7th Day of Passover: Holiness Delivers

This Shabbat is the seventh day of Passover. Special holiday readings are Shemot  (Exodus) 13:17-15:26 and Bamidbar (Numbers) 28:19-25. The Exodus reading describes the miracle of escape from Pharaoh and his charioteers at the Red Sea. The Jews sing praises to God for delivering them from their enemies. The Numbers reading instructs the Jews to make the seventh day of Passover a holy day to commemorate the miracles God performs on this day.

Moses brings the Jews from Goshen to the Promised Land via a southern journey to the Red Sea, then northwards to Mt. Sinai, through the wilderness and finally to the Jordan river - a 40 year journey! Why don't they simply take the short, direct route and save a lot of time and trouble? The first detour, we're told, is meant to avoid traveling through an active Philistine war zone that will send the Jews running back to Egypt for safety. God reveals His supernatural power to the nations. He shows His love for His people and gives them an unforgettable experience so they recall their faith and belief in Him when trouble arises.

The Exodus reading closes with God's reassurance that He will safeguard the Jews from troubles like the Egyptians suffered IF, and this is a big IF in Exodus 15:26. God said, “If you diligently heed the voice of God, your God, and do what is upright in His eyes—carefully listening to His commandments and observing all His rules, I will bring none of the illnesses that I brought upon Egypt upon you, for I am God who heals you.” 

The Haftarah portion for this Passover day is Shmuel (Samuel) II 22:1-51. In this rendering of Psalm 18, David sings praises to God for his many successful military campaigns. David's song harkens back to the big IF. He believes that God delivers him because he lives according to God's word. In verses 20-25, he sings, "And He brought me forth into a wide place; He delivered me because He took delight in me. The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands He recompensed me. For I have kept the ways of the Lord and have not wickedly departed from [the commandments of] my God. For all His ordinances were before me; and [as for] His statutes, I did not depart from it. And I was single-hearted toward Him, and I kept myself from my iniquity. And the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness; according to my cleanness before His eyes.

During this holy week of Passover and our Christian friends' Easter, we reenact the word of God as written in either the Jewish bible or the Christian bible. Setting theological differences aside, at this time we can all agree that we reaffirm our belief in the written word of God. While we sincerely embrace this mindset, let's remember that in the Bible, God often states His great outrage with child sacrifice and those who commit it.  According to His perfect justice and mercy, He holds accountable those who deny the right to life to His children. He warns of penalties to those who stand idly by and stay silent while babies die painful deaths and mothers and fathers suffer. He knows the motives as well as the shortcomings of those who counsel and enable vulnerable parents to destroy their unborn children rather than show mercy and kindness to both mother and baby by providing help and encouragement for live saving options. He forgives penitent, remorseful parents who grieve and former abortion workers who reform. He repeats over and over again that we will be blessed if we choose life over death, holiness over evil.

Many Jews and Christians say that the word of God informs their worldview and their mission. If every one of these Jews and Christians adds God's word against abortion into their repertoire of sound bites and fundraising slogans and projects, He will deliver us from our enemies and our ailments. We will have many more reasons to sing praises to Him! Hallelujah!

Please share this essay on your social media to amplify our message in this troubled world. Thank you,

Cecily Routman

May there be abundant peace from Heaven, and good life upon us and upon all Israel. Amen.

Cecily Routman is the founder and president of the Jewish Pro-Life Foundation. She opposes abortion homicide in general and among Jews in particular and laments secular policy making in Israel that results in loss of Jewish life and delays the messianic redemption. She envisions a Torah based holy Land of Israel and a world that respects the life of every human being from conception.