Cantor's Blog

This past Sunday, I explored Athens, Greece, a land whose great history parallels that of Israel. Our guide repeatedly referenced a 400-year period under Turkish rule, a dark time in Greek history. Reflecting on just how much occurred during the 15th-19th centuries, on all that happened in the world, and on the progress made, it made real for me the enduring and endless nature of the 400 period of slavery in Egypt under the Pharaohs. It was not merely a generation of slaves who left Egypt – it was generations and generations of unrelenting suffering and loss of hope finally relieved by God through the person of Moses, God’s servant.

As part of the Athens excursion, we took a 30-minute hike up the Acropolis to the Parthenon at what felt like a 90-degree angle. Having recently turned 65, I reached the apex relieved, feeling my age. (Kudos to Hazzan David who annually climbs 14,000 foot mountains – a tribute to his conditioning, his incredible drive and his remaining years of “youth.” ). While standing at the foot of an awesome display of ancient architecture, the guide described the work of the slaves who
made the very same trek up the very same mountain several times daily, all while carrying tons of marble. And once again, I heard (and felt) the echoes of the burden of slavery in Egypt. The slaves had no Shabbat upon which to rest, there were no medical benefits, there was no retirement fund (and there certainly were no Sabbaticals!). Day after day, year after year, generation after generation of suffering without an end in sight.

A day later I sat with my feet dangling over the sea wall in Mykonos listening to the soothing sounds of the gentle waves, delighted by the breeze, and breathing in the cool fresh aroma of the sea that so invigorates my soul. Followed by time in a café overlooking the Mediterranean with a good book and then a brief stop in a souvenir shop. Ahhhh…such is the joy of freedom.

Within the Haggadah we encounter one line which I believe encapsulates what we are meant to experience at our upcoming seders:

בכל דור ודור חיב אדם לראות את עצמו כאלו הוא יצא ממצרים
“In every generation each person must see him/herself
as if he/she went out (to freedom) from Egypt.”

My “reliving” lasted less than 4 hours in Greece. The actual slavery experience of the Israelites in Egypt endured for 400 years.

May we all take the time at our seders to briefly reexperience the sufferings of our ancestors in Egypt and to emerge with a cup of wine in hand, leaning in comfort and with “our legs dangling”, appreciative of all our blessings.

Dayeinu. Thank you, God. Hag Sameich