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Last update - 11:38 05/04/2009
This Seder night, spill some wine for Gaza's dead
By Alex Sinclair
Tags: jewish world, israel news 

On Seder night, many of us both in Israel and abroad will leave an empty chair, place setting, and untouched glass of wine for Gilad Shalit.

By making this symbolic gesture at our Seder, we keep Gilad's situation at the forefront of our consciousness and remind ourselves that at this celebration of freedom, one of our people remains in bondage: May he speedily return to the arms of his family.

By incorporating Gilad into our Seder in this way, we also transform Pesach itself. No longer is it only historical memory; it becomes a lived commentary on our contemporary situation. It is transformed from ritual to political activism.
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Gilad's empty chair at our Seder changes the way we understand our Judaism: It is not just a set of spiritual religious or cultural experiences, but rather a vibrant, insistent vision that demands to impinge on every aspect our lives.

Seder night celebrates our freedom from Pharaoh's oppression, but, in one of its most poignant moments, it also commemorates the tragedy that befell the Egyptians.

As we recount the ten plagues that decimated Egyptian society, we spill a drop of wine for each plague, to remind us of the Egyptian blood that was spilt.

The act of spilling the wine compels us to retain our humanity when we might understandably forget it.

As we whoop with joy that we achieved our freedom, we are commanded to feel sad at the loss of human life amongst our enemies.

We do not deny that this loss of life was necessary, but neither do we rejoice in that necessity. This segment of the Seder, teaching generations of Jews that Schadenfreude is the most un-Jewish of emotions, is one of Judaism's finest hours.

To my mind, when we consider recent events in Gaza, we have no option but to transform the spilling of the wine from ancient ritual to contemporary commentary, just as we do with Gilad's empty chair.

In addition to the drops of wine that we spill in sadness at the necessary loss of Egyptian life 3,000 years ago, we must also spill a drop of wine in sadness at the necessary loss of Gazan life 3 months ago.

To spill wine for Gazan life is not to deny the justness of the war, or to suggest that we should not do the same thing again when Israel's security is threatened. Sadness over our enemies' deaths need not come at the expense of our own convictions.

But the spilling of wine for Gazan life may help save our own humanity. Recent revelations about soldiers' T-shirt slogans that show utter contempt for Palestinian life show just how far we have to go to re-educate ourselves.

This moment in the Seder should become more than ancient ritual: It should become commentary on the contemporary situation.

It should remind us that, even if the war in Gaza was necessary, even if Palestinian civilian casualties were unavoidable, even if we will need to do it all over again in the future, we must never, never, feel joy at the death of our enemies. The ideal situation is one in which we are free and they don't die: that is what we strive for.

