Passover reflections 2020: Going home

Jews, Jesus and Passover: A family reflection

By Bob Mendelsohn

Jews for Jesus, Sydney

Passover is the annual holiday when Jews remember the Exodus of their people from slavery in Egypt. I’m 68 years old and have celebrated Passover throughout my whole life. I grew up in Kansas City in the middle of the USA and have lived the last 22 years in Sydney. It hasn’t mattered where I was living or visiting, Passover is the most celebrated Jewish holiday for me and my family. 

It’s not the food although it is abundant, and it’s not the religious ceremony. It’s not the over-sweet Passover wine or the longer-than-necessary prayers and reading of the script. What happens during the holiday is the release of a sort-of homing device like happens in New South Wales during March as the Rugby League season begins. It’s similar to hearing the sounds of your national anthem being played while someone you don’t know is standing on the dais during the Olympics. There’s a feeling we call ‘hamishe’ in Yiddish, a feeling of home. That sentiment which drove Odysseus until he reached home and E.T. to ‘phone home’ is the hamishe feeling.

And that’s what I feel as I approach the holiday again in 2020. My parents have been gone for 15 years; my brother died years ago. What I’m experiencing is a desire to live in the hamishe reality. The songs don’t change year to year. The food tastes the same; the jokes—we could finish each other’s stories before they start. We are home again.

What causes this? Jewish tradition is much more important to most Jewish people in these days than the Scriptures. Most Jewish people would not seriously knock back the constitutional reality of what Moses or Isaiah wrote. In fact, most Jewish people today would say that the Scriptures are relevant, even though they would not consider them authoritative or inerrant. Still, the Bible is a good story, and the Exodus from Egypt was significant. And that forms the basis of the continuing Passover celebrations.

Most of my people would have some argument with the actual biblical story. They might disclaim the possibility of the 10 plagues, saying Moses got lucky or knew the secrets of Egyptian folklore. They would say things like, “the parting of the Red Sea didn’t actually happen. One, it wasn’t the Red Sea at all, and then secondly, the rendering of the movies like the one with Christian Bale (Exodus: Gods and Kings, 2014) where his feet were soaking wet, was more in line with reality.” or “Miracles are not part of the normal Jewish conversation; Moses and the Red Sea just couldn’t have happened.” 

But that dismissal of the ongoing possibilities of a God-who-overrides is what has caused my people to miss so much in history. Abraham’s wife Sarah laughed in disbelief when the angel communicated about God overriding her 90-year-old body’s limitations. Moses dismissed his own allegiance of faith in striking a rock instead of speaking to it, as God had instructed. His lack of faith prevented his entry into the Promised Land. Saul let his own cleverness override God in sparing Agag and the best of the conquered treasure while disobeying the clear command to rid Israel of the Amalekites. God wanted to override the situations of the people; those who trusted him would live in his pleasure. And continue to celebrate the God of history and the God of the Exodus. The God who overrides. He’s the God of the super-natural (extra-ordinary: above the normal).

We find ourselves at this season in global history in dire circumstances. Nothing looks hopeful. The share market is plummeting. The Aussie dollar is falling, almost in free fall. Covid-19 is the latest of pandemics featuring a coronavirus. Countries in Europe and other continents are in lockdown. Whole states in the USA are in shelter-in-place, stuck at home with seriously limited excursion capacity. Here in Australia, states are shut from one another, and churches are closing for the season, using internet apps like Zoom and Skype for a chance to host church services and Bible meetings. Sports centers and tournaments are canceled for the time being. Where is the hope for humanity? 

As believers, we look to the Almighty for hope. But why would anyone do that? On what do we fix our hope? Is it because we are such good and noble and caring people? Thus it’s a reward for our good behavior? Or is it because he has to do this to maintain our commitments to him? That is, if he doesn’t act, then we will walk away and find another deity?

The stories of Passover and its Christian counterpart, The Passion/ Resurrection Day, teach us much more. Passover features the stories of God sparing the Jewish firstborns in Egypt and bringing his people out of slavery. They are stories of the God-who-overrides. This being is reflected in the deliverance Yeshua (Jesus) offers to all who put their trust in him. He died at the hands of the Romans and his execution was permanent. They buried him. He was a goner. And yet, he arose from the dead. That’s extra-ordinary! That’s the God-who-overrides. We are delivered by Yeshua from sin and death. Egypt then represents our bondage, our inability to find eternity, our failures to find grace and mercy to help in times of need. 

Thus, if we trust Messiah Yeshua, we are set free from the bondage (Romans 8.2, 8.21) of our personal Egypt and brought into the light of the Kingdom (Colossians 1.13) of God’s beloved Son. The new covenant is better than the old covenant on so many levels: a better name, a better priesthood, better blood, better conditions, better promises, and on and on. Leaving Egypt was awesome. Crossing the Red Sea was God’s power-made-manifest to the Hebrews. 

Then God led the Jewish people to the Promised Land and we experienced his hand in all our

ways. We found ‘home’ and that hamishe feeling. Only by living in his promises and in relation to the Almighty and Yeshua the Messiah will Jewish people find the best hamishe feeling ever. It’s not the four cups of wine; it’s not grandmother’s matzo ball soup. It’s in finding our Elder Brother, Messiah Yeshua of whom the prophets wrote that we find home.

