect upon my own personal legacy.  We were each given forty-five minutes to write a letter to a loved one, sharing our hopes and dreams.  I was able to take some precious time to write an emotion filled letter to my three year old son, Caleb.  With pen in hand, I jotted down my personal story and the values that continue to drive me.  I wanted to share with Caleb, my hopes, my dreams, my legacy.

As Passover approaches, we Jews are subtly reminded about our need to build a legacy.  We gather around the holiday table to remember the enslavement that our ancestors endured in Egypt so long ago.  However, as we remember the brutality of the past, we are also commanded to express our hopes and wishes for a better tomorrow.  This is the gift, the legacy, which was passed down to us by the rabbis.  Over two thousand years ago, they made a drastic change to our Passover observance.  They took a holiday focused on our connection to the Temple in Jerusalem and transformed it to a holiday centered in our homes.  The rabbis wished to create a legacy that would encompass their most important ideals: storytelling, family, building a better tomorrow.

This weekend many of us will gather with friends and family around our seder tables.  We’ll read through the words of the Haggadah, we’ll sing Dayenu, we’ll nosh on our matzah!  Yes, we’ll reflect upon our past: the turmoil our ancestors endured.  But, we are also commanded to think about our future: our legacy!  The rabbis left us a precious gift, a moment in time where many of the most important people in our lives are gathered around the table.  Isn’t this the perfect opportunity to share with them, our hopes, our values, our dreams?  A Zissen Pesach, a Happy Passover to everyone!

Opening Our Home to Those in Need

 

This is the bread of poverty and persecution 

that our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt

Let all who are hungry, come and eat

Let all who are in need, come and share the Passover meal

This year we are still here – Next year, in the land of Israel

This year we are still slaves – Next year, free people

-Passover Haggadah

Each spring, these words are read at our Passover table!  The rabbis long ago determined the significance of these words.  Not only is this the first major reading of the seder, but it was written in Aramaic, the language most Jews understood when the Haggadah was first compiled.  The rabbis wanted everyone who sat at the Passover table, young and old, to understand our Jewish obligation to help those who are hungry AND those who are in need.  That is why many Jews open their front doors at this point in the seder, welcoming all who don’t have a place to go for the Passover meal.

This year, our annual Mitzvah Day falls much earlier in our Temple calendar.  Normally we gather to do mitzvot and acts of loving kindness well after Passover.  However, because of our quirky Jewish calendar, we’ll join together with Temple Beth Sholom a few weeks prior to the holiday.  That makes this year’s Mitzvah Day extra special!  Our theme this year is “Share your bread with the Hungry” words written by the Prophet Isaiah.  Just as Passover approaches, we will have the opportunity to gather as a community and help feed the hungry and provide comfort to all who are in need.

In connection with the upcoming Passover holiday, many of our projects this year will revolve around the issues of hunger and poverty.  We’ll join together to make and deliver meals to those in need; our youngest kids will decorate cookies to be delivered to the Interfaith Nutrition Network (INN); our teens will be making hundreds of sandwiches for hungry New Yorkers; and our Brotherhood will oversee the packing of Passover meals for Jews in the Lower East Side.

This year, we’ll also have the opportunity not just to do mitzvot, but to learn about the challenges many face.  David Napell from Mazon: A Jewish Response to Hunger and Christine Going from Island Harvest will join us to share their thoughts about Food Insecurity in Long Island and approaches we can take to help hungry Long Islanders.

As we begin our preparations for the Passover holiday, I invite you to join us on Sunday, April 10^th from 9am – 1pm at Temple Sinai for Mitzvah Day!  Join us to learn, to do acts of loving kindness, and to meet your fellow congregants.  Mitzvah Day is always a highlight of the year.  May we open our home to all who are hungry and all who are in need.