Intro to tonights City Winery Seder

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irZQonCfVLE

Thank you all for coming.  For 31 years now, I’ve welcomed people to the Downtown Seder and never before have I felt like I was walking on egg shells like I am this year regarding my thoughts on Israel as an American Jew.   What I have been doing with this Seder since the early 90’s is take the timeless themes of Passover and try and make them relevant for our current times using the language of the arts, music, humor, and smart thinkers from activists to politicians.  I’ve tried, as my father did in our home Seders back in Milwaukee, to incorporate and connect the African-American experience to the Jewish enslavement in Egypt.

But more than anything, the core of the Passover Seder is to use this ancient dinner party as piece of technology—to use the 4 glasses of wine, the questioning, and the symbols on the seder plate as a reminder to be more empathetic to our fellow human beings—to remind ourselves that we all are created equal, and remember that we too were strangers in a strange land. And thus, this year, it is very hard to avoid the 900-pound gorilla in the room—the challenges in the Middle-East and the effect on our lives here in America. 

Yet, why is this year’s Seder different from all other years?  Well, this year we have had more cancelations due to the sensitivity of the politics of post October 7, than ever before.    It started with an invitation and confirmation of the first performer booked (after David Broza of course) of the wonderful singer/actress Mira Awad a friend of many of us, who is a Palestinian Arab political activist and was to perform with David Broza tonight.  I thought this a wonderful and simple representation of how we can all get along—East Jerusalem/West Jerusalem, Arab/Israeli…  But alas, she could not bring herself to deal with this.  Another great artist, Laurie Anderson, who we actually started to market as part of the line-up, last week, felt a need to pull out over a controversy that hit The New York Times regarding her signature on an University open letter in Berlin from two years ago denouncing the occupation in Israel. She and Lou Reed were regulars at our Seder over the year, and out of a respect for the high level of sensitivity right now, didn’t want to bring protestors to our front door.    I would have taken the protestors and increased security for a little bit of Laurie, but it was her decision.  And the last minute Alex Edelman and Jared Freed, can we not use humor like Jon Stewart to bring some levity to this difficult conversation?

As well, this year is different because all of our sensitivities seem to be on high alert, the good, the bad and the ugly.  The extremes are showing themselves, the old poison ivy rash seems to be itching the skin, everything is irritating someone right now.  Three weeks ago, City Winery produced one of our Carnegie Hall shows honoring the great Sinead O’Connor and Shane MacGowen both of whom passed last year.  The sold-out multi-arist tribute was a fundraiser for Pen America—a terrific organization who supports freedom of expression, a cause very fitting for Sinead O’Connor.  Of the 20 or so amazing artists who sang the hits, three or four introduced their song with some comments about bringing peace to the middle east, ceasing fire, bring the hostages home, etc.  I received no less than 10 complaints immediately from patrons wanting their money back infuriated that City Winery was holding a Palestinian rally at Carnegie Hall.  What?  I wrote back to all reminding them this was a benefit for Artist Free Expression and did they really want me to tell artists what to say and not to say.   In my 37 years of doing shows in NYC, I’ve never told an artist what they can and can not do on our stage.   Would I have censored Leonard Alfred Schneider, also known as Lenny Bruce, had we been around then?   Lenny Bruce was arrested for obscenity twice at the Café Au Go Go a few blocks down from here in April 1964, 60 years ago this week.  He was posthumously pardoned for his obscenity conviction in 2003. Lenny paved the way for so many truth tellers, from Richard Pryor, George Carlin to Jon Stewart or Bassem Youssef today.

The Seder is a time to tell the truth, to ask challenging questions, to be uncomfortable.  Why do we eat Matzah and get constipated?  It is because we love the bland flavor? Or, is it to get uncomfortable and remember what it might have been like to not have the freedom or time to eat leavened sourdough bread with rosemary infused butter.   What I find obscene is the inability for us humans to not find every single thing another person does as an offense, to go to battle and to inflame hate.  We didn’t host a Palestinian rally at Carnegie Hall, Jennifer.  I would not tell an artist to not wear a pin, even if I didn’t like it, Mel.  I’m sorry but listen to the other side and disagree politely.   Lenny didn’t need to be arrested for using the word “Cocksucker”.  Laurie Anderson and Mira Awad shouldn’t be afraid to be on this stage for fear of some extremist doing something that would be violent or disruptive to their lives, to our Seder, to spirit of freedom of expression which is one of the main themes of Passover.

We are here tonight to laugh, to cry, to think, to enjoy, to sing, to drink lots of wine, and enjoy each other.   This is not the last supper, but the hopeful reminder supper, that we should embrace the other and as Jose Andres said in his NYT op ed after the sad tragedy to hit the World Central Kitchen aid trucks:            “Regardless of ethnicity and religion, we share a culture that values food as a powerful statement of humanity and hospitality — of our shared hope for a better tomorrow. There’s a reason, at this special time of year, Christians make Easter eggs, Muslims eat an egg at iftar dinners and an egg sits on the Seder plate. This symbol of life and hope reborn in spring extends across religions and cultures. I have been a stranger at Seder dinners. I have heard the ancient Passover stories about being a stranger in the land of Egypt, the commandment to remember — with a feast before you — that the children of Israel were once slaves. It is not a sign of weakness to feed strangers; it is a sign of strength. The people of Israel need to remember, at this darkest hour, what strength truly looks like.”

So let’s start this feast of riches, both culinary and cultural.  Just a couple of additional points on our feast.  Unlike a traditional Seder, we encourage nashing and eating throughout, we know how ornery the children of Israel in a NYC restaurant can get if they have to wait to be served.  As well, the traditional order has had some liberties taken as you will see.  The fundamentals are all here.  We start tonight with a close friend whom I met as part of this Seder 20 years ago when he came as the Rebitizian Haddasah Gross, which is the feature of a documentary film called Sabbath Queen,  by Sandi Dubosky,  about to have its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival this June.    Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie is the spiritual leader of Lab Shul which is a “God optional community, every-body friendly” organization.   He has been back and forth to Israel over the past few months, and back and forth between people dealing with the trauma on both sides of the conflict. He is a true champion of social justice.    I can think of no one in the world more suitable to light the Candles, do the blessing one the first cup of wine, and give us a peace prayer than my pal, Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie.

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