Easter is a Jewish story—the crucified Messiah, the Son of God, the (Passover) Lamb of God, who dies on Passover, is buried and rises from the dead on the Jewish holiday of First Fruits (Exodus 34, Leviticus 23, 1 Corinthians 15). It’s the story of redemption from something far worse than Egyptian slavery. We are saved from sin and death. And translated into the kingdom of God’s dear Son. Hallelujah, what a Saviour!

Social Distancing: Corona's march to madness

The news and the sportscasts and the conversations around the water cooler are filled with coronavirus, Covid-19, and statistics about the numbers of countries and people and closures. We have turned into information gluttons and Facebook junkies interested in the origin and the terminus of the pandemic. Some aver conspiracies. Some allege fake news. No matter what your opinions on that, everyone is affected. 

There is no toilet paper in the shops. Stores are now limiting purchases of rice and flour and staples. The ABC in the US reported "Measures to prevent the spread of navel coronavirus are underway with schools closed, sports events canceled and business conferences postponed. These measures, considered "social distancing," may be key in containing the spread of the coronavirus”   

That term "social distancing" caught my ear. And maybe it's catching yours as well. The whole business of socialization is linkage and growing closer as humans. We gather in society; we gather into societies. But something about this virus has caused us to pull apart, to sit further away, to look with suspicion on the guy in the next seat at the cafe or on the subway in the morning. 

The ABC report continues with the definition. "Social distancing is a public health intervention in which people are discouraged from convening in groups and encouraged to keep physical distance from others in order to slow the spread of illness," said Dr. Neha Chaudhary, child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School and co-founder of Brainstorm, Stanford’s lab for mental health innovation."

As a result, Scott Morrison, prime minister of Australia, announced that no gathering of more than 500 people is allowed as of today. Some schools will remain open; university lectures continued in person, and public transport remains open. BUT the Royal Easter Show, the Grand Prix, and other major events are canceled. All schools may be next.

An Australian Department of Health study on social distancing (https://www1.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/519F9392797E2DDCCA257D47001B9948/$File/Social-2019.PDF) doesn't exactly commend the need for such closures, as secondary concerns like revenue lost and other costs should weigh into the conversation. 

The Sydney Morning Herald reports (https://www.smh.com.au/national/australian-schools-offices-should-be-closed-immediately-experts-20200312-p549gi.html ) that the best way to stop the pandemic is to shut schools and have employees of all businesses working from home rather than gathering on the transport systems and in the offices of the major cities. 

The Herald said, "Closing schools could cut virus spread by up to 50 percent, according to the federal government's influenza pandemic plan. But that would cause extreme disruption as parents would be forced to take time off work. And some of those parents are doctors and nurses, so we lose twice.

The number of people allowed on public transport would likely to be severely limited. "In a pandemic situation, you'd cut the number of people down to one person per seat," said Associate Professor Adam Kamradt-Scott, who helped author the federal government's influenza pandemic strategy."

It's clear that social distancing will have a positive effect on the prevention of the spread of coronavirus. Or at least the slowdown of the spread. There is much talk saying that the slower the spread the longer the disease lasts. In other words, the shorter, the more explosive. And yet, the longer it lasts, the more hope people have to get in beds at clinics and hospitals and have a higher likelihood of survival.

My friend Kathy wrote to me about this: ""social distancing" seems an unfortunate terminology for it. Maybe "physical distancing" would be better. I think the "six-foot" rule - staying 6 feet away from other people - is a good one. You can still have a conversation - though not a private one! - at that distance.

The Bible has something to say about ‘social distancing. In the opening book, Genesis, Jacob, and his father-in-law had distance between them, but that was based on mistrust and conniving. Later, the brothers of Joseph distanced themselves from Joseph and plotted his death at that time. Moses' sister Miriam stood at a distance from the baby Moses to observe what would happen to him as he floated in a basket. Distance had to do with safety for her.  

When the Jewish people received the Torah at Mt Sinai, they were afraid and stood at a distance so they wouldn't be crushed in the earthquake and lightning storm. Similarly, Peter stayed at a distance after Yeshua was arrested, lest he be caught as one of the followers of the messianic hopeful. 

Social distancing is sensible, but as Kathy wrote above, "it's an unfortunate term." Really the 1.8-meter distance that is recommended in the public is not really possible to maintain in queues at the airport or at the grocery stores. 

When you hear the term later today and tomorrow and for the months to come, will you think of airports and grocery stores? Or will you think of the Bible and those people who tried to hide for fear? Will you think about God and be socially distant from him or will this be a time when you draw near to him? 

The Bible says "draw near to God" and more importantly it tells us why. This from the epistle to the Hebrews: "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." 

Yeshua (Jesus in Hebrew) is that high priest who can sympathize with us in our viral situations. He was tempted in every way just like we are, to horde and to be hostile and angry with our neighbors. He was tempted to hate government impositions, yet he was without sin. Because of his success, we can have confidence to draw near to God. That gives me hope in these troubling times.

God's arms are open wide to you. James wrote this, "Draw near to God and he will draw near to you." That sounds like the plan. No six-foot rule. He's longing to be with you. Won't you trust him now?