Freedom in Christian Sacraments and Pesach

Today's Readings:
-Driver, "Christian Sacraments as the Performance of Freedom"
-Waskow, "Giving Birth to Freedom -- Pesach"

Victor Turner writes that ritual thrives from liminality, a departure from normal social structure. However, while Turner explores liminality as change from every day life, he does not explore Driver’s ideas of liminality as change in ritual itself. He instead champions seemingly esoteric ritual as liminal because of its stoic, structured nature. Juan L. Segundo, on the other hand, calls for the reform of ritual sacraments when they have the opportunity to become involved in issues of social justice. He writes, “The sacraments are made for the Church, not the Church for the sacraments” (Driver 204),” insisting that the concerns of the Church should lead directly into the practice of sacraments. Segundo’s view supports Driver’s emphasis on the confessional, ethical, ritual, and performance modes of ritual. If a church transforms its practice of sacraments in light of that church’s focus, then congregants can better understand what beliefs they are confessing, integrate those into social action, enjoy the experience, and ultimately, feel a legitimate effect from such a performance.

In a Jewish ritual context, Turner’s, Segundo’s, and Driver’s ideas about the meaning of liminality and change in ritual can prove helpful. As Victor Turner views the esoteric nature of Latin as a valuable liminal aspect of Christian ritual, Jews can consider Hebrew as an essential element of their religion. Chanting prayers in Latin or Hebrew brings the religious to a separate state of mind than everyday conversation entails. Such ancient languages connect these religious individuals to rich ancestral histories that they may not necessarily want to depart from. At the same time, Judaism can incorporate social justice into prayer by directing thought and action to political or personal issues without altering the language of prayer. Jews can chant the Shechechiyanu with the birth of a new nation or the Shema to garner God’s strength before participating in a rally or a building project. Although ritual should change when it is no longer felt as effective, as Driver constantly reminds his readers, perhaps Driver overlooks the notion that some aspects of ritual might not need to change. Maybe it is possible that traditions can last for millennia and still hold valuable meanings to those that practice them.

In his discussion of the planning of Christian ritual, Driver lays out “Fifteen Maxims for the Planning of Christian Rituals” and the four essential performance qualities of space, time, rhythm, and words. Driver’s “Maxims” can be attributed to the practice of Jewish ritual almost exactly; however, I disagree with a few of his points. Firstly, I am not sure about his statement that “To be sensational is to bear no witness at all.” I believe that sensational practice of ritual can bring the ideas behind that ritual into both the public and private eye more quickly. If a ritual shouts, “Here I am!”, it readily jumps into both observation and liminality and can show itself to people who would never otherwise acknowledge its existence. In addition, although Driver states that “Ritual loves not paper,” I believe that a significant portion of Judaism and religion in general would be completely lost without paper. Through written liturgy, Jews today can learn about and experience the same emotions as millennia of ancestors and can transform those feelings into modern experience. If they choose, modern Jews can even transform such liturgy into current interpretation, belief, and social change in written works that they can distribute to millions. With Driver’s space, time, rhythm, and words, congregations can form to flexibly accommodate their beliefs into worship.

Pesach is an ideal opportunity for Judaism’s use of Driver’s ideas for ritual. Pesach stems from both a celebration of the abundance of birth in spring and of the freedom of Exodus. On the first and second nights of Pesach, families prepare and participate in a sedar, an ordered service and meal based on readings, symbolic foods, and songs. During the eight days of Pesach, Jews do not eat unleavened bread in order to symbolize the absence of leavened bread on the Israelites’ journey to their promised land. As Pesach is mostly practiced in Jewish homes, individual families can tailor their celebrations to their own interpretations of the holiday’s emphasis on the “newness, creation, creativity, freedom” (Waskow 137). During the sedar, they can discuss political issues of freedom in the modern day and even perform community service projects during the week in accordance with such issues. Different families practice different levels of abstaining from leavened bread, sing different songs during the sedar, and even include different foods on their sedar plates. All family members can take part in the ritual of the sedar, from the youngest child’s asking of the Four Questions, to the adults’ cooking and leading of the service. Thus, even with its inclusion of several standardized prayers in Hebrew, a language that Driver might call esoteric and priestly, Pesach can become a largely shamanic holiday.
Furthermore, Pesach can easily parallel Driver’s order, community, and transformation in conjunction with his four performance modes. “Sedar” literally translates to “order.” The main concept of Pesach is the celebration of the Jews’ freedom, their acceptance as a society into mankind’s bond of communitas, bolstered by the strong community of welcoming family at a sedar dinner. Finally, with seemingly infinite new prayer books, Haggadot, created for Pesach each year, and with different sedar rituals for each family, Pesach transforms itself constantly, and in the process, provides the opportunity for its performers to experience personal transformation. By worshipping in a sedar, individuals have the chance to confess their beliefs to other individuals. They can then transfer beliefs about freedom into social action through such avenues as genocide prevention and the fight for women’s and LGBT rights. With the flexibility of the sedar, families can make Pesach an incredibly enjoyable experience. Thus, as the sedar celebrates freedom, the structure of the sedar allows for freedom in its practice and can become a highly effective, transformative ritual. Both the Christian performance of sacraments and the Jewish performance of Pesach sedars can call for future liberation in their celebration of the past and present.