Dear Friends,
In this week’s Torah portion, the newly liberated Israelites prepare to leave Egypt. They have been enslaved for generations. They have never known freedom. It is here, in the context of an existential shift for our ancestors, that God commands us to teach our children the story of their redemption:
“And you shall explain to your child on that day, ‘It is because of what Adonai did for me when I went free from Egypt'” (Exodus 13:8).
Our sages interpret this verse to mean that in every generation, each of us must see ourselves as if we, personally, were part of that liberation from Egypt. Each year, during the holiday of Passover, we retell the story of the Exodus, and each year we are taught to relive our ancestral liberation.
Why do we do this? We do this because only when we include ourselves in the stories of the past can we ensure that we internalize the morals and values of these stories for the future.
During the winter break, my family and I visited the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama. These two powerful centers have been designed to bring us face to face with some of the darkest chapters in human history. These centers for education and memory were designed to help us remember the story of slavery in the United States NOT to impart a sense of guilt, but RATHER as a means to shape the future.
As it is with our Haggadah on Passover, the interactive content, films and first-person narratives reminds us to place ourselves at the center of the story of redemption. As my family emerged from our time in this important place, we were reminded of the eternal teaching of our faith: Until all are free, none are free – and the eternal truth that it is up to every generation to embrace this struggle.
L’Shalom,
Steve