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Slaughtering Sacred Cows

Pesach – Rav Hanan Schlesinger

What would you have done? For that matter, what would I have done if such a fateful dilemma
had demanded that I take a stand?

For 210 years we had been in Egypt. We became part of the fabric of society; the culture
became our culture. For much of that time we had been enslaved, but that did not prevent our
grandparents and parents and ourselves from developing a deep seated identification with all
things Egyptian. And that includes Egyptian religion: We worshipped by and large as they did, we
believed by and large as they did.

And then Moses came on the scene. He forced us to confront our past. We dredged up long
dormant memories of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He reminded us of our former allegiance to the
One God, Creator of heaven and earth. And we were torn, very, very torn. That was so long ago,
we said to ourselves; perhaps it best remains forgotten. And Moses did not make our lives any
easier – from the moment of his very first audience with Pharaoh the burden of our bondage
had only become heavier. We thought it best to put Moses, with his wild claims and promises,
out of our minds; perhaps if we ignore him he will go away. But then he brought those plagues,
just about bringing Pharaoh to submission. Could be there is something to this One God thing.

And now Moses says that the time to leave Egypt has come. We have to make a decision, he
tells us, whose side are we on. The Egyptians hold their flocks in high esteem, attributing great
sanctity to sheep and goats. Truth be told, many of us have worshipped them just as the
Egyptians did. Designate one of the flock per family to be sacrificed to God, proclaims Moses.
Now that’s dangerous, the Egyptians may stone us. And that’s of course the point: He wants us
to risk our lives and take a stand. Hold the animals in full public view for 4 days, tie them up for
all to see so that all the neighbors will know exactly what we are about to do, slaughter it in
broad daylight before the sun goes down, and if that’s not enough, smear the blood on the lintel
and on the two side-posts of the front door, and finally, roast the animal whole over an open

Schultz Rosenberg Campus, 12324 Merit Drive, Dallas TX, 75251

Phone: 214-295-3525 Fax: 214-295-3526
Email: kollelofdallas@sbcglobal.net Web site: www.kollelofdallas.org
The Community Kollel of Dallas is an affiliate of the Center for the Jewish Future of Yeshiva University
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fire so that all will see and smell the spectacle. It’s civil disobedience, religious and cultural
revolt that Moses is demanding. He further warned that only if we disengage from this
idolatrous culture will we be redeemed by God. He put it like this: Egypt must first be taken out
of the Israelites before the Israelites will be taken out of Egypt.

Fast forward to the 21st century. What does this mean for us? The sacrificial lamb of Pesach,
eaten together with the matza and bitter herbs, was about the willingness to repudiate Egyptian
culture and to align oneself – despite the price and the difficulty – with God and the Jewish
People. It was an affirmation of Jewish identity; it was a decision concerning who you are and
what you stand for. It was about personal acceptance of the covenant of Abraham. And that, by
the way, is why circumcision was demanded as well. These two mitzvot – participation in the
Passover seder meal and circumcision of the flesh – are, for males, the two tokens of Jewish
identification. In many senses they determine who is in and who is out.

About circumcision very few of us make a personal choice. Concerning the Passover seder we
exercise our autonomy. Will we indeed re-covenant ourselves and dedicate our lives to the
ideals of Jewish People-hood and of God? It may not be easy, not at all. Certain sacred cows may
have to be slaughtered; are we willing to reject those values and behaviors of pop culture that
may be anathema to Judaism. Do we have the courage and fortitude to do so; are we willing to
pay the price? And so the question may not so much be what you would have done had you
been there over 3000 years ago, rather the more fitting question is what will you do this year in
the here and now?

Schultz Rosenberg Campus, 12324 Merit Drive, Dallas TX, 75251

Phone: 214-295-3525 Fax: 214-295-3526
Email: kollelofdallas@sbcglobal.net Web site: www.kollelofdallas.org
The Community Kollel of Dallas is an affiliate of the Center for the Jewish Future of Yeshiva University