Dealing with other plagues at Passover

By ALAN SMASON, CCJN Editor

When we ask the Four Questions at the seders tonight and tomorrow night, we invariably touch on the things that make Passover special and why it is different. When the rabbis of the Second Century codified our religious observance with the seder service, they took great pains to point out the suffering caused by the Ten Plagues.

Indeed, there is a line of discussion whereby various rabbis exclaim that the plagues were multiplied many times over at the Red Sea during the Exodus from Egypt. While much of the talk is spiritual in nature, there is no doubt there was an attempt to harp on the vagaries in Nature suffered by everyone during this period.

Today we are fully aware that tragedies occur on a daily basis. Some threaten our lives. Others impose on our businesses or on our abilities to pursue happiness. When these kind of tragedies occur, it is our duty to respond to aid our neighbors as we would hope they would respond were we in a similar position.

The past week has seen horrible natural disaster events in Houston and a man-made disaster closer to home. Houston’s Jewish community has been hit hard again with monumental flooding, just as it was coming back from a similar flood 11 months ago on Memorial Day weekend. The people of Houston have previously come to our aid when we were suffering during the recovery period from the flooding associated with Hurricane Katrina. It is our duty as thinking and feeling Jews to offer whatever relief we can to help them come back from this crisis.

As to the closer-to-home tragedy, we are talking about the tragic blaze and resultant smoke, heat and water damage that occurred at Rabbi Gabriel Greenberg’s rabbinic residence in Metairie. Thankfully, no one was injured, but the devastation that has resulted and the loss of so many personal items that will never be able to be replaced has got to hit him, his wife Abby and his two small children especially hard. Please consider giving to the Go Fund Me site or to Congregation Beth Israel directly. The money will help them recover and return them to their house sooner. (There are links in the above story to donate directly.)

We are always expected to give tzedakah (charity), but at this time of year the mitzvah of giving is even more important and your assistance to Rabbi Greenberg’s family and the the Jewish congregations of Houston will be very much appreciated.

Chag Samayech, a zissen Pesach and Shabbat Shalom.