“Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the
end.” St. John 13:1
Maybe you saw the article
in the Washington Post last week about matzoh man’s visit to Farragut Park[1]. Maybe, at least, you remember the
unforgettable picture. Matzoh Man is a
rabbi, Shmuel Herzfeld of Synagouge Ohev Sholom in Northwest. About this time every year he dresses in his
matzoh suit and kippah, which are white with brown spots. He revs up the matzoh mobile, a Crown Vic
wrapped in a vinyl coating that makes it look like the ubiquitous Jewish
cracker.
And he drives downtown to
pass out boxes of the unleavened bread, all the while wishing people a happy
Passover and reminding Jews to keep the Seder at home this year. He’s ready to give you the matzoh you need,
to invite you to the community seder at his synagogue, to do everything he can
to awaken the consciousness of America’s increasingly secular Jews to remember
their ancient traditions and to celebrate God’s faithfulness once more this
year.
The Post reporter, who
was obviously having a great time with the article, asked rabbi Herzfeld why he
does it. And as I was reading, I thought
to myself: “this guy is going to say he was a performance artist in his former
life, or that he finished last in the rabbinical council’s fantasy football
pool.” Why else would a well-educated,
successful religious leader go downtown dressed like a Saltine to shame his
fellow Jews into keeping the Seder.
But matzoh man had a
surprising answer. He said he was
inspired by a Passover hymn—the Passover hymn really, “Dayenu.” Dayenu
is a song that goes back a thousand years, that all Jews sing at the
seder. I’ve never been to a seder and I
know nothing about Jewish hymnody, but when I looked it up on youtube, I
recognized the tune immediately.
“Dayenu”—it means, “it would have been enough.” It’s a hymn all about God’s mighty deeds on
behalf of His people. “If he had brought
us out of Egypt,” it begins, “Dayenu—it would have been enough.” If he had executed justice on the Egyptians,
“Dayenu—it would have been enough.” If
he had split the sea, if he had fed us with manna, if he had given us the law,
if he had built for us the temple”—on and on it, goes, fifteen verses, and
after each of them the chorus, “Dayenu, dayenu, it would have been enough, it
would have been enough.”
“This is our God,” the
song is saying, “a God who has stretched forth his arm for us, a God who
abounds in mercy, a God who has already done great good for us, and yet does
more.” For us, one merciful act would
have been enough to know His wisdom, power and love, but there was far more
that he had in store for us. The rabbi
in the matzoh suit was saying: “I know this God, I love Him, and if there’s
anything I can do, even to make a fool of myself, so that one more person can
see how good He is, well, ‘dayenu,’
it would be enough.”
As I was reading it, the newspaper
story turned on me. It went from a bit
of a laugh to something really quite profound.
And I thought almost immediately of another story, of a man who also
made Himself a fool, or at least performed a gesture of profound humility, to
show us something more of the wisdom, power and abundance of this God who has
given so much to us.
It was this story, this
Gospel I have just read to you. Jesus
had gathered His disciples one final time, to celebrate the Passover
again. They did not sing Dayenu, but they also remembered God’s
faithfulness in saving His people from slavery, giving them the law, leading
them to the promised land. And then
Jesus spoke to them of something more that God would do. All He had done for their ancestors was not
yet enough. He who loved them already
would love them to the end, love them to the uttermost.
And so Jesus took of his
outer garment, and He wrapped a towel about his arms, and knelt on the ground
like a slave to wash their feet. He who
is equal in the Father, the Creator of all things, the Lord of saints and
angels, took the lowest place, to cleanse those who despite all God had done
before, still needed forgiveness, and reconciliation to the Father. He washed their feet as a symbol of His love,
shown in figures this night, but written in blood the next day.
He also gave them another
gift, one we share this night, a new covenant in His blood. All that His humiliation, suffering and death
would secure will be renewed at the Altar in the Sacrament of His Body and
Blood. And He who gave Himself for us,
will yet share Himself with us completely, “so that He may dwell in us and we
in him.[2]”
It’s the same song you
see. “If he had become one of us,
dayenu-it would have been enough.” If he
had taught us the way of life, if he had healed the sick and cast out the
demons, dayenu—it would have been
enough.” If he had washed our feet and
given us the sacrament of His body and blood, dayenu-it would have been enough.”
“If he had been tried unjustly, mocked, beaten and killed, it would have
been enough.” Dayenu, dayenu—whatever He must do to love us to the end, only that
is enough for Jesus.
[1]
Kelly, John. “Is it a Bird? Is it a Plane? No, it’s Matzoh Man Getting Ready for
Passover.” The Washington Post. 4
Apr. 2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/is-it-a-bird-a-plane-no-its-matzoh-man-getting-ready-for-passover/2017/04/04/411c8d9c-193f-11e7-855e-4824bbb5d748_story.html?utm_term=.d9dda793dbf1
[2]
“The Holy Eucharist: Rite One.” The
Book of Common Prayer (1979). 336.
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