Passover 2024: The Jewish experience and learned wisdom

• Published date: 26 April 2024
• Author: STANLEY RINGLER
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

The story of our ancestors' enslavement in Egypt and their liberation in the Exodus serves as a social and psychological archetype in the life and mind of all people who have been victimized or oppressed

For Jews and Christians in particular, the Exodus story is an event of "biblical proportions." It is the story which is most mentioned in the Bible, in our liturgy, and in the rabbinic literature.

In Mishna Pesahim we are reminded: "In every generation man is bound to regard himself as though he personally had gone forth from Egypt."

And in our prayer books we read: "From Egypt you redeemed us, O Lord our God, and from the house of bondage you delivered us."

As I was reminded over and again in my seminary studies, "The defining metaphor of the Jewish people is the Exodus from Egypt."

In this perspective, it is likewise a metaphor for all people who have experienced oppression and sought liberation.

Michael Walzer, the distinguished professor emeritus of social science at the Institute of Advanced Studies in Princeton University, wrote in the preface to his book Exodus and Revolution: "The escape from bondage, the wilderness journey, the Sinai covenant, the promised land: all these, loom large in the literature of revolution."

In fact, the leaders of the American Revolution – which included Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin – had proposed that the Great Seal of the United States depict the Exodus from Egypt. Although the proposal was not approved, in their minds the Exodus story exemplified the American struggle for independence.

In African-American culture, the story of Egyptian slavery was popularly taken as a metaphor of their own slavery and the injustice which they experienced. In turn, the Exodus served as a symbol of their aspiration for liberation.

In contemporary American terms of reference, the Exodus saga has served as a model for social change. And there is, as well, a parallel message with individual meaning. As noted in the rabbinic description of the Haggadah narrative: "The story begins with a description of our degradation but ends in praise."

Depending on one's personal or shared experience, one may be struggling with the psychic or physical reality of fear and oppression. In such circumstances, the metaphor of liberation can inspire one's conviction to reject defeatism and to find a way to new life.

Today in Israeli society, we can easily identify with the dramatic metaphors of liberation and oppression. Our society has been deeply...