Are you getting hungry? With the first night of Passover coming up Monday, April 18, we look forward to the familiar tastes of the seder. Even that Hillel sandwich sounds pretty tempting right now.
More important than the repast, however, Passover is a time to gather with friends and family for what is surely the most celebrated holiday on the Jewish calendar. The welcoming atmosphere of a seder seduces even the most unobservant of Jews, reminding them they always have a place at the table.
Perhaps most important of all, this holiday is an annual weeklong reminder of our extraordinary sojourn as a people, stretching back thousands of years.
The retelling of the Pesach story keeps that sojourn in our minds; the strict leaven-free rule keeps it in our bodies.
Even though the haggadah tells the story of the Israelites’ flight from slavery in Egypt, we do not ponder the story in isolation. It is impossible not to extrapolate from the Exodus, to reflect on other painful chapters in our story, from exile to ghetto, from concentration camp to gulag.
Yet as we know, each of those chapters ultimately ended in liberation. The flip side of slavery and oppression is freedom in Canaan, in America, in a reborn State of Israel. We also remember so many others around the world, still in chains of one kind or another. These themes cannot help but play out in the Pesach drama.
Every year it seems that drama unfolds at a time of uncertainty in the Jewish world. The revolutions sweeping the Arab world appear to hold some promise of progress, but the outcomes are far from determined and could easily turn grim for Israel.
The recent uptick in Palestinian terror attacks has likewise cast a pall over prospects for peace. Iran remains a dire menace. Elsewhere the odious BDS (boycott-divestment-sanctions) movement refuses to die, ever resurgent on college campuses and even the voting booth.
In fact, a divestment initiative is now working its way to the California ballot this fall. On another front, a proposed measure to ban circumcisions in San Francisco may qualify for the fall ballot.
But is there ever really a time of certainty? We Jews, like all of humanity, live in a wobbly world. We are forced to fight against the forces of entropy, violence and ignorance, never letting down our guard.
And yet, here we are, about to celebrate another Passover. Despite the wobbles, despite the uncertainty, let’s make this year’s holiday celebration a great one.
We wish a hearty chag sameach to all our readers.