"Every year for the past 2000 years, Jews all over the world celebrated Passover by gathering for a ceremonial meal. We tell our children the story of how we were slaves in Egypt....
"The actual Passover ceremony as we know it is of rabbinic origin and specifically is a response to the greatest trauma in Jewish history which was the destruction of the second Temple by the Romans in 70CE, and the subsequent exile of the Jewish people from their homeland. An exile that lasted for 2000 years....
"And in the ceremonial meal there is a shamanic ritual, in which bitter herbs and salt water are eaten --Ā to reinforce the teaching -- Jews literally ingest their bitter sad story, taste it with their tongues....
"What makes trauma trauma rather than simply pain or suffering -- is this element of utter despair and the feeling of the absence of God in that moment. For the soul wishes always to be with its beloved, and yet in the very depth of the shattering, the beloved does not seem to be present...."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rodger-kamenetz/passover-and-trauma_b_2959048.html
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