Thursday, October 1, 2026
On April 22 at sundown, the Jewish community begins the traditional observance of the holiday of Passover, commemorating the Jewish people’s Exodus from slavery in Egypt. We are commanded to retell our story each year and we say the words, “my father was a wandering Aramean,” to remind us that we were often a rootless people who have fled persecution numerous times throughout our history.
This year, these words are even more poignant as we watch the atrocities being committed in Ukraine, especially knowing that many of our ancestors fled the persecution of the Jewish community in Ukraine at the turn of the last century choosing to make their new lives in America. Both of my grandfathers came here from Kiev and Odessa in the early 1900’s searching for a safer place to live as Jews.
To date over 4,200,000 Ukrainians have fled their country and over 2,000,000 are displaced in the Ukraine. In 2022, it is almost inconceivable to think that the world would sit back and allow a superpower to crush another country. But all we have to do is turn on the television or look at our smart phones to see this war in real time.
Today there are over 84 million people worldwide who have been displaced because of persecution, conflict, violence or human rights violations. This should give us all pause and inspire us to support organizations helping refugees worldwide.
The Jewish community are refugees descended from refugees and on Passover we tell the story about how we as refugees sought a safe haven and a chance to reinvent ourselves as a free people in the Land of Israel. This story this year should have a deeper resonance with all who attend our sederom and recite the words we will share together.
This year more people will be together with extended family since the beginning of Covid. During the telling of the story, we also recount the 10 plagues that God caused to descend upon Pharaoh in order to convince him to free the Israelites. A word of caution, our Covid plague is not over. The numbers have started to rise steadily over the last two weeks in Nassau County. As much as we would like to put Covid behind us, we are not there yet and I caution everyone, to be careful.
Contemporary Judaism ties what is happening around us in our celebrations and commemorations to teach us the relevance of our observances today. At our seder, we read from a book called a Haggadah, which means the telling. There are numerous Haggadah today reflecting various themes that ultimately link back to the story of the Exodus. If we look at the modern plagues in our society today, we could name war, refugees, the environment, civil discord, Covid-19, racism, and the list is endless.
Our challenge as citizens of the world is to look at our past to give us a way to frame how we see the world today and what choices we will make to help make this world a better place for all. To all who are celebrating Passover this year, I wish you a meaningful holiday and inspire you to make a difference for someone else this year.
