Right now we are counting the Omer. Day by day we move forward from the liberation of Pesach toward the fulfillment of Shavuot. This counting is agricultural – the Jews of old had planted their wheat, and were awaiting (with hope and fear) the “First fruits” – the crop that would either sustain them for the year to come, or not. Here in Wisconsin, farmers are watching a dry winter turn into a flooded spring, and no doubt wondering the same thing! The count is also spiritual –

It is said that the Torah has seventy different faces – Shiv’im panim laTorah. The rabbis intended us to understand by this that there are, in fact, limitless interpretations – and no one is more right than another. The haggadah and the seder (order) of Passover are also subject to numerous interpretations. The seder has endured many permutations, keeping its essential character, because we can look it in so many ways. On the other hand, it strikes me that we can categorize t