Hi,
Here’s a follow up story to the last Torah Minute.
It happened to me.
A number of years ago I visited Boston.
I saw a local paper with “what’s happening in Boston”.
And something caught my eye.
“Museum of Science and Industry: Ramsee the Second Exhibit”!
What great timing!
Ramsee is believed to be the Pharaoh at the time of the Exodus.
How fascinating. Can’t wait!
… Then it hit me.
Remember. I’m a Kohain. I may have a problem.
Mummies!
I got on the phone and called the museum.
I asked, “Is the Ramsee Exhibit still on”?
It was.
“Will Ramsee himself be there”
The answer was no. The museum in Cairo wouldn’t let!
(As you can imagine. That mummy is worth quiet a bit!)
But I shouldn’t worry. They sent someone else just a few hundred years younger!
… Typically, that would have been the end of the conversation.
I don’t usually get involved in my religious practices over the phone.
Especially with a total stranger!
But for some reason?
I said, “If there are mummies, I can’t go. For religious reasons”.
As soon as I said it?
I said to myself, “Why did you do that”!
I could just picture the person hanging up the phone.
“Boy. That guy was a real winner!”
… But then it struck me. It was a very powerful experience.
The Egyptians were the center of civilization at the time.
Their Bible was the “Book of the Dead”.
We were slaves in Egypt. Then we were freed. And got the Torah at Mount Sinai.
The Torah of Life.
The Torah that says that G-d cares about how we live.
… And its 3000 years later.
The Egyptian civilization is gone.
It’s in the museum!
The Jews are still here. And stand on line to see the Ramsee Exhibit.
And there are people like Moshe Katz. A Kohain.
He would love to see it too.
But he doesn’t.
Because of what it says in the Torah of Life!
… I hope you have a wonderful Passover.
And hope this story will help make your Seder more meaningful!
All the best,