“Tyranny” Rabbi Elaine Zecher’s Shabbat Awakenings

April 18, 2025 | 20 Nisan 5785

Welcome to Shabbat Awakenings, a weekly reflection, as we make our way toward Shabbat. You can listen to it as a podcast here.

We may have risen from our chairs at the seder, but the threat of tyranny still sits with us.

Through our Passover ritual, the peril of unfettered power comes in many forms. We know the beginning of the story in Exodus when Pharaoh generalized about the Israelites, dehumanizing them yet still felt threatened. So, he sought to control them, insisting they abide by his demands, forcing their labor to conform to his shrewd desires. When the Israelites increased their strength, despite the oppression upon
them, the Egyptians imposed heavy labor and caused great bitterness. Pharaoh would go to any means to cause retribution for their response. He even ordered the murder of innocent male babies, lest they grow up to start a war against him. That last sentence should not make sense. The Israelites were slaves. They had no power but to Pharaoh, as they say, “anyone not for him was against him,” even a newborn. This is
where the degradation began.

Step by step, Pharaoh’s aggression grew, but he did not do this alone. His advisors, courtiers, and those who fed off of his power, assisted. No tyrant works unaided. Even when there might have been some who wondered whether this was right, they pre-emptively acquiesced as Timothy Snyder in his book, Tyranny, would write a few millennia (2017) later and call it “anticipated obedience.”

We taste the Matzah, the bread that represents what it means to live under the thumb of a Pharaoh.

But then the story starts to turn, we may start with degradation but move toward dignity. The seder provides the path. First, we question. It is not just about curiosity but also about the need to think deeply about what might be wrong before us. We recognize that the next generation is watching whether they are wise or wicked, willing to ponder or waiting. They will wonder about our questions.

The seder was never meant to be a rote recitation. It modeled the ancient Greek philosophical discussions where opinions could differ, but thoughts improved. Those peaceful exchanges of ideas in their academies gave birth to democratic ideals. Our seders have been an invitation to think and to challenge questionable ideology. We hone our skills to challenge tyranny, to stand up to autocracy, to rebel against any bully.
Before the soup and maybe in the middle of it, we argue, disagree, and find meaning in what we ponder in the presence of one another. Dignity comes from the recognition that each of us is made in the image of the divine and to be treated as such, not as a threatening power. The seder teaches that we cannot become the enemy of one another in our disagreements and discussion. A greater force will need our attention.

As we rise from the seder table each year, we can stand strong in our ability to question and to challenge and not fall prey to acquiescence in the face of tyranny and those who support it.

Shabbat Shalom! Happy Passover!

Connect with me with comments and reflections here.

Rabbi Elaine Zecher