Rob Eshman

April 12, 2011

The Arab Seder

By Rob Eshman

Tweet

Share

This has been a good year for freedom.

The Arab spring that began in Tunisia spread through Algeria, Egypt, Syria, Libya, Jordan, Yemen, Bahrain. The pharoahs who haven’t fallen are plenty nervous.

For decades they enjoyed a stable social contract with their people: You put up with our corruption, economic stagnation and lack of civil liberties, and we won’t kill you, maybe.

Now, suddenly, the contract is irrevocably broken. The outcomes will be various and remain uncertain. Egypt may turn more Islamist. Libya might be a long, bloody disaster. But the sphinx is out of the bag. Arabs, like all people, prefer to be free.

It’s impossible not to see the parallels to the ancient Passover story in the events unfolding today. The pharoahs, the plagues, the oppressed — it’s all being played out across the Middle East and North Africa, often in authentic dress.

For that reason, this year, I would love to hold a seder in Egypt. In Libya. In Bahrain. In Syria. In Iran.

Why not? Passover is a holiday that enshrines the value of freedom as a God-given human right. The seder meal is an ingenious invention (more accurately, an ingenious merging of Greek custom with Jewish narrative). It is a way to physically reaffirm the immorality of oppression and the imperative of liberation: You eat freedom. It is difficult for any people to take the holiday seriously and not fight for their own freedom and that of others. Freedom is a great Jewish value, but not only a Jewish value. Arab families could use a good seder now.

The fact that this is such a far-fetched notion points to another symptom of Arab oppression. It may not be a coincidence that the Dark Ages of modern Islamic political, cultural and intellectual development coincide with the demonization of Jewish self-determination and the rejection of all things Jewish. When the Arabs and Persians in the region can truly study and learn and engage in cultural interchange with their Jewish peers, in Israel and abroad, their own cultures and lives will be richer for it. If the liberation movements in the Middle East truly lead to more open societies — and I recognize that is still a big if — one healthy side effect will be the reintroduction of Jewish culture, history and values into the region where Judaism was born, developed and among whose people it flourished. 

I grew up in a generation that rewrote and redesigned the traditional haggadah to mirror the cause du jour: I’ve seen black/Jewish seders; seders designed for farm workers, feminists, gays, addicts, Darfurians. I once was invited to an animal-rights seder where the haggadah read more like “Animal Farm.” Needless to say, there was no brisket course.

Give me a few hours and some good page layout software, and I could compose a modern-day haggadah for the new Arab world:

The Children of Israel are of course the Muslims and Christians living under a succession of Middle Eastern pharoahs, from Tunisia to Iran.

The Ten Plagues are the disasters this collection of strongmen, criminals, crooks and bureaucrats brought upon their nations: Poverty, Illiteracy, Torture, Oppression of Women, Unemployment, Corruption, Hunger, War, Ignorance and the Killing of the First Born — yes, just think of the generations of young Arabs and Persians denied their true potential, or sent to their deaths in foolish wars, sacrificed for nothing.

The Four Questions are these: How can Islam serve as a true moral compass and not as an instrument of oppression? How can we develop our human capital, and not just our oil? How can all men be free when so many women aren’t? How can we join with free peoples throughout the Middle East, including Israel, against political extremism and religious fanaticism?

As for the Passover foods, the symbols on the seder plate, that’s easy:

Matzah: The unleavened bread that didn’t have a chance to rise can symbolize the speed of these revolutions. They caught every single “expert” off guard and forced our president to make fast choices between an increasingly elusive “stability” and the perhaps equally elusive promise of democracy.

Maror: The bitter herbs can represent the enduring sorrows these populations both have suffered and inflicted on others as a result of their oppressive leadership. 

Charoset: This mix of chopped fruit and spices stands for the mortar of the pyramids we were forced to build; here it can symbolize the cohesiveness of societies that came together to overthrow their leaders: think of Tahrir Square, where religious and secular Muslims and Christians, Kurds and Coptics at least temporarily overcame their differences to fight together as one.

Beitzah: The egg can represent Facebook, Twitter and social media. Don’t ask me why, but something has to. Technology didn’t start the fire, but it sure helped spread the flames. 

Zeroa: The roasted shank bone can represent the sacrifice people made for their own freedom. Hundreds dead and wounded in Egypt. Thousands dead in Libya. Innumerable murdered, tortured and imprisoned in Iran. “I’m not afraid to die,” a 28-year-old Libyan blogger and civilian journalist named Mohammed Nabbous told an NPR reporter, “I’m afraid to lose the battle.” A day later, Libyan soldiers shot and killed Nabbous. 

Elijah the Prophet: Jews open the doors of our homes to welcome Elijah, with his promise of peace, to our seder table, where we pour an extra cup of wine (or grape juice) for him.  How fitting — to Muslims, he is the Prophet Ilyas, defender of monotheism. To Christians, he is often compared to Jesus and John the Baptist. He would be a welcome guest in the homes of all three faiths.

If only they can keep their doors open.

Happy Passover.

A version of this article appeared in print.

---

Post your comment below!

Click here to return to the homepage.

COMMENTS

We welcome your feedback. Comments may not exceed 700 characters.

Privacy Policy

Your information will not be shared or sold without your consent. Get all the details.

Terms of Service

JewishJournal.com has rules for its commenting community.Get all the details.

