{ "clip_details": { "clip": { "is_admin": 0, "is_owner": 0, "handle": "befriend-stranger-becca-goldstein-source-rori-picker-neiss-jewish-daily-forward", "title": "Befriend the Stranger by Becca Goldstein Source : Rori Picker Neiss, The Jewish Daily Forward", "author": "Ray Sturner", "author_handle": "rsturner1", "author_initials": "RS", "covertext": "“You too must befriend the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” (Deuteronomy 10:19) Rabbi Shlomo Ephr...", "user_image": "", "user_image_original": "", "body": "<p>“You too must befriend the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” (Deuteronomy 10:19)<br />\nRabbi Shlomo Ephraim Luntschitz, the 16th century commentator from Prague known as the Kli Yakar,<br />\nwrote that anyone who was never a stranger in his life cannot feel the pain of the stranger and does not<br />\nsuffer together with the stranger. Anyone who himself has been a stranger, though, knows in his very core<br />\nthe agony of the stranger, and would never allow anything which he himself finds hateful to happen to<br />\n5<br />\nINTRODUCTION<br />\nanother.<br />\nIt’s precisely because we have seen our own people dominate the news cycle for so long that we cannot<br />\nstay silent. It’s because we have witnessed violence and bloodshed in our community that we cannot stay<br />\nsilent. It’s because we have heard our brothers and sisters blamed and defended, vilified and glorified, that<br />\nwe cannot stay silent regarding the tragic events taking place in Ferguson, in New York, in Ohio, in<br />\nWisconsin, and elsewhere throughout the country.</p>\n", "cliptype": "text", "clipsource": "", "featured": 0, "featuredIn": null, "is_public": 1, "is_published": 1, "media": { "image": null, "audio": null, "video": null }, "thumbnail": null, "clip_section": [ { "haggadah_section": "Introduction", "slug": "introduction" } ], "likes": 0, "downloads": 219, "tags": [], "themes": [], "language": "0", "is_bookmarked": "0", "is_liked": 0, "meta_tags": { "title": "Befriend the Stranger by Becca Goldstein Source : Rori Picker Neiss, The Jewish Daily Forward | Passover haggadah by Ray Sturner", "description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "keywords": "", "og:type": "article", "og:url": "https://www.haggadot.com/clip/befriend-stranger-becca-goldstein-source-rori-picker-neiss-jewish-daily-forward", "og:title": "Befriend the Stranger by Becca Goldstein Source : Rori Picker Neiss, The Jewish Daily Forward | Passover haggadah by Ray Sturner", "og:description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "og:image": "" } } }, "contributed_by": { "author": "Ray Sturner", "handle": "rsturner1", "author_initials": "RS", "total_books": 1, "total_clips": 23, "total_followers": 0, "is_following": 0 }, "user_book": null, "clips_by_author": [ { "clip": { "is_admin": 0, "is_owner": 0, "handle": "promised-land", "title": "The Promised Land", "author": "Ray Sturner", "author_handle": "rsturner1", "author_initials": "RS", "covertext": "", "user_image": "", "user_image_original": "", "body": "", "cliptype": "image", "clipsource": "Original", "featured": 0, "featuredIn": null, "is_public": 1, "is_published": 1, "media": { "image": "https://assets.haggadot.com/clips/8529/IMG_0108.JPG", "audio": null, "video": null }, "thumbnail": "https://assets.haggadot.com/clips/8529/conversions/IMG_0108-cover.jpg", "clip_section": [ { "haggadah_section": null, "slug": null } ], "likes": 0, "downloads": 242, "tags": [], "themes": [], "language": "0", "is_bookmarked": "0", "is_liked": 0, "meta_tags": { "title": "The Promised Land | Passover haggadah by Ray Sturner", "description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "keywords": "", "og:type": "article", "og:url": "https://www.haggadot.com/clip/promised-land", "og:title": "The Promised Land | Passover haggadah by Ray Sturner", "og:description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "og:image": "https://assets.haggadot.com/clips/8529/conversions/IMG_0108-cover.jpg" } } }, { "clip": { "is_admin": 0, "is_owner": 0, "handle": "matza-matters", "title": "Matza Matters", "author": "Ray Sturner", "author_handle": "rsturner1", "author_initials": "RS", "covertext": "Matza Matters (adapted from Aish clips) A human being can endure all manners of suffering if he believes there is some m...", "user_image": "", "user_image_original": "", "body": "<p><span>Matza Matters (adapted from Aish clips)</span></p><p><span> </span></p><p><span>A human being can endure all manners of suffering if he believes there is some meaning to it. If he appreciates the true meaning of life and focuses on life's ultimate purpose, then he can even survive the Holocaust.<span>  </span>(See Victor Frankel, psychiatrist holocaust survivor who founded Logo Therapy – creating meaning in life as a psychiatric treatment)</span></p><p><span> </span></p><p><span>But what about the person who has no real purpose for living? What if he instead invents some \"make-believe\" purpose? In that case, all shades of delusion are possible, none more sensible than any other. That is why we see some people living to collect beer bottles, some to hit a baseball the farthest, and some to dine at Europe's finest restaurants. The simplest \"purpose\" is to live for a good meal. That's called \"<span>living to eat.\" And typically, that is the lifestyle of a slave. Can anything be more crushing than the realization that one's whole existence is only to feed the body?</span></span></p><p><span>This is what the Egyptians wished to make out of the Jews.</span></p><p><span>But the Egyptian plan backfired. Because it was that very matzah that kept the Jews focused and clear. <span>When the slave's food is as tasteless as matzah, he can have no delusions of purpose. He knows he is not living for the pleasure of eating,</span> only for the energy that food gives him.</span></p><p><span><span>What about our lives today and the \"tasty food\" we consume? That taste comes in many forms – not only a good meal, but also a fancy car and a promising career. In essence, we may not be living for anything more meaningful than does the slave. The slave merely finds it harder to delude himself into believing he is living for a greater purpose, since he lacks the distractions of tasty food.</span></span></p><p><span><span>The Haggadah poses the question: Could we survive on matzah all year round – or do we need \"taste\" to keep a delusion alive?</span></span></p><p><span>This puffing up – the rising which the yeast produces – symbolizes a person's own inflation with himself. A central concept of freedom is \"pulling back from the ego.\" Of course this doesn't mean you should never have ego – because we know that the rest of the year we are allowed to eat regular bread! But Passover provides a point where we get back to basics, to what we really want without all the additives and superficialities.