History as imperative

Why the Passover message resonates for all

“Why is this night different from all other nights?” The Jewish children who will stand at their families’ Passover seders tonight and ask that question already know the answer; they learned it along with the ritual of the Four Questions. But the answer will be given anyway. It begins: “We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt.”

The meaning of this holiday — and its relevance — comes from this: Passover asks every man, woman and child who observes it to think of himself or herself as having been a slave — and as having been set free.

Thousands of years have gone by since the time of the Exodus. But if it is hard to imagine oneself in that time, the rituals of the seder can help make the emotions real. There are the bitter herbs, to recall the suffering of slavery; the saltwater, for tears; the unleavened bread, because in escaping slavery there was no time to wait for bread to rise — and the reclining at the table, an ancient symbol of freedom. It is not sufficient, the seder seems to say, to think of the Exodus as history; it must be felt as experience.

But that is not sufficient, either. The experience should produce empathy and commitment. For the story of slavery does not end with the Exodus. It does not even end with the Civil War.

In recent years, journalists have exposed slavery in the chocolate and seafood industries. Even in our own backyard, human trafficking continues to exist, despite our government’s efforts to extirpate it.

And how can one think of oneself as having been a slave, and not want to help those who are in bondage today? How can an appreciation of liberty not include aspiring to a world in which we are all free? God may have delivered the Jews in the ancient past, but today, building that world is work for His children, Jew and Gentile alike.

Those who still hunger for freedom should be in our thoughts on this Passover night.