Chocolate or Vanilla? Democrat or Republican? Jersey Shore or the Hamptons? Our lives are full of choices. Some are trivial and will have very little impact on the shaping of our future. Other decisions like who we marry, taking a specific job or moving to a new city all provide a different fundamental canvas that allows for the portrait of our lives to be painted. Sometimes, even the simplest decision of taking the day off on September 11, or missing a flight can make all of the impact that you could never anticipate.
Choice is rarely appreciated. Usually, when it is stripped from us, we acknowledge its role but not often before then. Find me a person recently diagnosed with celiac disease, who can no longer eat breads and cakes and cookies, and they will share how their choices have been limited. Speak to an employee with strict work demands, a prisoner in the penal system, someone who is physically challenged and you will learn of how it feels to have some choices removed and the absence that source makes in one’s life.
My teacher, Yossi Klein Halevi penned a brilliant article this week on Passover http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-war-against-passover. In it, he asks each of us celebrating the holiday of Passover to decide if we Jews are a faith, a nation-state or a people? The very way we define ourselves matters in the way we form our personal exodus story. Making that decision dials in the coordinates and then paves the path for the future you envision.
Choice is the foundation of freedom. No matter how much one can loathe the current election process, the notion that we live in a society where we choose our leaders is the core of freedom and reason to celebrate. No matter how much we are tired from the preparing for Passover, the choice to host a Seder, a freedom festival, and savor in a delicious feast is reason to rejoice. Deciding on which flavor ice cream and where we vacation are all demonstrative of the opportunities and privileges that Moses and the Israelites set out to seek, and that our founding leaders continued in their pathway to guarantee our sacred freedoms.
This Passover, offer your loved ones many choices, not only with food but with ideas. Speak at your Seder about the paths you “chose” and how that impacted your life. Take time to recognize and appreciate the fundamental notion of choice. Make this a holiday where our choices are praised and our gifts are recognized. Then we will do our ancestors proud and our inheritors even prouder!
Dori, our kids and I wish you and your family a sweet, healthy and kosher Passover holiday!
Rabbi David-Seth Kirshner