</span></p><p><span>Matzah teaches that to really be in control of yourself, you need to know what you want – straight, without the luxuries. This doesn't mean luxuries are wrong in and of themselves. If you know that you don't <strong>need</strong> two beautiful new cars, and you know that you could get along with one older car if you had to, and you know that your children are much more important than any car – then it's no problem having two beautiful new cars, because everything will be in perspective.</span></p><p><span>On the other hand, what if the cars take on such importance that when your child gets a little mud on the car you go berserk. If we feel that the additives and superficialities are essential to our lives, then that obscures everything. Our ego gets in the way and we lose sight of what really counts.</span></p><p><span>Passover is all about breaking free of that. Matzah says you've got to get back to essentials. Focus on what really counts.</span></p><p><span>Matzah is literally free of all additives, externalities and superficial good looks - it is bread without the hot air. It represents the bare essentials.</span></p><p><span>Everything we pursue in life can be divided into necessities and luxuries. To the extent that a luxury becomes a necessity we lose an element of our freedom by being enslaved to a false need.<span>  </span>Jewish thought teaches that we should not submit to peer pressure, viewing ourselves as<span>  </span>competing with others. It is far better to focus on our 'personal bests' rather than 'world records'; life is an arena in which we do not need others to lose in order for us to win. </span></p><p><span>On Passover we can focus on the essence and leave the externalities behind. It is a time to get rid of the ego that powers our self importance and holds us back through distracting us from our true goals.</span></p><p><span>Freedom and pain are inexorably linked. Our approach to the 'bitter' times is neither to deny nor to seek escape but to face up to the challenges and embrace the opportunity they offer.<span>  </span>The key is to recognize that pain and suffering emanate from exactly the same source as<span>  </span>joy and pleasure. The self same God that redeemed us from Egypt was the One who allowed us to be enslaved there in the first place, because, painful though it was, it was necessary for us to go through it as a nation.<span>  </span>Without an appreciation of pain and hardship, with all the inherent challenges that life entails, there can be no true sense of joy and fulfillment. Without connecting to the trials and tribulations that are woven into the tapestry of Jewish history, we will be unable to fully appreciate the majesty that forms Jewish destiny.</span></p><p><span> </span></p><p><span> </span></p>", "cliptype": "text", "clipsource": "adapted from AISH ", "featured": 0, "featuredIn": null, "is_public": 1, "is_published": 1, "media": { "image": null, "audio": null, "video": null }, "thumbnail": null, "clip_section": [ { "haggadah_section": "Yachatz", "slug": "yachatz" } ], "likes": 0, "downloads": 230, "tags": [], "themes": [], "language": "0", "is_bookmarked": "0", "is_liked": 0, "meta_tags": { "title": "Matza Matters | Passover haggadah by Ray Sturner", "description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. 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Find artwork, family", "keywords": "", "og:type": "article", "og:url": "https://www.haggadot.com/clip/matriarchs", "og:title": "Matriarchs | Passover haggadah by Ray Sturner", "og:description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "og:image": "https://assets.haggadot.com/clips/8792/conversions/IMG_2712-cover.jpg" } } }, { "clip": { "is_admin": 0, "is_owner": 0, "handle": "seder-and-freedom", "title": "Seder and Freedom", "author": "Ray Sturner", "author_handle": "rsturner1", "author_initials": "RS", "covertext": "Seder (order) &amp; Freedom The Seder prescribes a specific order to tonight’s proceedings. Having to do things a certai...", "user_image": "", "user_image_original": "", "body": "<p><strong>Seder (order) &amp; Freedom</strong></p>\n\n<p>The Seder prescribes a specific order to tonight’s proceedings. Having to do things a certain way seems the opposite to being free. After all what difference does it really make if you ask the four questions after you eat if you are hungry; or if we drink all the cups of wine before the meal if we are thirsty and the wine in pretty good. And what difference does it make if you wash your hands after you eat instead of before (whoops that one has been settled by science a few years ago and is another matter).</p>\n\n<p>Over the past year I learned something about the relation between order and freedom I would like to share. Last week I saw a four-year old boy for a return visit after I saw him once a month ago.</p>\n\n<p>Office notes from first visit:</p>\n\n<p>“Very stubborn; He may throw things at you on purpose; destructive breaks furniture.</p>\n\n<p>He thinks it is funny when you correct him and then gets violent. Stabbed mother with plastic knife</p>\n\n<p>He doesn't have much fear. Runs out in the snow without clothes.</p>\n\n<p>Violent; tantrums punches kicks and tries to bite triggered by corrections.. thinks it’s funny</p>\n\n<p>Takes 3 hours to fall asleep. Mother sleeps in his bed 1/2 night</p>\n\n<p>He was always hyper. The only time he was calm was when he takes a bath before bedtime. (and that was the only routine of the day).</p>\n\n<p>MGM had strokes last year and is at the end of her rope; (She shares care with the mother and grandfather).”</p>\n\n<p>I provided some advice to the family and I also tried to get him enrolled in a pre-K based on being an out of control kid with a disabled Grandmother and I found some opportunities for doing so.</p>\n\n<p>My office notes from the return visit in one month.</p>\n\n<p>“Family wants to wait until the fall for school. ‘Big change. Doing really good.’ Helps with laundry and picks up. He is learning how to control what he is going through. Every thing in the apt is calmer because he is</p>\n\n<p>He now tells sister \"honey and babe\" and wants to help her and help his mother.</p>\n\n<p>Routines: After breakfast he picks up the floor and starts vacuuming.</p>\n\n<p>Bedtime is 7:30 reading a book or writing; lays there and passes out at 8:15 PM and stays asleep until 8 AM”.</p>\n\n<p>The advice given was mostly was that the boy has become wild because he cannot deal with the freedom of having to decide how to amuse himself through the day and get the adults to react instead of providing the structure he needs to know how to focus his energy and attention. We developed routines for the day starting with a bedtime ritual that build on the evening bath but included a bedtime story from Mom and a schedule for blocks of time during the day. It was the Order that provided freedom for this family.