Opening the Door for Elijah
Last year at the first night seder, when it came time to open the door for Elijah, Yonatan reminded us why we really open the door.
We open (and will open) the door because for hundreds of years the “blood libel” was used to persecute, torment and murder those of our faith. We have opened the door for centuries so that Christians passing by could plainly see that we were not murdering their children and using the spilled blood to make matzoh for Passover.
At the time I remember thinking “how freaking absurd can you get? How on God’s green earth did anyone ever believe that?” And yet I knew that insanity like The Elders of Zi*on still float around and that many people in this world hate Jews.
Passover has been on my mind recently even though it’s still months away. I’m already thinking of cleaning and preparations and what (vegan)B is going to eat at the seders. “Blood libel” had not been on my mind. I’d only been thinking of the joy of the holiday and all the prep for it. It actually kind of sucks to see “blood libel” as a trending topic on Twitter. In the end though maybe this will be good. Maybe it will make people more aware of the persecutions Jews have endured and maybe it will inspire a little more religious tolerance and sensitivity. That’s my hope anyway, that something good will come out of such an offensive statement in response to such a horrific tragedy.
And you’ll notice that I’m not linking to nor specifically mentioning anything more specific than “blood libel.” Because I’ve had my share of hate mail for various reasons and I’m not looking to have random folks who end up here thanks to Google tell me why I’m wrong for being offended or any of that nonsense. Because oh yes my friends anti-semitism is still a mighty force. Use your pal Google to find out about recent anti-semitic happenings at Indiana University.
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