Can it be that the heroes of the last 3500 years of Judaism are just chopped liver?

We attended the Secular Jewish Circle Seder a week ago Saturday night and want to express our appreciation for being able to come.

The best parts were the camaraderie, the play put on by the children… The kids, esp the boy and girl playing a Greek chorus, were terrific! Dare I say miraculous?

The food was awesome. Afterward I thought of chipping in

with others from the SJC to add a Salish feastbowl to honor another NW tradition .. the POTLACH! Let em know if I can help make this an SJC tradition.

With all this good we came away disappointed.

The weakest part was the very artificial efforts to avoid referring to God.  This effort reminded me of the use of the hyphen in “G-d” or the term “The name” used by observant Jews trying not to take the name of an unnamed Deity in vain.

Isn’t this a bit hypocritical?

Can’t secular Jews enjoy traditions? The central role played by God in the Jewish story inspired not only Jews.  Our story still plays a central role in the efforts of African Americans to free themselves from slavery!  I recommend that members of the SJC attend a Black church some Sunday!  Too many Jews and Blacks have died for those beliefs to allow us to simply avoid reference to “G O D” as if it were the N word.

America is beyond Jews and Blacks.  This country was built on a belief that all people must live under the rule of law.  That law, in Judaism, is not given by man or priests, it is a  “natural” law as eternal as the laws of physics.  Natural law  is inherent in the Jewish code known as mitzvot.  

As flawed as we now see laws made three millennia ago, the idea that natural laws exist was central to the thinking of my own hero, Thomas Jefferson.  The reasoning behind the US Constitution is derived from “natural” laws.  For Jews this is an ancient idea. 1000 years ago Judah Halevi taught that Jewish law existed in its own right,  as true as and as independent of a need for other causes as G-d himself. 

It seems to me to be a very bad idea to deny American Jews’ our role in the human American heritage of a society built on law. .

The biggest disappointment, however was the absence of any reference to Jewish or world history since the exodus.  Leaving the Holocaust out of Saturday’s Seder offended my wife and me. The role of secular Jewish heroes in creating modern American democracy,  especially the labor movement, should be taught to all kids. On a global level, a Haggadah should take pride in the invention of passive resistance under Hillel and the Pharisees, the thinking of Halevi, Spinoza, Gordimer, Alinsky, Golda Meir … not to mention human heroes like Gandhi, Chavez, and King who built on the traditions of Hillel.

We have all of these heroes in our family Haggadah and welcome others to share with us by writing their own version. http://handbill.us/?page_id=30738