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Pesach in the Southern Hemisphere4/21/2023 --by Rabbi Margaret
Pesach has come and gone and in the southern hemisphere it was different and yet the same. I missed the symbolism of spring. I love to be out in the country in England and see the young lambs just after we have sung in the Hallel Psalms, ‘The mountains skipped like lambs’. The words of Song of Songs, which also feature in our Liberal Haggadah, ‘The flowers appear on the earth and the voice of the turtle dove appears in our land’, ring true as blossoms appear and snowdrops and crocuses scatter the ground. The symbolism of the green herbs isn’t the same when Pesach isn’t a spring festival. But despite that, Pesach was a celebration that remained significant and meaningful here. The message of freedom is not one that is confined to a season of the year. It is international and eternal. This year, although much further from Ukraine, we remembered the conflict there and the loss of freedom. We also recalled the Russian soldiers, conscripted as the Egyptian horsemen must have been and dying as a result of a war they did not choose. I enjoyed two seders. One was at the home of members. They had an original Haggadah, which had been updated over the years so that, alongside the more traditional material, it had a strong message of social justice, peace and care for the world. There were some beautiful touches and I particularly enjoyed singing the modern Israeli song ‘Bashanah ha-ba-ah’ instead of ‘L’Shanah haBa-ah biYerushalayim’- it had a better tune and a wider message of hope. At the communal seder, I scattered readings on the theme of ‘Leaving Home’ through the evening and people seemed to enjoy discussing their experiences with their neighbours. I taught some tunes and learnt some tunes, including the rousing and popular ‘There’s no seder like our seder.’ It was a delight to involve the children and I discovered I knew the grandparents of one child who was particularly keen to take part. I also made other connections with people I knew in England. It really is a small world. Just as in England, the last day of Pesach is a Cinderella festival, and there were a handful of people evening and morning. But as I have often found, even four people can hold an intimate and meaningful service. And so, we brought the festival to a close with Hallel and I felt the same joy that I always feel on singing these Psalms of thanksgiving.
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Leave a Reply.Rabbi Shoshana Kaminsky has been the rabbi of Beit Shalom in Adelaide, South Australia for the last sixteen years. She's very happy to be serving Birmingham Progressive Synagogue for the next three months.
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