</p>\n\n<p>Another story on this theme from this past year is about a six month old boy who was feeding on demand at night beyond the time when it is needed. Providing the structure of when to eat and when to not eat resulted in freedom of the parents to get some sleep.</p>\n\n<p>This Seder is oriented to the Reconstructionist point of view –accepting the obligation of every generation to carry forward ideas and traditions but also the responsibility make them meaningful in our time. Accepting the structure and the ideas of the past liberates one to not have to reinvent a culture of ethical thinking. It is humbling to know we are not always moving forward. Loss of the structure of Shabbot may be a cultural regression.</p>\n", "cliptype": "text", "clipsource": "", "featured": 0, "featuredIn": null, "is_public": 1, "is_published": 1, "media": { "image": null, "audio": null, "video": null }, "thumbnail": null, "clip_section": [ { "haggadah_section": "Introduction", "slug": "introduction" } ], "likes": 0, "downloads": 178, "tags": [], "themes": [], "language": "0", "is_bookmarked": "0", "is_liked": 0, "meta_tags": { "title": "Seder and Freedom | Passover haggadah by Ray Sturner", "description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. 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Find artwork, family", "og:image": "" } } }, { "clip": { "is_admin": 0, "is_owner": 0, "handle": "thanks", "title": "Thanks", "author": "Ray Sturner", "author_handle": "rsturner1", "author_initials": "RS", "covertext": "Scholar Sol Schimmel in the book, The psychology of Gratitude observes that the format of Dayeinu is intentional: “One i...", "user_image": "", "user_image_original": "", "body": "<p>Scholar Sol Schimmel in the book, The psychology of Gratitude observes that the format of Dayeinu is intentional: “One interpretation of the structure of this poem is that when we reflect on a benefit that G-d ( or by extention, another person) has done for us, we should break it into its multiple components, mediating on each element.” For gratitude to be truly felt on both sides, it must be enumerated in specifics. 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Find artwork, family", "og:image": "" } } }, { "clip": { "is_admin": 0, "is_owner": 0, "handle": "2015-beckys-birthday", "title": "2015 Becky's birthday", "author": "Ray Sturner", "author_handle": "rsturner1", "author_initials": "RS", "covertext": "", "user_image": "", "user_image_original": "", "body": "", "cliptype": "image", "clipsource": "", "featured": 0, "featuredIn": null, "is_public": 1, "is_published": 1, "media": { "image": "https://assets.haggadot.com/clips/10556/FullSizeRender-6.jpg", "audio": null, "video": null }, "thumbnail": "https://assets.haggadot.com/clips/10556/conversions/FullSizeRender-6-cover.jpg", "clip_section": [ { "haggadah_section": "Introduction", "slug": "introduction" } ], "likes": 0, "downloads": 218, "tags": [], "themes": [], "language": "0", "is_bookmarked": "0", "is_liked": 0, "meta_tags": { "title": "2015 Becky's birthday | Passover haggadah by Ray Sturner", "description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "keywords": "", "og:type": "article", "og:url": "https://www.haggadot.com/clip/2015-beckys-birthday", "og:title": "2015 Becky's birthday | Passover haggadah by Ray Sturner", "og:description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "og:image": "https://assets.haggadot.com/clips/10556/conversions/FullSizeRender-6-cover.jpg" } } }, { "clip": { "is_admin": 0, "is_owner": 0, "handle": "passover-tradition-and-bernie-sanders", "title": "The Passover Tradition and Bernie Sanders", "author": "Ray Sturner", "author_handle": "rsturner1", "author_initials": "RS", "covertext": "But secular, progressive Judaism is, itself, a kind of religion. While dispensing with the God of the alte velt —if the...", "user_image": "", "user_image_original": "", "body": "<p>But secular, progressive Judaism is, itself, a kind of religion. While dispensing with the God of the <em>alte velt</em> —if the Enlightenment didn’t kill him, the Holocaust certainly did—leftist Jews of the 20th century maintained a prophetic, religious zeal for justice.</p>\n\n<p>Some of this came from within the Jewish tradition, both as a matter of Biblical injunction (“Do not oppress a stranger, for you know the heart of a stranger as you were slaves in Egypt,”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/01/31/what-kind-of-jew-is-bernie-sanders.html</p>\n", "cliptype": "text", "clipsource": "", "featured": 0, "featuredIn": null, "is_public": 1, "is_published": 1, "media": { "image": null, "audio": null, "video": null }, "thumbnail": null, "clip_section": [ { "haggadah_section": "Kadesh", "slug": "kadesh" } ], "likes": 0, "downloads": 207, "tags": [], "themes": [], "language": "0", "is_bookmarked": "0", "is_liked": 0, "meta_tags": { "title": "The Passover Tradition and Bernie Sanders | Passover haggadah by Ray Sturner", "description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "keywords": "", "og:type": "article", "og:url": "https://www.haggadot.com/clip/passover-tradition-and-bernie-sanders", "og:title": "The Passover Tradition and Bernie Sanders | Passover haggadah by Ray Sturner", "og:description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "og:image": "" } } }, { "clip": { "is_admin": 0, "is_owner": 0, "handle": "10-plagues-donald-trump", "title": "The 10 plagues of Donald Trump", "author": "Ray Sturner", "author_handle": "rsturner1", "author_initials": "RS", "covertext": "from the Washington Post 2-23-16 I suggest borrowing a page from the Passover Haggadah. The Seder service recalls the Te...", "user_image": "", "user_image_original": "", "body": "<p>from the Washington Post 2-23-16</p>\n\n<p>I suggest borrowing a page from the Passover Haggadah. The Seder service recalls the Ten Plagues that God inflicted on the Egyptians: blood, frogs, lice, wild animals, pestilence, boils, hail, locusts, darkness and slaying of the firstborn. This, come to think of it, sounds a lot like Trump’s <a href=\"http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/08/10/donald-trump-women-insults-megyn-kelly/31407363/\">descriptions of women</a>: fat pigs, dogs, slobs, disgusting animals. But if the Ten Plagues of Egypt were enough to deliver the Israelites from Pharaoh, perhaps these Ten Plagues of Trump will help to deliver America from his efforts to make voters forget the past 10 months.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Blood</strong></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/08/07/trump-says-foxs-megyn-kelly-had-blood-coming-out-of-her-wherever/\">Trump on Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly</a>: “You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.” Trump has previously said that what matters is having “<a href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/26/us/politics/donald-trump-women.html\">a young and beautiful piece of ass</a>,” and he said avoiding sexually transmitted diseases was “<a href=\"http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/02/16/draft-dodger-trump-said-sleeping-around-was-my-personal-vietnam.html\">my personal Vietnam.