Another Step Toward Putting the World in Order

April 15, 2008

by Daniel E. Levenson

It seems like even Jews who do not make it to services on Yom Kippur or Rosh Hashanah somehow still seem to make their way to a Seder, a concept that I have always found very interesting. Passover Seders are also a time to share Jewish culture with non-Jews who might be curious about Passover for a wide variety of reasons. I recently attended one of the more interesting Seders I have been to, this past weekend, at the American Jewish Committee’s Diplomats Seder at the John F. Kennedy Museum and Library in Boston.

The JFK Museum and Library was an amazing space in which to have the event. With soaring ceilings and an entire wall of glass offering a panoramic view of Boston Harbor and the skyline, I found myself virtually mesmerized by the early spring mosaic of steel-gray water, a sky built of purples, silver and blue, and flocks of seagulls passing by. The room in which the Seder was held had a similar view and as Rabbi Ronne Friedman and Cantor Roy Einhorn led us through the Seder the experience was made even more moving by the sight of birds winging past in silhouette across the evening sky.

The idea behind the Diplomats Seder is to bring together various represntavies from local consuls with leaders in the Jewish and interfaith community to share in the celebration of Passover. I was seated with the Consul-General and Consul of Japan to Boston at my table. This was a fantastic opportunity for cultural exchange as my tablemates and I had the chance to explain some of the history and rituals of Passover and in return the Japanese diplomats told us about Buddhist observances in Japan. We also had a brief, but interesting discussion about Gefilte fish, and I learned that there is a similar Japanese fish dish made mostly from mackerel. I’m not sure if it is also preserved in some kind of jelly, but I plan to investigate further.

What was most interesting about the Seder for me was that the theme of the evening seemed to be not only about sharing Jewish customs, history and culture but also about learning from the cultural history of other peoples and nations. At each place setting there was not only a Haggadah, but a booklet containing printed remarks by some of the speakers and a variety of quotations relating to human dignity and freedom that had been contributed by each of the countries whose representatives were in attendance. The quotations themselves were far ranging, from Seamus Heaney to Primo Levy, but all had a common theme, the desire for peace and understanding between people and nations.

As Dr. Lawrence D. Lowenthal, Executive Director of the Greater Boston Chapter of the AJC, wrote in remarks distributed at the event, “In Boston, we collaborate with and learn from our friends in the many international and interfaith groups and agencies represented here, and with our partners in the consular corps, as we continue our efforts to combat bigotry and intolerance, promote human dignity, and advocate public policy positions rooted in American democratic values and the noble perspective of our Jewish tradition.”

It is through the work of organizations like the AJC, which clearly have a focus on bringing people of different faiths and nationalities together, that I can sometimes catch a glimmer of hope for the future of peaceful relations between sides which so often seem intractably engaged in never-ending conflict. To be sure there is a long and difficult path ahead of us before the world becomes the kind place that was envisioned at this Seder, but it is certainly a path worth walking.