Guest Columnists
Making Judaism Relevant

Nine-year-old Joey was asked by his mother what he had learned at Hebrew Sunday school.

"Well, Mom, our teacher told us how G‑d sent Moses behind enemy lines on a rescue mission to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. When he got to the Red Sea, he had his engineers build a pontoon bridge and all the people walked across safely. Then he used his walkie-talkie to radio headquarters for reinforcements. They sent bombers to blow up the bridge and all the Israelites were saved."

"Now, Joey, is that really what your teacher taught you?"

"Well, no, Mom. But if I told it the way the teacher did, you'd never believe it!"

The G‑d of redemption is current, meaningful and aliveOne of the greatest challenges facing rabbis and teachers today is making the Torah relevant. Stories that happened thousands of years ago need to be explained in contemporary language; otherwise they become meaningless.

When G‑d introduces himself for the first time to the Jewish people, when giving them the Ten Commandments, he says: "I am G‑d, your G‑d, who has taken you out of Egypt." Now if G‑d was trying to give here His best credentials to His newly acquired nation, why would He choose to mention the exodus? Isn't the creation of the heavens and earth a far greater feat? Wouldn't that have been a far more awesome description?

Yet, while creation is a far superior feat, redemption from Egypt – to the people whom He was addressing – was contemporary and relevant. The G‑d of creation is great, but very distant; the G‑d of redemption is current, meaningful and alive.

One of the daily observances of the Jewish people, which constitutes an essential part of our prayers, is remembering the Exodus from Egypt. Every day of our lives. Why this obsession with an event that happened thousands of years ago? The answer is simple. By remembering the Exodus from Egypt we are celebrating the G‑d of redemption.

And this G‑d is personal, contemporary and relevant. After all, we all have our personal spiritual "Egypt" in our lives that with the help of G‑d we can succeed in overcoming.

Every day there are miracles in our lives that need to be recognized. We need to see the hand of G‑d in our lives. G‑d takes us out of Egypt every day. The exodus is a live reoccurring experience that makes G‑d a very relevant part of our lives!