By Rabbi Lawrence Troster
As this is my first Passover as Rabbinic Director of J Street, I am excited to be part of this pro-Israel pro-peace movement. I have written a new J Street Haggadah supplement for your Seder this year.
After the Seder meal and the third cup of wine, it is customary to open the door for Elijah and to recite several biblical verses that call upon God to exact revenge for the wrongs done to the Jewish people. Both prayer and ritual come at a point in the Seder where we look to the future redemption of the world. But for many Jews the traditional verses that are recited represent a kind of redemption that is preceded by war and chaos and so in many modern Haggadot these verses are eliminated. Instead, it is quite common to speak about the State of Israel as a symbol of the beginning of redemption in a more positive and constructive way. We strive to bring about Tikkun ‘Olam with our own hands. This year’s J Street supplement for the Haggadah contains biblical verses and a new prayer in which we ask God to pour out blessing, wisdom and strength upon us so that we may speedily bring about redemption in the world.