This Passover Jews must fight for liberation - opinion

• Published date: 21 April 2024
• Author: WILLIAM DAROFF
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

American Jewry, committed to equal rights for all, has often used the Seder to uplift the causes of persecuted groups. Many American Jewish families still sing "Go Down Moses" in recognition of our community's dedication to the Civil Rights Movement

Some families place an orange on the Seder plate to call for greater inclusion of LGBTQ+ Jews in the community, as popularized by my former professor, Susannah Heschel. Long ago, in the 1970s and 1980s, the Passover Seder served as an occasion to discuss the plight of Jews in the Eastern Bloc.

Let Our People Go hits close to home this year

This year's Pesach has an obvious connection to the headlines of the day: Let Our People Go. This year, far too many seats around Seder tables will be empty because our hostages remain trapped in Gaza. I encourage all of us to hold the hostages in our hearts as we recall Moses's plea to Pharaoh and to mimic his relentlessness in securing the release of our people by continuing to raise awareness.

Furthermore, Pesach this year might be a time to discuss another disturbing issue: the alarming rise of antisemitism here in the United States and our need to confront it.

The Haggadah warns us that in each generation, enemies rise against the Jews and seek our destruction. The Torah itself reminds us of the precarious nature of Jewish history in the Exodus story: the Hebrews, having arrived in Egypt as the privileged guests of Pharaoh, are, within generations, subjected to bondage.

In the immortal words of scripture, "a new Pharaoh arose who knew not Joseph." So, too, in the United States, a land at times considered the most hospitable and friendly to the Jewish people, political trends have turned against the Jews, with threats emerging from both the far-Right and the far-Left.

Through the Passover Seder, we fulfill the commandment to tell our children how God delivered us from the land of Egypt (Exodus 13:8). The story of the Exodus and its miracles may seem hard for some to relate to. No one is going to split the sea for us or afflict antisemites with boils or other plagues.

But we can draw inspiration from Exodus's human elements, such as the midwives who refuse to drown the firstborn in the river, Moses's confrontation with Pharaoh, and Miriam's merit in the desert. Each of these actions reminds us that liberation, then and now, depends on us.

Around my Seder table this year, we will be reflecting on some of these themes. To the four...