</a>”</p>\n\n<p><strong>Rapists</strong></p>\n\n<p>Mexico is “sending people that have lots of problems,” <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2015/07/08/donald-trumps-false-comments-connecting-mexican-immigrants-and-crime/\">he said</a>. “They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.”</p>\n\n<p>Trump has called repeatedly for rounding up and deporting all 11 million illegal immigrants, alleged that prominent Hispanic American journalists are controlled by Mexico, mocked Asian accents and disabled people and told Jews they wouldn’t support him “<a href=\"http://blogs.reuters.com/talesfromthetrail/2015/12/03/trump-to-jewish-donors-i-dont-want-your-money/\">because I don’t want your money</a>.”</p>\n\n<p><strong>Lies</strong></p>\n\n<p>Trump said he saw “<a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2015/11/22/donald-trumps-outrageous-claim-that-thousands-of-new-jersey-muslims-celebrated-the-911-attacks/\">thousands and thousands</a>” of Muslims in New Jersey celebrating the 9/11 attacks. He also let stand the charge at one of his events that President Obama is a Muslim.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Sucker punches</strong></p>\n\n<p>When a protester was escorted from a Trump rally, Trump fondly recalled the old days, when “they’d be carried out on a stretcher.” <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/02/23/donald-trump-on-protester-id-like-to-punch-him-in-the-face/\">Trump said</a> of the protester: “I’d like to punch him in the face.” Trump also considered paying the legal fees of a supporter who cold-cocked a black demonstrator at one of his rallies and <a href=\"http://www.politico.com/blogs/2016-gop-primary-live-updates-and-results/2016/03/man-who-punched-trump-protestors-220585\">who said</a>, “The next time we see him, we might have to kill him.” Trump also retweeted messages from white supremacists and suggested a Black Lives Matter demonstrator roughed up at his event deserved it.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Waterboarding</strong></p>\n\n<p>Trump said he would like to bring back waterboarding for terrorism detainees and a “<a href=\"http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/gop-primaries/268530-trump-calls-for-hell-of-a-lot-worse-than-waterboarding\">hell of a lot worse than waterboarding.</a>” He said at one point that he would expect the military to follow illegal orders to torture detainees and to target innocent family members of terrorists.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Chains</strong></p>\n\n<p>Trump, before recanting, said “<a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/03/30/donald-trump-there-has-to-be-some-form-of-punishment-for-women-who-get-abortions/\">there has to be some form of punishment</a>” for women who get an abortion if the procedure were made illegal.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Foul mouths</strong></p>\n\n<p>Trump has told mass rallies that he wants to “bomb the [expletive] out of ISIS.” He called his chief rival, Ted Cruz, a “pussy,” and made unsubstantiated insinuations about Cruz’s wife, Heidi: “<a href=\"http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/22/politics/ted-cruz-melania-trump-twitter-donald-trump-heidi/\">Be careful, Lyin’ Ted, or I will spill the beans on your wife!</a>”</p>\n\n<p><strong>Schlongs</strong></p>\n\n<p>Trump used the occasion of a nationally televised debate to “<a href=\"http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/03/politics/donald-trump-small-hands-marco-rubio/\">guarantee you</a>” there was “no problem” with the size of his penis.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Dark people</strong></p>\n\n<p>Trump <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/12/07/donald-trump-calls-for-total-and-complete-shutdown-of-muslims-entering-the-united-states/\">has called</a> for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States” — except perhaps for “<a href=\"http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2016/03/31/donald-trump-muslim-ban-msnbc/82474894/\">very rich Muslims</a>” who are his friends.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Flaying of the first birther</strong></p>\n\n<p>Opinions newsletter</p>\n\n<p>Thought-provoking opinions and commentary, in your inbox daily.</p>\n\n<p>Sign up</p>\n\n<p>Trump led the “birther” movement challenging President Obama’s standing as a natural-born American. During the campaign he called for ending the tradition of birthright citizenship for all born on U.S. soil.</p>\n\n<p>Like the Seder service on Passover, the catalog of Trump’s outrages could go on and on. And it should: Post Opinions Digital Editor James Downie and I are compiling a comprehensive list of Trumpisms, and we invite you to email us your favorites at <a href=\"mailto:[email protected]\">[email protected]</a> to make sure all of his offenses are included.</p>\n\n<p>But even if we only had these Ten Plagues of Trump, it would be enough — dayenu, as we say during Passover — to make Trump’s rebranding impossible.</p>\n", "cliptype": "text", "clipsource": "", "featured": 0, "featuredIn": null, "is_public": 1, "is_published": 1, "media": { "image": null, "audio": null, "video": null }, "thumbnail": null, "clip_section": [ { "haggadah_section": "-- Ten Plagues", "slug": "ten-plagues" } ], "likes": 0, "downloads": 238, "tags": [], "themes": [], "language": "0", "is_bookmarked": "0", "is_liked": 0, "meta_tags": { "title": "The 10 plagues of Donald Trump | Passover haggadah by Ray Sturner", "description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "keywords": "", "og:type": "article", "og:url": "https://www.haggadot.com/clip/10-plagues-donald-trump", "og:title": "The 10 plagues of Donald Trump | Passover haggadah by Ray Sturner", "og:description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "og:image": "" } } }, { "clip": { "is_admin": 0, "is_owner": 0, "handle": "introducing-personal-hope-giving-theme", "title": "Introducing Personal Hope-Giving Theme", "author": "Ray Sturner", "author_handle": "rsturner1", "author_initials": "RS", "covertext": "Over 3,000 years ago a group of people in the middle east enslaved for generations, had lost hope of being free and were...", "user_image": "", "user_image_original": "", "body": "<p>Over 3,000 years ago a group of people in the middle east enslaved for generations, had lost hope of being free and were then inspired by a leader who challenged the world’s most powerful leader and brought his people to freedom. </p>\n\n<p>It is a story of hope and overcoming impossible odds.</p>\n\n<p>Hope is the gift the Jews have given to the world.