This Seder night, we should celebrate our own freedom; pray for Gilad Shalit's; commemorate the Israelis who have died to safeguard our country; and spill a drop of wine to mourn the Palestinian blood that we have spilled in order to keep ourselves free. Our humanity and our Judaism demand nothing less
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  1.   "at the necessary loss .... " 10:51  |  Andreas 05/04/09
  2.   Rather than spilling a drop of wine... 12:22  |  Rod 05/04/09
  3.   banal and pathetic 12:45  |  Ilan 05/04/09
  4.   Hubris 12:58  |  Sophie 05/04/09
  5.   Crocodile Tears 13:11  |  ayboday 05/04/09
  6.   Why an empy chair? 13:19  |  Zvi 05/04/09
  7.   Religion mixed with nationalism is a deadly mix 13:20  |  Michael 05/04/09
  8.   Freedom 13:20  |  Sophie 05/04/09
  9.   Why an empty chair? 13:28  |  Zvi 05/04/09
  10.   spill some wine? 13:44  |  HAL 05/04/09
  11.   Jew Haters #1, #2, #3: Gazans had a choice: to murder by QASSAMS 13:50  |  Vittorio 05/04/09
  12.   ayboday how much candy does it take to celebrate machine gunning 13:50  |  PETER SM 05/04/09
  13.   ROD Spilling wine beats Hamas calling for spilling blood 13:53  |  PETER SM 05/04/09
  14.   Whoop with joy.. 13:58  |  Adam 05/04/09
  15.   WHICH GOD IS THAT ANDREAS? 365 AT THE LAST COUNT 14:35  |  v hardman 05/04/09
  16.   ADAM"necessary loss of life"War criminals who fight amongst their 14:46  |  PETER SM 05/04/09
  17.   Sick, sick, sick 14:54  |  Marilyn 05/04/09
  18.   My what a disgusting exercise. 14:54  |  Labhras 05/04/09
  19.   Show the world our humanity 15:17  |  Z 05/04/09
  20.   ADAM necessary loss of life.Exactly what Hamas wanted 16:09  |  PETER SM 05/04/09
  21.   freedom? 16:19  |  Muskens 05/04/09
  22.   MARYLIN passover a myth So why were your Arab brothers talking 16:24  |  PETER SM 05/04/09
  23.   Huh 16:27  |  gly 05/04/09
  24.   Pharisees 16:28  |  gly 05/04/09
  25.   Alex Sinclair... expect you knew that you were going.... 16:36  |  Esther 05/04/09
  26.   MUSKENS PAL freedom was available repeatedly from 1948 onwards 16:42  |  PETER SM 05/04/09
  27.   GLY "neither do we rejoice in that necessity"we leave that to you 16:45  |  PETER SM 05/04/09
  28.   Israel if you win your land at the cost of your humanity 16:51  |  Muslim 05/04/09
  29.   Re: Sick, sick, sick 16:56  |  Gary 05/04/09
  30.   spil the wine 16:57  |  larry lynch 05/04/09
  31.   MUSKENS Pals refused freedom repeatedly from 1948 17:02  |  PETER SM 05/04/09
  32.   Gaza`s dead 17:08  |  Sarah Roche 05/04/09
  33.   Thank you Mr . Sinclair , we are doing it 17:12  |  TOMY 05/04/09
  34.   Why not Quit spilling blood instead? 17:12  |  jim the mechanic 05/04/09
  35.   What a shmuck! 17:20  |  Menachem Ben Yakov 05/04/09
  36.   Ignorant misinterpretation Alex. Read your bible please again 17:25  |  Binyamin 05/04/09
  37.   this seder article 17:29  |  joyce goldstein 05/04/09
  38.   seder night 17:35  |  zoe 05/04/09
  39.   breaking the covenant 18:03  |  Jim 05/04/09
  40.   Spilling wine 18:11  |  Gerard 05/04/09
  41.   Why should Jews celebrating Pesach... 18:28  |  tristan 05/04/09
  42.   No Problemo 18:29  |  Shimon Cleopas 05/04/09
  43.   jim thr mechanic 18:50  |  david 05/04/09
  44.   The joke is on you 19:22  |  mark 05/04/09
  45.   To Gerard 19:59  |  Jackie 05/04/09
  46.   Nonsense 20:05  |  Jerry 05/04/09
  47.   To Jackie 20:27  |  Gerard 05/04/09
  48.   Wine 20:30  |  Anthony 05/04/09
  49.   Andreas 20:30  |  Brad 05/04/09
  50.   Rod 20:34  |  Brad 05/04/09
  51.   Ayboday: Its Not Up To Israel to Make Up 20:39  |  Brad 05/04/09
  52.   Adam 20:52  |  London 05/04/09
  53.   Marilyn: Mommy says you need to take your drugs 20:56  |  Brad 05/04/09
  54.   Jim the Mechanic 20:58  |  Brad 05/04/09
