The Passover Seder is upon us. The Seder is a wonderful celebration of spring and freedom, but first we must put matters in order. One of the evils our people has assimilated into itself over the long and bitter years of persecution we have experienced – since as far back as the destruction of the first Temple — is a sense of enmity towards the gentiles.

During its early stages of tribal culture, Israel fought wars like other nations did, but we had not yet developed the deep seated hatred of the gentiles that characterizes us today. To be sure, during the biblical period there was a self awareness of being a people chosen by “our” G-d to receive the Torah. Thus, “For you are a peop0le consecrated to the Lord your G-d: of all the peoples of the earth the Lord your G-d chose you to be His treasured people.” (Deut. 7:6). Still, the above sited verse does not express hatred towards the gentiles.

It should be pointed out that along side this awareness of chosen ness there are also verses that command us to love the stranger who lives among us, and who does not belong to our people. It is a commandment from the Torah to love the stranger, just as it is a commandment to love they neighbor as thyself, or to love the Lord thy G-d. “And you shall love the stranger, since you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” (Deut, chapter 10). And furthermore, “The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens: you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord.” (Lev. 19:34).

We must be particularly aware of the following point as the seder night approaches: The exile in Egypt and the difficulties of slavery which we suffered there are not considered by the Torah to be a justification to hate the Egyptians, or strangers in general, but rather as a source of learning and compassion, love and understanding, things that are so important to a stranger residing in a foreign land. Foreign workers residing today in Israel are a good example (to say nothing of the Arabs, Druze and Bedouin in Israel).

The Torah forbids us to hate gentiles who are close to us. “You shall not abhor the Edomite, for he is your kinsman. You shall not abhor and Egyptian, for you were a stranger in his land.” (Deut. 23:8). Again, our bitter history of slavery in Egypt does not make the Egyptian hateful to us, but rather someone whom it is forbidden to hate!

And what about Edom? Edom was a neighboring nation, residing in the Edomite Mountains in the southern part of Transjordan. The Edomites were considered by the Torah to have descended from Esau, the son of Isaac. Ethnically, the Edomites were driven westward by the Nabateans. When the Babylonians destroyed the Temple, the Edomites took advantage of the situation and crushed the ruins of Judea to the very foundations. Later on, during the Second Temple period, they were conquered by the Hasmonean kings and forced to convert to Judaism, finally assimilating into the Israel. Nevertheless, from the mythological standpoint, in the Jewish mind of the Second Temple period, Rome was associated with “Edom,” and since Rome adopted Christianity, the Kabbala has seen Christianity as the “religion of Edom.” (This, despite the fact that according to archaeological studies the first goddess of Edom was called “Kos[1].”)

Although the Torah forbids us to hate our Edomite brothers, the troubles that Edom caused the Judean kingdom led many prophets to pour out wrath and angry prophecies on the Edomites. And despite all this, in the course of the years the Edomites were to Judea and assimilated therein. Thus, many of us of today bear Edomite genes.

Pour out thy wrath:
The verse that most of us are familiar with in the Hagaddah calling upon the Holy One, Blessed by He to pour out his wrath upon the gentiles is taken from the book of Jeremiah (10:25): “Pour out your wrath on the nations who have not heeded you, upon the clans that have not invoked your name. For they have devoured Jacob, have devoured him and consumed him, and have laid desolate his homesteads.”

Jeremiah saw the total ruins of Judea, felt the pain of hunger, degradation, death and mourning which he saw with his own eyes. We cannot put ourselves in his place, just as we cannot put ourselves in the place of a holocaust survivor or of someone injured in a terrorist attack. But we can – and we must – ask ourselves if we wish to choose the tradition of hatred and revenge or the commandment of compassion and love. Do we want to raise another generation of Jews on the verse “Pour out thy wrath upon the gentiles,” or on “Thou shalt love the stranger/”

The wars and destruction of ancient times should be seen in the broader context. They did not happen just to us. Nations fought one another, conquered and exiled one another and mercilessly killed those who might rise up against them. This is how nations who conquered us behaved, and this is how the kings of Israel – David and Solomon – behaved towards the nations they conquered. This was the morality of war in ancient times. Nothing that was done to us in ancient times was the result of anti-Semitism or the hatred of Jews. These were regional conflicts and wars between great powers.

But the modern period has brought anti-Semitism. There have been many causes of anti-Semitism, and much research has been devoted to the subject. I would like to add only one thing to the subject: We Jews, as well, bear responsibility for the creation of anti-Semitism. Love brings about love, and racism brings about more racism. We should not be surprised that they hate us when so many of our prayers included formulations such as “Pour out thy wrath.”

With the conclusion of every synagogue service, worshippers say the “Aleinu” prayer. Three days per week, 365 days per year, the religious Jew says the following: “It is our duty to praise the Lord of everything, to hail the Lord of creation, who did not make us like the nations of the land, and did not place our fate with other peoples. For they worship the empty and meaningless, but we bow down and worship and thank the King of Kings, the Holy One, Blessed by He.” We and them. We are great, and they worship the empty and meaningless. They, the Buddhists, the Christians, the Sufis and the Indians. The are all empty and meaningless, and only we have bet on the winning horse of the Holy One, Blessed be He.

I do not want to debate how much of this consciousness was the result of pogroms and to what extent, at least in part, it contributed to the creation of pogroms. But one thing is clear to me: I am no longer willing to continue with this approach, and as part of the Jewish People I admit our own part in the great mistake of hatred between us and the nations of the world, and take responsibility, limited but necessary, to correct the situation. I am not the first one to say this, and thankfully so. The more Jews who pay attention to this, the better.

We must recreate our religiosity. We must take the texts which we have inherited from our forefathers, such as the Passover Hagaddah, scan them with an “anti-virus” that can locate the seeds of hatred among us, and repair the infected files.

The development of hatred, suspicion and enmity damages us more than anything. Not only from the political point of view, but also from the inner perspective of openness to the great oneness of G-d.

In our Seder, we will pray for pray for a freedom that does not require the enslavement or suffering of others. “Pour out they love upon everyone who knows you, and bring close those who do not know you, so that they may know you in truth.”

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[1] With regard to Edom, see an article by B. Luria “The Enemy from the South” at the following link:http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/kitveyet/betmikra/haoyev.htm

Recent Articles by Rabbi Ohad Ezrahi

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Categories: Passover
Tags: Bo, human rights, ISM, order, palestinians, Passover, settlers, truth