</p>\n\n<p>Though we are no longer slaves, we each remain stuck in some part of our lives.</p>\n\n<p>Hope whithers easily in the face of disappointment. It is all too easy to become disillusioned with toxic cynics ridicule optimism. Getting unstuck – making changes is scary. We may fail; we may wander for years in the desert. The youngest in our midst, Cameron, may be an inspiration. He is beginning to walk, but not without falling hard and often but he doesn’t stay down. He gets up and moves forward.</p>\n\n<p>“Let my people go!” Can be words to strengthen ourselves and overcome the fear of the unknown and march forward, slowly but defiantly trying to become unstuck, toward the Promised Land.</p>\n\n<p>In this Sedar there will be questions related to the Hope-Giving theme as part of other personal questions that may come up.</p>\n\n<p>One goal of this haggadah will be to encourage each of us to take one moment to consider the sedar as about - where I fit in, right now, in the development of my own life, the life of my People, and the life of this family.  It is my hope that this digital haggadah can grow and improve each year - you are all welcome to contribute.   I have not removed the excess sections - but left them as an archive - for now.  Think about how this early stage haggadah can be improved in the future.</p>\n\n<p>In truth, almost none of the Jews who left Egypt actually entered the Promised Land.  They wandered for forty years in the wilderness.  Paradise is elusive, and its pursuit is challenging.  While moving forward, we often stumble, wander aimlessly, run in circles.  For two thousand years, the haggadah has been the Jewish People's invitation to ask: \"Where are we now on the journey?\"</p>\n\n\n", "cliptype": "text", "clipsource": "adapted from Ayeka Haggadah", "featured": 0, "featuredIn": null, "is_public": 1, "is_published": 1, "media": { "image": null, "audio": null, "video": null }, "thumbnail": null, "clip_section": [ { "haggadah_section": "Introduction", "slug": "introduction" } ], "likes": 0, "downloads": 204, "tags": [], "themes": [], "language": "0", "is_bookmarked": "0", "is_liked": 0, "meta_tags": { "title": "Introducing Personal Hope-Giving Theme | Passover haggadah by Ray Sturner", "description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "keywords": "", "og:type": "article", "og:url": "https://www.haggadot.com/clip/introducing-personal-hope-giving-theme", "og:title": "Introducing Personal Hope-Giving Theme | Passover haggadah by Ray Sturner", "og:description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "og:image": "" } } }, { "clip": { "is_admin": 0, "is_owner": 0, "handle": "anyone-who-hungry-0", "title": "\"Anyone who is hungry'", "author": "Ray Sturner", "author_handle": "rsturner1", "author_initials": "RS", "covertext": "We are hardwired to give.  One of the worst feelings in the world is not being needed by others. But a slave is drained,...", "user_image": "", "user_image_original": "", "body": "<p>We are hardwired to give.  One of the worst feelings in the world is not being needed by others. But a slave is drained, depleted, and has nothing to give and that deprives them further of a loss of sense humanity.</p>\n\n<p>So we beginning the Seder by proclaiming, \"anyone who is hungry should come and eat!\" Something we should shout! We are no longer slaves with nothing to give.</p>\n\n<p>Share a moment when you either carried out or witnessed a momentous act of extraordinary giving.</p>\n\n<p>Who would you want to invite next year to our Seder? How about someone from another culture?</p>\n\n<p>How about the phrase - now we are slaves. What is the thing you are stuck on?</p>\n", "cliptype": "text", "clipsource": "adapted from Ayeka Haggadah", "featured": 0, "featuredIn": null, "is_public": 1, "is_published": 1, "media": { "image": null, "audio": null, "video": null }, "thumbnail": null, "clip_section": [ { "haggadah_section": "Maggid - Beginning", "slug": "maggid-beginning" } ], "likes": 0, "downloads": 228, "tags": [], "themes": [], "language": "0", "is_bookmarked": "0", "is_liked": 0, "meta_tags": { "title": "\"Anyone who is hungry' | Passover haggadah by Ray Sturner", "description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "keywords": "", "og:type": "article", "og:url": "https://www.haggadot.com/clip/anyone-who-hungry-0", "og:title": "\"Anyone who is hungry' | Passover haggadah by Ray Sturner", "og:description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "og:image": "" } } }, { "clip": { "is_admin": 0, "is_owner": 0, "handle": "making-night-different", "title": "Making this night different", "author": "Ray Sturner", "author_handle": "rsturner1", "author_initials": "RS", "covertext": "Passover is a different night because Passover is about change.  We pass .. over from slavery to freedom.   We are not s...", "user_image": "", "user_image_original": "", "body": "<p>Passover is a different night because Passover is about change.  We pass .. over from slavery to freedom.  </p>\n\n<p>We are not stuck.  We're not trapped.  We can change what we what we want to change.</p>\n\n<p>By involving children in singing the Mah Nishtanah we are embedding the secret Jewish code deep inside them.  It is the theme of hope.  Things can be different.  We are no longer slaves.</p>\n\n<p>We are making this Seder different from the last while preserving the order and ritual.</p>\n", "cliptype": "text", "clipsource": "adapted from Ayeka Haggadah", "featured": 0, "featuredIn": null, "is_public": 1, "is_published": 1, "media": { "image": null, "audio": null, "video": null }, "thumbnail": null, "clip_section": [ { "haggadah_section": "-- Four Children", "slug": "four-children" } ], "likes": 0, "downloads": 206, "tags": [], "themes": [], "language": "0", "is_bookmarked": "0", "is_liked": 0, "meta_tags": { "title": "Making this night different | Passover haggadah by Ray Sturner", "description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "keywords": "", "og:type": "article", "og:url": "https://www.haggadot.com/clip/making-night-different", "og:title": "Making this night different | Passover haggadah by Ray Sturner", "og:description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "og:image": "" } } }, { "clip": { "is_admin": 0, "is_owner": 0, "handle": "our-ten-plaques", "title": "Our ten plaques", "author": "Ray Sturner", "author_handle": "rsturner1", "author_initials": "RS", "covertext": "What has been a plague on your life journey? What would be plagues of today? Mosquitoes – Zika Ebola global warming rela...", "user_image": "", "user_image_original": "", "body": "<p>What has been a plague on your life journey?</p>\n\n<p>What would be plagues of today?</p>\n\n<p>Mosquitoes – Zika</p>\n\n<p>Ebola</p>\n\n<p>global warming related: Tornadoes; Hurricaines;</p>\n\n<p>Fake news</p>\n\n<p>Chemical warfare with Syrian family victims</p>\n\n<p>Bombs on civilians</p>\n\n<p>Terrorists</p>\n\n<p>Was the plague of frogs something humorous?  