  55.   marilyn and others haters of israel 21:07  |  vladimir 05/04/09
  56.   Our regular commenters 21:14  |  RfaelMoshe 05/04/09
  57.   Save it for a country that needs it.... 21:15  |  eli 05/04/09
  58.   Necessity of civilian casualties? 22:12  |  Suzy 05/04/09
  59.   to vittorio # 8 22:15  |  Suzy 05/04/09
  60.   We will continue to teach peace!! 22:47  |  Dr Eric 05/04/09
  61.   Did Alex Sinclair forget about Park Hotel!! 22:57  |  Dr Eric 05/04/09
  62.   to dr. Eric 00:23  |  S 06/04/09
  63.   #25 jim the mechanic , listen to the arabs , 03:21  |  TOMY 06/04/09
  64.   enough with this stinking self righteousness 05:10  |  uzi 06/04/09
  65.   Where is this man`s moral conscience? 11:26  |  Dutch 06/04/09
  66.   DORIS he has one he is not rejoicing & promoting killing 11:46  |  PETER SM 06/04/09
  67.   Dr. #60... 12:13  |  Esther 06/04/09
  68.   To Esther 13:39  |  Dr Eric 06/04/09
  69.   Dr. #68... you are avoiding the issue... 14:18  |  Esther 06/04/09
  70.   Listen to yourself! 14:38  |  Minna 06/04/09
  71.   All in the name of the national mythology 14:59  |  Roo 06/04/09
  72.   bull 15:04  |  loz 06/04/09
  73.   What would the relatives of Israeli terror-victims say..... 15:23  |  Swiss (Dino) 06/04/09
  74.   have an empty chair for gilad shalit also 15:32  |  david 06/04/09
  75.   #70 Minna,learn some history first! 15:39  |  Hastaroth 06/04/09
  76.   #17 Marilyn, sick, sick, sick. 16:12  |  John Allen 06/04/09
  77.   #18 Christians killing Christians in Ireland. 16:15  |  John Allen 06/04/09
  78.   #60 Dr. Eric 16:25  |  John Allen 06/04/09
  79.   How about next year in Sderot. 16:31  |  David 06/04/09
  80.   John Allen 16:44  |  joan 06/04/09
  81.   Gazans deaths necessary for who? 16:55  |  Fair 06/04/09
  82.   As a Palestinian, your shadenfreude is despicable 17:00  |  BK 06/04/09
  83.   Nicely Written Mr. Sinclair 17:02  |  Eli 06/04/09
  84.   on the way to court 17:31  |  Fair 06/04/09
  85.   #1 So spilling the wine Is not a good idea for Gaza. 17:40  |  Big Sur 06/04/09
  86.   #8 Sophie in London 17:43  |  Big Sur 06/04/09
  87.   #18 Lahbrasserie, I agree you have said enough 17:45  |  Big Sur 06/04/09
  88.   re: sick,sick sick 17:50  |  Zelkha 06/04/09
  89.   To # 1 17:52  |  Zelkha 06/04/09
  90.   #40 Gerard why not Google up Seder Book 18:04  |  Big Sur 06/04/09
  91.   spill no wine, get plastered instead 18:05  |  steve 06/04/09
  92.   M. John Allen 18:08  |  Robert/Montreal 06/04/09
  93.   Look at the Jewish illiterates out there... 18:22  |  a voice 06/04/09
  94.   #80 perhaps BK one should suggest it is a two way street right, a 18:22  |  Big Sur 06/04/09
  95.   John #76... sympathy for your daughter... 18:23  |  Esther 06/04/09
  96.   #28 MUSLIM 18:50  |  Big Sur 06/04/09
  97.   to Hastaroth 19:26  |  Minna 06/04/09
  98.   simple decency 20:29  |  dave 06/04/09
  99.   linkage 20:39  |  dave 06/04/09
  100.   #81 - Eli 20:58  |  Daniel 06/04/09
  101.   #77 David- Boston 21:37  |  gly 06/04/09
  102.   pompous sentimentality 21:54  |  Penny 06/04/09
  103.   When Pals mourn Jewish dead 22:32  |  David Teich 06/04/09
  104.   78: Joan seems a tad ignorant 22:35  |  David Teich 06/04/09
  105.   80: BK, as a Palestinian, you should be ashamed 22:37  |  David Teich 06/04/09
  106.   #43 David "60 MORE YEARS DOING THE RIGHT THING "? 06:02  |  jim the mechanic 07/04/09
  107.   Alternative to spilling wine 10:53  |  Fair 07/04/09
  108.   To #9 Not because he is a Jew 11:32  |  Freeman 07/04/09
  109.   106: Jim, how much reality will you ignore? 00:01  |  David Teich 10/04/09
  110.   Synthetic Grief 03:10  |  Miles Stuart 14/04/09
  111.   Foreign Relations 20:21  |  Nathan Pilson 04/05/09
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