Mean it when you say it

Once, when the Chassidic Master, Rabbi Yisrael of Ruzhin was conducting his Passover Seder, he got to the declaration — “Next Year in Jerusalem” — and stopped for a moment. Then he exclaimed, “Lord of the Universe! Each year I repeat, ‘Next Year in Jerusalem,’ praying that twelve months hence, we will be redeemed and dwelling in Israel’s holiest city. And yet we are still in exile. I am really embarrassed to recite this verse in front of our non-Jewish housekeeper!”
Rabbi Yisrael took his prayers seriously. For him, liturgical declarations were not empty phrases devoid of real meaning. So fervent was his belief that, when he asked God for something, he actually expected results. He was surprised, disappointed and even ashamed when his petitions went unanswered — especially in the presence of gentiles who had overheard such apparently futile affirmations of Jewish faith.
But for Rabbi Yisrael, the divine-human relationship was not a one-way street. He expected as much from himself as he expected from the Almighty. When he prayerfully acknowledged his shortcomings along with his intent to reach for ever higher levels of spiritual and ethical attainment, he really meant it. For him, the traditional liturgy wasn’t simply a shopworn formula. It was a true expression of his heart and soul.
For many of us today, the words of the Passover Haggadah, like those of the weekday prayer book, are little more than mantras. Recited by rote, their essential meaning hardly penetrates our consciousness. Sadly, our expectations of God — and more significantly, of ourselves — have become so minimal that virtually no one cares what the housekeeper thinks when our lip-service evokes no apparent response.
This Passover let us try to capture some of Rabbi Yisrael’s spirit. Let’s mean what we say. Let us strive for redemption — both praying for a time when all God’s children can live as brethren and longing for a Jewish community truly dedicated to Torah, good deeds, and a restoration to Zion. United in that fervor, may we — with the whole world as witness — welcome Elijah the Prophet to our tables as he announces an eternal era of peace and prosperity for all mankind!

Rabbi Ginsburg is the spiritual leader of Congregation Sons of Israel in Woodmere.