Rabbi Janine's Messages

Dear Community, 

Exactly one month ago I gave a d’var Torah about being a “Passover rabbi.” It was a callback to a question I was asked during my interview to become the next KHN rabbi. The question was, “Are you a ‘Yom Kippur rabbi’ or a ‘Purim rabbi?’” The implication being that some rabbis gravitate towards the solemn, holy, and serious rituals of a holiday like Yom Kippur and others more towards the silly, theatrical, and ultimately more jovial experience of a holiday like Purim. It was a fantastic question. I thought about it and then explained, “I am neither.”

I’m a Passover rabbi. I love the Jewish holidays but I love Passover the most. Some of my earliest memories are of celebrating Passover in my grandparents home, where so many of us miraculously crammed into their small, second level townhome in Brooklyn for two nights of seder. I don’t love matzah, but I love matzah brei. I love that the story of our exodus from Egypt is so pivotal to who we are as Jews that it’s a feature of many prayers outside of Passover, such as Kiddush. I love that Passover is known as z’man cheruteinu, the season of our liberation, and reminds us over and over again that it is our duty to liberate others for we were once enslaved ourselves. And as many of you know, I love the story of Moses. I love the story of our humble and reluctant leader, being Gd’s only choice to deliver the Israelites to freedom. I love that Moses is human, he gets angry, he wants to run away, he struggles with a speech impediment, and yet he notices what is happening around him and takes action where he sees injustice. 

The season of our liberation is only a few more hours away. So here are some Passover resources and little bits of fun you may want to bring to your seder table: 

If you're looking for a fun alternative to the traditional seder, here is A Wicked Inspired Haggadah 
(also check out this Coloring Book Haggadah )

Listen to the songs of the seder. Here are recordings of the songs from the seder from the original CD accompanying “A Night of Questions” the Reconstructionist Haggadah. 

Don’t forget that we begin to count the omer on the second night of Passover on April 13
Learn more Counting the Omer
And 
How to Count the Omer

If you’re looking for more, check out the plethora of resources over at Reconstructing Judaism

WIshing you a Zissen Pesach, a Sweet Passover. 

Shabbat Shalom and (an early) Chag Sameach!

​​​​​​​Rabbi Janine Jankovitz