Lary Bloom
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Friday, April 14, 2006
The New Pharaohs
The Passover Seder tried to keep on track, and not disintegrate into familiar political commentary. This was not easy. I asked the question, at the beginning of the meal, how the story of Exodus relates to today. We managed, not surprisingly, to mention Darfur, and a few Middle Eastern countries in the news. I wanted to focus on this issue: What does a person in America do about the suffering of others short of declaring war and dropping nuclear bombs?Iran, of course, was at the center of this. We know about oppression there, as we knew about oppression in Iraq. Our promise, as people who gather at the seder table every spring, is to help those in bondage. But the Bush Administration's only answer to that question seems to be the threat of bombs. Bomb them into freedom.
It is true that the Haggadah story that we read every year is violent. Pharaoh gets his in a big way: 10 plagues including the death of the first born, and then the drowning of much of his army. There's no denying that Biblical tales more than infer that violence is an option. But all of that is in a context of virtues people are supposed to recognize and acquire.
One person at the seder offered the usual advice: We've got to vote Democrats into office. That's practical. But there's more. We need to be on this case every day. We need to be vocal. We need to be less consumed by American Idol and more by the world around us.
That's the message, updated, of the story of Passover.
Posted by:Lary Bloom at 5:18 AM
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