The Pesach Haggadah is famous for its teaching that during the Seder, “All Jews must view themselves as if they have personally left Mitzrayim.” We eat matzah, calling it the “poor man’s bread” that we ate in Mitzrayim. We eat maror, a bitter herb, therefore reminding us of the bitter horrors of the country in which we were enslaved, and we retell the story of our people in a thorough, entertaining manner. However, even our love of Charoset and talking cannot lend to this ideal. We can certainly try to imagine the pain our ancestors must have endured, but we cannot genuinely feel as though we have been in such a horrid place. Come October 7.
Terror. Devastation. Accusation. Silence. We have all become acquainted with these injustices following the pogrom that marked October 7. With the subsequent spark in openly anti-Jewish sentiments and a true battle of good and evil filling the world, we have been able to experience a true parallel to the story of the Exodus. The backward values of those around us have been exposed, and we live within the negative atmosphere that must have characterized Mitzrayim.
There is a misconception that we must merely remember the suffering of the Jews in Mitzrayim. Yet, we all know that suffering exists, and Hashem surely does not expect us to feel as though we are suffering. What we do need to focus on is how we were in the worst of places, and Hashem, spitting in the face of one of the greatest superpowers of the time, took us out of the wretched land with open miracles, revealing His relationship with us.
On the original Pesach, Hashem clearly manifested the utter destruction of Mitzrayim’s values through the ten plagues. Conversely, when liberating us from our enduring, harsh legacy of slavery in Mitzrayim, Hashem gave us the Torah and its Mitzvot, replete with values that have long guided our morals as a nation. It was in this moment that the world saw a triumph of good over evil. It was in this moment that the values of Hashem–those greatest for the human race–were revealed to us.
As we sit around our Seder tables this year, it is not so hard to see ourselves as going through Yetziat Mitzrayim. We know of the pain of oppression at the hands of pure evil. We know of the horrors of backward values within society. But we have also seen that Israel, a sole beacon of the values advocated by the Torah, has been–despite the hypocritical claims of those who despise us–the most upright, effective, and democratic power in the Middle East. In the face of constant attacks and criticism, we cannot sit still. We cannot fold to the will of those who despise us and our upright values.
At the Seder, we celebrate our freedom from evil and our ability to pursue good. As a nation having gone through such a tribulation, we must stand up for what is right. It is our privilege to be able to stand with and support Israel. Am Yisrael Chai!
