Pesach – The Bitter & The Sweet

Pesach – The Bitter & The Sweet
By: Chaya Sora Jungreis-Gertzulin
I am writing these words from the Holy City of Yerushalayim. My husband and I joined our daughter and her family to celebrate the Bar Mitzvah of our grandson on Pesach. Sitting at the seder table just a few hundred meters away from the remnants of the Bais HaMikdash, with the walls of the ancient city as our backdrop, was a truly once-in-a lifetime experience.
It is evident that the Jews of Israel are hurting. They have been living a tortured life for these past seven months. Yet, as we walked the streets of Yerushalayim on Erev Pesach, people were busy scurrying about, taking care of last-minute shopping and errands. Doing everything to make sure they and their families will welcome Pesach with joy. We spotted city workers planting flowers. It is still Pesach, Chag Ha’Aviv, Holiday of Springtime. I took the flowers as a sign of a nation’s belief in tomorrow. A nation that not only endures but is filled with hope and believes in the future.
As we welcomed the holiday surrounded by the Jews of Eretz Yisroel, it was impossible not to take note of their strength and emunah, reflecting not only on our nation’s history, but also singing praises to HaShem for His constant protection from enemies, past and present.
At the seder table, we tasted both marror and charoses, the bitter and the sweet. There are so many experiencing the pain of war — the bitter, but at the same time making sure to see the sweets of life.
At the seder, we sang Vehi She’amdah (And this is what stood with our fathers), a haunting, soft melody. his year, its words took on extra meaning.
We are living VEHI SHE’AMDAH.
Vehi She’amdah. And this is what stood with our ancestors and us — our key to survival. For not just one alone arose to annihilate us, but b’chol dor vodor, in each and every generation, there is one that arises against us. V’haKodosh Boruch Hu, the Holy One, Blessed be He, saves us from their hands.
As we were celebrating the Festival of Freedom in Yerushalayim, our hearts were torn by the news of the latest enemy to rise up against us…. the cruel war of anti-Semitism that our people are experiencing world-wide. Particularly painful was hearing and seeing the hate and venom back home in our very own city, at Columbia University and on so many other college campuses. Who would ever have believed that institutions of higher learning, whose purpose and mission it is to educate the next generation of leaders, could possibly sink so low, becoming places of hate and intolerance.
The Jerusalem Post reported about a video published by the Columbia Sundial editor-in-chief, Jonas Du. It shows a man with a red keffiyeh over his face. “Remember the 7th of October” he shouts. “This will happen not one more time, not five more times, not 10 more times, not 100 more times, not 1,000 more times, but 10,000 more times.”
A masked man with a Palestinian flag draped across his shoulder screams loudly, “Are you ready… the 7th of October is about to be every day”.
The encampment demonstrators at Columbia had no problem chanting the words, “From the river to the sea, you will be kicked out — you will see”, followed by “Death to America” . Chants that are both frightening and horrific. “We say justice, they say how, burn Tel Aviv to the ground…. Go Hamas, we love you. We support your rockets too.”
These words were not heard in Beirut, Tehran, or Istanbul. But in New York City. Home to the second largest community of Jews outside of Israel. How shocking, how vulgar. And all of this is tolerated in the name of “free speech” and “academic freedom”.
Vehi She’amdah. And this is what stood. Our sages ask, what stood? What is the “this”, that gives our nation strength. One explanation is that it is our nation’s clinging to the eternal Torah. This message is alluded to in the word “vehi”, which in Hebrew is spelled vuv, hei, yud, aleph. Each of the letters has a numerical value that refers to our Torah.
ו-Vov – six: Six Books of the Mishnah.
ה-Hei – five: Five Books of the Torah.
י-Yud – ten: The Ten Commandments.
א-Aleph – one: HaShem — the One and Only.
How do we survive the exile, the bitter, the marror in life? With the sweet faith that a Torah life gives us.
It’s Pesach. We make our way to the Kosel. The Kosel plaza is packed. Wall-to-wall people. Men and women. Young and old. Jews of every description and background. Jews from Israel, America, Europe, Africa and Asia. All there for a common purpose. To pour out our hearts to HaShem. To plead for Heavenly intervention as we battle enemies, both known and unknown. A nation that believes in the power of prayer. Prayers that sustained our ancestors and that sustain us through these most difficult and challenging times.
We are nation filled emunah and bitachon, faith and trust in HaShem. Even the songs we sing reflect our emunah. Ani Ma’amin — I believe. Yisroel b’tach b’HaShem — Our nation places its trust in HaShem. Anu ma’aminim bnei ma’aminim — We are believers, children of believers. And, there are so many more.
This is the vehi she’amdah. Torah, prayer, faith. With everything in the world going on around us, these are the keys to our survival. These are the most powerful weapons we have to protect us.
The Haggadah takes us on a long journey. The journey of our people, from slavery to freedom. We are still on that journey, waiting for the final leg of the trip to be fulfilled.
We close the seder with the joyous song, L’Shanah Haba-ah B’Yerushalayim, may we celebrate next year in Yerushalayim. May we merit to see Yerushalayim ha’benuya, a rebuilt Yerushalayim. A Yerushalayim of peace…. what we all daven and yearn for.
Wishing all Shabbat Shalom
and a Chag Sameach!
Chaya Sora
Chaya Sora can be reached at [email protected]
This article was written L’zecher Nishmas/In Memory Of HaRav Meshulem ben HaRav Osher Anshil HaLevi, zt”l and Rebbetzin Esther bas HaRav Avraham HaLevi, zt”l