Honor exodus of refugees from Central America
On Friday, Jews all over the world will celebrate Passover: Pesach in Hebrew.
It is a holiday when families and friends gather around the table to retell the story of the Exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt to Canaan, from the harsh conditions imposed upon them by the Egyptians. With little more than the possessions that they could physically carry, girded by faith and a desire to make better lives for themselves and their children, the Jews set out on an arduous and long (40 years as it turned out!) journey.
We are commanded to re-tell the story of this exodus to our children every year; it is the most observed of all Jewish traditions. The goal is not simply to remind us of what happened there, but to become part of the story, to actually see oneself as oppressed, as slaves escaping Egypt and all of the brutality there, and ultimately making our way to a better place. Each of us is obligated to make that journey again and again.
I must admit that the privilege that we enjoy in the U.S. can make it difficult to position oneself within that narrative; however, this year that will not be the case for me.
As I have seen in my work with Mariposas Collective, the reality is that hundreds of people from Central America, nearly all carrying children and little else, are living that story today, right now. They are fleeing inhumane conditions where their lives and those of their families are being threatened. Corruption and crime in their countries is rampant.
They trust, as the Jews did, that they can find a better, safer life even though they are afraid, even though they leave the lands where they have lived for generations, even though they have nothing but a shopping bag holding their few possessions, even though they have not slept or showered or had a real meal in days or longer, even though they cannot even understand the words in this new place.
Just as the Jews fleeing on that first Passover, they must trust that life for their children will be better. They are willing to sacrifice everything they have ever known to that end.
As a foreign born citizen recently pointed out to me, to Americans the United States is a place. It is in North America. It is rivers and mountains. It is cities and farms. It is schools and hospitals and churches and mosques and synagogues.
It is where we work and where we play. To people seeking to come here, however, it is something different ... it is an idea. It is freedom. It is a chance. It is safety. It is what we often take for granted.
And that my friends is what we must continue to offer to the rest of the world if we are to continue to be great. We give strangers an opportunity to escape their nightmares and live out their dreams. We extend our hands and invite them in. That is what we do better than any other country in the world.
So on this Passover, which this year coincides with Good Friday and Easter, let’s all put ourselves in that story. Let’s all imagine how much courage it takes to leave all you have known to find a better life among us. Let’s all reach out to these tired but hopeful people and be the best of who we are. So May It Be His Will. Michele Less of Memphis belongs to the Mariposas Collective, a grass roots group dedicated to easing the journey for asylum seekers.