Something funny to give hope</p>\n", "cliptype": "text", "clipsource": "", "featured": 0, "featuredIn": null, "is_public": 1, "is_published": 1, "media": { "image": null, "audio": null, "video": null }, "thumbnail": null, "clip_section": [ { "haggadah_section": "-- Ten Plagues", "slug": "ten-plagues" } ], "likes": 0, "downloads": 214, "tags": [], "themes": [], "language": "0", "is_bookmarked": "0", "is_liked": 0, "meta_tags": { "title": "Our ten plaques | Passover haggadah by Ray Sturner", "description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "keywords": "", "og:type": "article", "og:url": "https://www.haggadot.com/clip/our-ten-plaques", "og:title": "Our ten plaques | Passover haggadah by Ray Sturner", "og:description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "og:image": "" } } }, { "clip": { "is_admin": 0, "is_owner": 0, "handle": "dayenu-gratitude", "title": "Dayenu + Gratitude", "author": "Ray Sturner", "author_handle": "rsturner1", "author_initials": "RS", "covertext": "Have you had any dayanu moments this year – Joyful ones to sing about DAYENU – expressing gratitude Sometimes the accumu...", "user_image": "", "user_image_original": "", "body": "<p>Have you had any dayanu moments this year – Joyful ones to sing about</p>\n\n<p>DAYENU – expressing gratitude</p>\n\n<p>Sometimes the accumulation of small defeats can wear us down and make us lose hope.  My brain is flooded with “Why didn’t I do that?  I can’t believe I did that again: what on earth was I thinking?<br />\n </p>\n\n<p>What would happen if I changed  focus?  If instead of reminding myself of my failings, I started to list my successes?  Even my little ones?</p>\n\n<p>What would happen if we began publicizing achievements and blessings rather than catastrophes and setback?</p>\n\n<p>What if we tried to see things in a positive light?  If we constructed “gratitude lists” to make us more aware of all the wonderful things happening to us?</p>\n\n<p>Singing the song “Dayenu”, a keystone moment for many families , is nothing but not a “national gratitude list.  After a rousing chorus how can a person not have more hope?</p>\n\n<p>What would be on your gratitude list for the Jewish People?</p>\n\n\n", "cliptype": "text", "clipsource": "adapted from Ayeka Haggadah", "featured": 0, "featuredIn": null, "is_public": 1, "is_published": 1, "media": { "image": null, "audio": null, "video": null }, "thumbnail": null, "clip_section": [ { "haggadah_section": "-- Cup #2 & Dayenu", "slug": "cup-2-amp-dayenu" } ], "likes": 0, "downloads": 207, "tags": [], "themes": [], "language": "0", "is_bookmarked": "0", "is_liked": 0, "meta_tags": { "title": "Dayenu + Gratitude | Passover haggadah by Ray Sturner", "description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. 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Find artwork, family", "og:image": "" } } }, { "clip": { "is_admin": 0, "is_owner": 0, "handle": "origins-modern-haggadah", "title": "Origins of the Modern Haggadah ", "author": "Ray Sturner", "author_handle": "rsturner1", "author_initials": "RS", "covertext": "", "user_image": "", "user_image_original": "", "body": "", "cliptype": "image", "clipsource": "", "featured": 0, "featuredIn": null, "is_public": 1, "is_published": 1, "media": { "image": "https://assets.haggadot.com/clips/133613/5b792463-1984-45e1-8698-da553fbea722_1.JPG", "audio": null, "video": null }, "thumbnail": "https://assets.haggadot.com/clips/133613/conversions/5b792463-1984-45e1-8698-da553fbea722_1-cover.jpg", "clip_section": [ { "haggadah_section": "Introduction", "slug": "introduction" } ], "likes": 0, "downloads": 266, "tags": [], "themes": [], "language": "0", "is_bookmarked": "0", "is_liked": 0, "meta_tags": { "title": "Origins of the Modern Haggadah | Passover haggadah by Ray Sturner", "description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "keywords": "", "og:type": "article", "og:url": "https://www.haggadot.com/clip/origins-modern-haggadah", "og:title": "Origins of the Modern Haggadah | Passover haggadah by Ray Sturner", "og:description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "og:image": "https://assets.haggadot.com/clips/133613/conversions/5b792463-1984-45e1-8698-da553fbea722_1-cover.jpg" } } }, { "clip": { "is_admin": 0, "is_owner": 0, "handle": "matriachs-0", "title": "Matriachs ", "author": "Ray Sturner", "author_handle": "rsturner1", "author_initials": "RS", "covertext": "Levin Sisters", "user_image": "", "user_image_original": "", "body": "<p>Levin Sisters</p>\n", "cliptype": "image", "clipsource": "", "featured": 0, "featuredIn": null, "is_public": 1, "is_published": 1, "media": { "image": "https://assets.haggadot.com/clips/166079/Levin-Sisters-_0.jpg", "audio": null, "video": null }, "thumbnail": "https://assets.haggadot.com/clips/166079/conversions/Levin-Sisters-_0-cover.jpg", "clip_section": [ { "haggadah_section": "Kadesh", "slug": "kadesh" } ], "likes": 0, "downloads": 214, "tags": [], "themes": [], "language": "0", "is_bookmarked": "0", "is_liked": 0, "meta_tags": { "title": "Matriachs | Passover haggadah by Ray Sturner", "description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "keywords": "", "og:type": "article", "og:url": "https://www.haggadot.com/clip/matriachs-0", "og:title": "Matriachs | Passover haggadah by Ray Sturner", "og:description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "og:image": "https://assets.haggadot.com/clips/166079/conversions/Levin-Sisters-_0-cover.jpg" } } }, { "clip": { "is_admin": 0, "is_owner": 0, "handle": "tailoring-story-individual", "title": "Tailoring the story to the individual ", "author": "Ray Sturner", "author_handle": "rsturner1", "author_initials": "RS", "covertext": "Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchick told the story of a Seder he remembered from his early childhood. Yosef Dov, who would lat...", "user_image": "", "user_image_original": "", "body": "<p>Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchick told the story of a Seder he remembered from his early childhood. Yosef Dov, who would later become the great Rav Solotveitchick, was just about six years old when he was sitting with his family on the Seder night in their hometown in Poland. They had just made the Kiddush and in walks the Rav’s grandfather, the revered Rav Chaim Soloveitchick, also known as Rav Chaim Brisker. One of the leading Torah authorities for the Eastern European Jewish community, Rav Chaim Brisker was a huge Torah sage and part of a dynastic rabbinic family. In walks Rav Chaim wearing a pot on his head. His grandson, little Yosef Dov, looks up at his grandfather and asks: <em>“Zaide, why are you wearing a pot on your head?” To which Rav Chaim answered: “Because tonight, my dear grandson, is different than all other nights.</em> Tonight our ancestors were redeemed from Egypt.” He then proceeded to engage the entire family which included small children, women and older men in a dialogue, in a conversation about the story of the Exodus.