Rabbinic Reflection: Rabbi Samuel Kaye

During my mid-20s, living in Chicago, I hosted Seder for my circle of friends. Almost none of them were Jewish, only one or two had ever been to a seder before. I only had one rule… “Bring a bottle of wine and let me worry about the food.” One of my friends, who had grown up in small-town Illinois and had never met a Jew before me, showed up with an expensive 6 pack of craft beer. The look of bewilderment on his face, when I wouldn’t let the beer into my apartment and tried to explain to him why it would have to wait outside, is still imprinted in my mind.  

This year, your clergy and the Advocacy Committee hope that you’ll invite non-Jewish friends, family, and neighbours to share in your Seder. And be sure to ask these 4 Extra Questions written by your Holy Blossom Clergy.  

With Passover and Seder just a few days away, I want to highlight the Seder Resources that Holy Blossom has compiled to enhance your experience this year. We all know that Passover is not like all the other nights, but “this year is unlike other years” too. The Jewish community faces a new post-October 7th reality both in Israel, here in Canada, and around the world that is challenging many of our long-held assumptions.  

As Canada continues to see a historic spike in antisemitism, the Jewish community is turning again and again to its friends and allies. We are lucky to live in a time when friends have made themselves known and stood by us; this has not always been the story for our people. When asked, non-Jews who stand up against antisemitism overwhelmingly shared that it was their relationship with Jewish friends or family which motivated their convictions.  

Recent data also shared that many of those same allies are only passively aware of what their Jewish friends are going through right now. Others were unaware of how deeply the effects of October 7th, and the rise of Jew-Hatred in its wake, had touched the people in their lives. Passover is the perfect moment to invite these people, whom you already care for, into this conversation about what we are facing.  

You can find the Seder Resources page here! Besides the resource created by the Holy Blossom Temple Clergy, you’ll also find supplements from the Shalom Hartman Institute, the iCenter, Pardes Institute for Jewish Studies, and more. Please explore them to find poems, songs, and prayers to address this unique moment in our lives. 

This year we are slaves. But next year, we will be free.  

This year here. Next year… next year we will see Jerusalem.  

Chag Sameach