When I was young, my father always opened our Passover Seder by telling everyone at the table that we Jews had been celebrating and retelling the Passover story for more than three thousand years. I never forgot that. Now, I begin our Passover Seder with the same statement, namely that we have been telling and retelling the narrative of slavery-to-freedom so that every generation celebrates and remembers this extraordinary journey.
Years ago, my wife and I decided to adopt some changes to our Seder. We wanted to emphasize issues we felt the original Haggadah did not. For example: that the drops of wine for the plagues represent what we experienced in Egypt. We realized they were not the same issues we experience today. So we added an option for people at our Seder to add in their own words the things in their lives that challenge and haunt them.
As a result, some interesting conversations have resulted. Some of the more vivid life events encountered by our Seder companions have been racism, age discrimination, police brutality, financial hardships and many more. Our changes have brought the whole issue of the Passover story into the twenty-first century.
But we didn’t stop there. We realized we had to think and talk about the meaning of freedom in our time. What are we modern Jews freeing ourselves from? In the original Passover story we were slaves in Egypt. But are modern Jews slaves? We certainly don’t suffer from lack of freedom, or from oppression or tyranny. But there are some in the world who still suffer under these conditions; and some modern Jews have roadblocks in their personal lives that prevent them from living the kind of life we want to live, regardless of what society and some traditions demand of us.
Why, then, is it so important for Jews to sit every year and retell this story? Because it emphasizes some of the more critical ethical values on which Judaism places so much importance. For example: we cannot and should not occupy or maltreat others — a valued lesson for young and old alike.
Every Passover we have the opportunity to embark on a transformational journey, just as our forefathers and mothers did thousands of years ago when they began their journey with no idea where it would lead them.
The Jewish Peace Fellowship and the editors of Shalom wish you and your family and friends a most happy and healthy Passover.