</p>\n\n<p>Rav Chaim did something strange to try to connect not only with his son, Rav Moshe, who was a great sage too, but also with his six year old grandson, his wife, children and grandchildren. Rav Chaim made certain that everyone at the table was involved in the conversation because that is the mitzvah of the Seder Night - for <em>everyone</em>, no matter what age, background or gender, to speak about and relate to the story of the Exodus of our people. Therefore, the discussion must be tailored to all those assembled and we must do things to make sure <em>everyone </em> is engaged and everyone’s attention is aroused, even if it means wearing a pot on our heads. The idea of tailoring the Seder to whoever is present is most dramatically demonstrated through the famous Fours Sons. The Hagadah speaks about four types of children who each ask their own question at the Seder table, the wise son, the rebellious son, the simple son and the child who cannot even ask. In relating to the very different questions, these different children all ask different questions and receive different answers. In doing so, our Sages teach us a fundamental principal in education: “Teach your son according to his way” (Proverbs 22:6). Based on this verse our Sages teach that children of different dispositions, tendencies, and abilities, need to receive different answers and approaches, even to the same question or event.</p>\n\n<p>This same idea is echoed in the <em>Tanchumah</em>, (an important Midrashic source) which comments on the verse: “Moses spoke and God answered with a voice’” (Exodus 19:19). Our Sages point out that at Mt. Sinai, when God was giving the Torah to the Jewish people, God spoke with a “voice” that Moshe could handle. Similarly, God’s “voice”, says the <em>Tanchumah</em>, came to each and every Jew according to his and her capacity. “The elders heard the voice according to their capacity, the young men according to theirs, the children according to their capacity, the infants according to theirs, the women, all according to their own capacity.” In the same vein, the Hagadah has four different children, representing four different parent-child dialogues, to teach how the Torah recognizes different types of children, all with different questions. Each child receives attention and each is given an answer. Although the wise son’s question is posed in a more sophisticated way than the simple son – this does not mean that only he receives an answer. Each asks and each receives a response. For both the wise and simple son bring their own special strength to the dialogue and to the Jewish community. The wise son brings his profound and inquisitive mind and the simple son - his readiness and purity of faith. As the Brurei Hamidot (commentary on the Mechilta) writes, <em>the opposite of the wicked son is not the wise son but the simple son. For the simple son is ready and willing to serve God in his utter simplicity and faith, to accept every aspect of the Torah, even the non-rational parts, which the rebellious son mocks. And yes, even the rebellious son receives an answer. </em> Even after denying the foundation of our faith he receives an answer because he shows up. Finally, the child who knows not even to ask - for this kind of child, the Hagadah teaches “you must open” - you the parent or teacher must begin a dialogue for this child does not know even enough to pose a question.</p>\n\n<p>The Hagadah is teaching us how to respond to the different kinds of questions posed by the varying types of personalities within the Jewish community. We can no longer afford to simply provide answers for those with background and knowledge. The vast majority of Jews today do not come to the Seder asking the wise son’s question and so we must be patient and in many cases take the initiative and open the conversation. All four sons however are to be commended for being present. The <em>most problematic son is the “fifth son” – a term coined by the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, the child who never showed, for Passover and much of Judaism has little or no meaning to him.</em> We must learn how to answer questions posed by all types of Jews, for if we don’t, then in coming Passovers we will find ourselves even without simple sons or children who cannot ask.</p>\n\n<p>However, we must learn how to speak to all Jews for a more fundamental reason: so we can answer the questions posed by our own children. There are some who view the four sons – not as representing four different types of Jews, but as <em>one</em> individual Jew, at different stages of his or her life. A child is born as someone who cannot even ask. The small child grows a bit and now he can ask but he is simple minded – his perspective of the world is black and white. As the child continues to mature into his adolescent years, he goes through a period of rebellion, questioning the values in which he has been raised. Of course, we pray our children continue on to the final phase, to that of the wise son, someone sincerely interested and inquisitive for wisdom and knowledge – one who spends the rest of their learning, studying, and searching for answers.</p>\n\n<p>There is a true story told of a great Rabbi, Rav Eisel Charif of Slonim who was looking to marry off his daughter. He of course wanted her to meet someone very learned in Torah and so he traveled to the greatest yeshiva of the time, the world famous Yeshiva of Volozhin where the best and brightest Talmudic students were enrolled. Upon his arrival he informed the head of the Yeshiva he would present an involved question on Torah to all the students and whoever could give a suitable answer would be given his daughter’s hand in marriage. Rav Eisel posed the question which quickly made its way around the yeshiva. The question was so difficult no-one could answer it right away. He therefore stipulated he would give all the yeshiva students one day to come up with an answer. The day came and went and no one came forward and so Rav Eisel got unto his couch and proceeded back home. Suddenly the couch driver heard a voice crying: “Stop, stop”. Looking behind him he saw one of the students from the yeshiva running, desperately trying to catch up with the coach. The driver began to slow down but Rav Eisel told him to keep going: “It’s too late for him to answer now” he told the driver. The couch driver pleaded with the Rabbi: “Have pity on this young man, look how he’s running with all his strength to catch up to us”. Rav Eisel relented and the driver stopped the horses. As soon as the young man caught up, the Rabbi told him: <em>“Look, it’s too late to be considered for my daughter, the day has already passed”. “I realize that” the student responded, “But I just want to know the answer to your question. Can you tell me?” The Rabbi was so impressed with the students’ inquisitiveness and great desire to know the answer to the Torah question, he posed that he took him and brought him to meet his daughter</em>. They eventually married and that young man became the legendary and famous Rav Yossele of Slonim, the great Slonimer Rebbe.