This past week a Trojan horse (similar to a virus) infiltrated my computer and email, and sent out a mass email to all of my contacts. Thank G-d, the email was innocuous, save for extreme spelling and grammatical mistakes, and an unsolicited advertisement for a Chinese electronics website. I began receiving emails from friends that a hacker had infected my computer. After removing the Trojan horse, I emailed all of my contacts that the previous email was spam. I did however note that this infiltration was a wakeup call to stay in touch with them. Numerous people replied to both the original spam email and the second email. I heard from people that I have not been in touch with for a number of years. One person even informed me that a community with no traditional presence where I served as scholar- in-residence for Shavuos some six years ago, now has a Torah observant synagogue and a kosher restaurant. Other people updated me on their lives and dreams. Although my initial reaction to the hacker’s email was one of anger and frustration, I could not have asked for a greater blessing. After getting over my initial reaction, I decided to use this as an opportunity of growth and connection. The unsolicited communication from China resulted in reconnecting with hundreds of people.
We begin the book of Leviticus this week. The book opens with G-d calling out to Moses by the Sanctuary. The medieval commentary Rashi notes that G-d actually called out to the entire Jewish nation, however only Moses heard. What is the purpose of calling out to everybody, if only Moses is granted the ability to hear? Why didn’t G-d talk solely to Moses?
Rabbi Moshe Feinstein (1895 – 1986) explains that a person commanded directly by G-d has a greater responsibility than somebody who is commanded second-hand. Although the Jewish nation did not actually hear the commandment, the fact remains that they were commanded. For this reason, the souls of all Jews (and converts) were present at Sinai. Although our bodies never heard the commandment; we are all commanded directly by G-d at Sinai. The communication in this week’s Parsha was incomplete. G-d spoke, but we did not hear. Of course it would have been ideal had we heard G-d ourselves, but there was a definite value in the fact that G-d spoke to us despite our lack of audibility.
We have just entered the month of Nissan –the month of redemption. The apex of our celebration is reached on the Seder night. How do we celebrate? We celebrate by retelling the story of the Exodus to our future generations, and to everyone present. Even if the person is all alone, the retelling continues, if only to himself! In contemporary society many people are only interested in Shulchan Aruch, the meal aspect of the Seder. The four questions and all the rest of the questions and answers of the evening does not really interest them. So what do we attempt to achieve on the Seder night? How do we make the Seder relevant in the age of Facebook, Second Life, and Twitter?
Let us understand the importance and relevance of the Seder. The Seder affords us the opportunity to reconnect and communicate in the real world with friends and family. We all gather together and sit around the table attempting true communication. Many people have lost that art of communication. The Seder night grants us the ability of reconnecting and truly bonding. Never in history has the face-to-face real life discussion of the Seder night played such importance, and been in such danger of extinction. We are not only telling a story, we are passing on a tradition of Torah. Torah as we know, is not a document, it a living reality embodied by the countless men, women, and children who celebrate its lifestyle. In virtual reality all of that is lost. Your communication may actually be coming from China, and your profile on Facebook or MySpace may be a product of imagination. The Seder night puts that all to rest. We gather as Jews with a shared past, and hopefully a shared destiny. The Seder’s relevance is not in question. Obviously we must pull all the tricks out of our hats to ensure that we are not only speaking, but somebody is listening as well. Use the ten plague kits, the chad gadya masks, and acting out the scenes. Bring the Haggada to life and be sure to communicate.
Perhaps the Seder requires a Trojan horse to infiltrate those enemy lines of the virtual world, and to show that what appears on the surface has much more meaning beneath it. In the episode of the Trojan Wars, the Greek hero Odysseus conceived the project and design for the Trojan horse, which to the Trojans seemed to be an inanimate empty object with no inner depth. Little did they realize that the wooden horse contained within it the soldiers who led the Greeks to victory over the Trojans. L’havdil, the Haggada has a great inner depth. Let us open it up, and delve inside. Let’s discover the relevance of the Seder, and be wowed to reality by the beauty of the realistic Torah world. Let us shut off our computers, and tune in to the most beautiful and overly relevant world that the Seder night reveals to us all.