Post-Revolutions in Northern Africa and the Middle East: Fostering a Successful Democratic Transition by Stanley Lucas http://solutionshaiti.blogspot.com/2011/03/post-revolutions-in-northern-africa-and.html

Comment by Democracyroad on 4/12/11 at 6:44 pm

And what is the broad vision for Israel, nation and land?

We have lived and suffered a long exile, we are doing our best to relieve it and escape it and emerge from it and return from it.

But some Jews have invested so much in the exile and struggled so hard to make sense of it and redefine the Jewish identity in its terms, that they are uncomfortable and fearful of the idea of freedom.

Comment by Ben Plonie on 4/12/11 at 7:58 pm

The closest thing to national redemption is of course the Jewish State of Israel. So what do they do? They want Israel to quit while it is ahead, to let others direct its course, to sell the redemption cheap, to return to exile. They want Israel to commit to an LTR, a stable social contract with the Arabs in which they say: You put up with our corruption, greed, violence and lies, and we won’t kill you, maybe. A contract meant to be broken.

You say, Peace Now. I say, Peace Forever. Which may take a while longer.

Comment by Ben Plonie on 4/12/11 at 7:59 pm

Rob, publisher of the misnamed Soros supported “Jewish"Journal once again attempts to water down Judaism and dejudaize the “J"J.  Our belief is that Passover was a basic step by Gd to free us from Egyptian slavery, send us on our way to Sinai to get the Bible directly from Gd, and then journey to Israel as our homeland.  Leave it to Rob, on the eve of the holiday, to “sanitize” Passover of its Jewish heart and apply it to the Muslims.  Oh Lord, how much longer must we endure this perversion - when will Rob and the rest of his staff and editors be replaced by Jews with a Jewish heart?

Comment by george on 4/14/11 at 2:44 pm

I know what you are saying, george, but back in the realm of ideas, Passover is the unique Jewish holiday. It’s not universal.

The New Year Rosh Hashana is universal.
Yom Kippur is universal.
Sukkot is universal.

Passover is uniquely Jewish. No stranger may attend a Seder. Not even Obama. Nor an uncircumcised male Jew. And those who are absent are cut off from the nation. They are no longer Jews (except for halachic reasons, see Pesach Sheni). The month of Passover is our first month, unlike Rosh Hashana which is the universal first month. It is our national creation and redemption. We will not be ending Naqba Day; they will be giving it up.

Comment by Ben Plonie on 4/14/11 at 3:11 pm

Ben, were you being ironic?  No non Jew, no non circumcised Jew, etc. may attend Passover?  Whether from a frum position or otherwise, I don’t believe that’s true.

Comment by george on 4/14/11 at 4:09 pm

Exodus 12
43 And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron: ‘This is the ordinance of the passover: there shall no alien eat thereof;
44 but every man’s servant that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof.
45 A sojourner and a hired servant shall not eat thereof…

48 And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land; but no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.

Comment by Ben Plonie on 4/14/11 at 9:09 pm

OK?

It’s a bit clearer and more nuanced in Hebrew, but that’s the basic idea.  Passover is the Jewish thang. It is not the holiday of freedom from taskmasters and dictators. It has to do with the relationship of Israel to Israel and Israel to God. That takes care of any conceiveable taskmasters and dictators. If anyone thinks the Arabs can pull it off; go ahead - make our day. They can’t. No one can but us.

Comment by Ben Plonie on 4/14/11 at 9:09 pm

Ben & George, you’re on same side- focus on what’s good &what;‘s harmful in Rob Eshman’s editorials.

I strongly advise Rob to read Bernard Lewis. Lewis called what is happening very accurately.

Freedom that the Arabs want is not the same as the concept of freedom we have in the US. Arab culture focuses more on consensus& negotiation between families and tribes than on our Western concept of democracy. Most would accept sharia law & the concept of sharia justice to govern their affairs–––this is a country mile away from Western concepts.

Comment by LT COL HOWARD on 4/15/11 at 1:19 am

Egypt looks they will ally with Hamas & eventually reject their commitments to Israel. The Moslem brotherhood- painted by the media as moderate and peaceful -is becoming more more active in their campaign to control the govt. All 3 current contenders for pres are welcoming MB participation. 2 of 3 have a distinct record of anti-Israel pronouncements and actions.

Lebanon. No one can call developments over the last few years as moving toward democracy.

Syria the government has decided that repression will keep them in power. Meantime they seek nuclear weapons and are improving the chemical weapons, and the missiles and warheads with which to deliver them.No US efforts to counter.

Comment by LT COL HOWARD on 4/15/11 at 1:21 am

Jordan if there is a revolution it will be pro-Palestinian since the nomads who are the supporters of the ruler are minority & are less anti-Israel than most of the population.

Libya the more we learn about the insurgents the less confident we are that there will be any sort of pro-democracy forces emerging. It may be a case of better the devil you know the devil you don’t know.

Rob you write interesting fiction… But certainly no Israeli can risk survival on your “dreams”.

Comment by LT COL HOWARD on 4/15/11 at 1:22 am

Still starstruck about Egypt?

Netanyahu concerned new Egypt government will be anti-Israel
Egyptian FM called Israel ‘the enemy’ in a statement that angered Israel in view of recent Egyptian requests for help in investments or in receiving more aid from the U.S. Congress.

From Haaratz

Comment by LT COL HOWARD on 4/16/11 at 8:45 pm

Post a Comment

Name:
Email:

Type the word you see below:

Comment:

Remember my personal information

Notify me of follow-up comments?