</p>\n\n<p>The Four Sons teach how much Judaism values our questions but our tradition also demands we search for answers. How much do we try to find the answers to our life’s questions? How far are we willing to go, how fast are we willing to run to learn and grow in our Judaism? Passover is a holiday that requires us to learn and observe more, inspiring us to never be content with where we are now, but to keep learning and acquiring greater knowledge and wisdom. For when we stop learning, we stop growing. Our Judaism becomes stale and Torah ceases to be the dynamic and exciting approach to life we know it to be. This is why the Hagadah records how the greatest sages of the Talmud stayed up all night discussing the story of the Exodus - for they wanted to know more. May we all follow their example and may this Passover inspire us all to recommit ourselves to learn and study more, take more classes, read more Jewish books and in doing so bring greater wisdom and insight and ultimately redemption to ourselves and our people.</p>\n", "cliptype": "text", "clipsource": "Rabbi Mark Wildes Manhattan Jewish Experience Founder/Director 131 West 86th Street New York , NY 10024 212-787-953", "featured": 0, "featuredIn": null, "is_public": 1, "is_published": 1, "media": { "image": null, "audio": null, "video": null }, "thumbnail": null, "clip_section": [ { "haggadah_section": "-- Four Children", "slug": "four-children" } ], "likes": 0, "downloads": 211, "tags": [], "themes": [], "language": "0", "is_bookmarked": "0", "is_liked": 0, "meta_tags": { "title": "Tailoring the story to the individual | Passover haggadah by Ray Sturner", "description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "keywords": "", "og:type": "article", "og:url": "https://www.haggadot.com/clip/tailoring-story-individual", "og:title": "Tailoring the story to the individual | Passover haggadah by Ray Sturner", "og:description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "og:image": "" } } }, { "clip": { "is_admin": 0, "is_owner": 0, "handle": "introduction-2020-5785", "title": "Introduction 2020", "author": "Ray Sturner", "author_handle": "rsturner1", "author_initials": "RS", "covertext": "Introduction - 2020 Reconstructive Judaism is a movement that accepts our heritage with an obligation to interpret and a...", "user_image": "", "user_image_original": "", "body": "<p><span><span><b>Introduction - 2020</b></span></span></p>\n\n\n\n<p><span><span>Reconstructive Judaism is a movement that accepts our heritage with an obligation to interpret and add to that tradition in the most meaningful possible way.  </span></span></p>\n\n\n\n<p><span><span>In 2020 we are particularly thrown to observe how cultures have evolved over the centuries that could possibly have been in service of survival of the group.  It is has never been more obvious that the survival of humans requires the coherence of group behavior like the flock of geese that fly in a consistent configuration.   As Dr. Kahnamen, Nobel price laureate noted this week that even he had trouble gauging appropriate behavior such as whether he should travel based on his usual intuition.  He notedthe decisions required are based on a higher order mathematical modeling that is not part of our usual human logic system.  Group behavior as a wise social organism depends on individuals deciding what instructions are valid.  It is clear that intuition and human hunches are not sufficient and we must depend on some higher truth such as through mathematics that must change our social behavior culture.  </span></span></p>\n\n\n\n<p><span><span>Perhaps the Chinese culture of bowing with hands together may have had some survival value over handshaking.  On the other hand if they were following Jewish kosher laws in China we would not have the epidemic at all.  Of course it would have required that everyone believed in it and no one was interested in eating bats -- even if the current leader was not trustworthy.   Many cultures and religions have elements that we are rediscovering as essential for health and social cohesion such as mediation and gratefulness.   Our Jewish chain of ideas based on lay Talmudic discourse and rethinking of historic challenges, such as retelling the historic Passover story and discussing it as we will be doing is a heritage I treasure.  It certainly has track record for survival of the Jewish people over many centuries of challenges.  It is notable that our required recollection of the Passover challenges begins with the obligation and blessing to wash your hands.  It is not hard to imagine how those who adhere to this ritual may have a higher level of survival.  </span></span></p>\n\n\n\n<p><span><span>The Jewish Reconstructionist tradition is to see “societal challenges as crises of values and meaning, rather than the random and impersonal havoc wreaked by a highly contagious molecule.”  It is the challenge of social isolation in a cohesive way.  Also the clash between being independent minded and realizing that survival depends on interdependence and conformity with some universal truth we can all believe in.  </span></span></p>\n\n<p><span><span>There is nothing in my experience that makes it clear that we are all connected as much as now – the Chinese person in Wuhan spreading to us and to every remote island on the globe and the health of the poorest person to the wealthiest – the care of one affecting the other.  The need for all of humanity to act following a coherent manner and belief in a universal truth has never been more evident.  </span></span></p>\n\n\n\n<p><span><span>This year we should note to be thankful to Ben and Kimberly for the mitzvah of empathy by rescuing Lenny from NYC.  He had to rush from his apartment and may not have taken everything like the Jewish who didn’t have time for bread to leaven and he was wondering in the basement for not 40 years but 14 days before his freedom to come upstairs and Becky’s welcoming Sam to San Diego may also have had some survival value.   We are ready to rescue Esther when the time is right.   </span></span></p>\n\n\n\n\n\n", "cliptype": "", "clipsource": null, "featured": 0, "featuredIn": null, "is_public": 1, "is_published": 1, "media": { "image": null, "audio": null, "video": null }, "thumbnail": null, "clip_section": [ { "haggadah_section": "Introduction", "slug": "introduction" } ], "likes": 0, "downloads": 177, "tags": [], "themes": [], "language": "0", "is_bookmarked": "0", "is_liked": 0, "meta_tags": { "title": "Introduction 2020 | Passover haggadah by Ray Sturner", "description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. 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