Search results for Rabbi Nadav Berger

Pesah celebrates a story of redemption—but what kind of redemption? For whom? Is it a personal or national story? Inclusive or exclusive? How does one get to redemption? What are the decisions and challenges along the way? All these questions and more are discussed in these pages in essays from Hadar’s distinguished faculty. We hope you use this resource to enrich your experience of Pesah, prompting questions to discuss at your Seder and beyond, helping you see this central holiday in new ways.

Pesah celebrates the Jewish redemption story. And yet, our story can only truly be told as a geulah arikhta—a long, extended, enduring redemption.

With insights from Hadar faculty and activities for children and families, Hadar’s 5782 Pesah Reader will be your guide to finding new meanings and messages in this upcoming holiday.

This reader will help you reflect on our multifaceted redemption story, as we consider our Exodus in terms of its extended duration—from the earliest stirrings of our people’s redemption, to its place in our lives today, to the most complete manifestations of redemption that might yet be brought to the world.

The High Holidays are often a time out of time, where we re-examine our relationship to God, ourselves, and our communities; we reflect on ways to make ourselves and these lines of connection stronger and more vibrant. Certainly, the Covid-19 reality of social distancing challenges the traditional setting for this self-reflection: An individual, bolstered by community, standing before God. But these times also create opportunities for re-visioning—seeing things anew and growing in the process.

In these pages, the Hadar faculty has tackled many theological, spiritual, and emotional questions that may arise this holiday season. In what ways must the individual rise to the occasion in the absence of community? What do we expect from God, demand from God, in our prayers this year? What creative avenues are available for conceptualizing community, when we don’t gather en masse? How do we foster celebration and joy in a time of loneliness and stress?