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Dear John,

The Passover holiday is one of the Jewish community’s most enduring celebrations because it is at its heart a festival of liberation and the journey towards freedom and a reminder that in every generation, we need to fight antisemitism and other forms of hate.

This year, that message is particularly timely as over a hundred people continue to be held captive many months after the Hamas attack on Israel, and as others around the world suffer as well. It is resonant as antisemitism continues to soar so Jews in the United States feel less safe on campus, online and in our neighborhoods.

We are proud to share this powerful Passover reading with you from ADL’s founding Rabbinic Fellow, Rabbi David Wolpe. Its message of resilience against hate is meaningful for everyone in the ADL community, whether you celebrate the holiday or not.

We thank all of you for your commitment to doing what is good and just in the world, and we wish you health, happiness and freedom.

A Passover Reading for This Year from Rabbi David Wolpe

This year as the Jewish community gathers at the Seder table and eats bitter herbs, we recall the hardships of our ancestors and the ordeals of those who still suffer.

We cannot forget the images of our brothers and sisters who are hostages, in cruel captivity; those families who sit at the seder in bitter anguish wondering about the fate of those whom they love; families who sit at the table that is not full, for loved ones killed in battle, injured and unable to join, serving their country even on the holiday — reminders of the legacy of a hatred all too alive with us today. Maror is the taste of absence, the sign of the empty seat.

As with taking drops from our cups for the fallen Egyptians, we do not forget the sufferings of others... those in war zones everywhere who undergo deprivation and suffering. As with the generations who preceded us, we do not shut our hearts to the pain of human beings no matter where they may be.

As hatred rises against the Jewish people across the globe, we are particularly mindful that maror is supposed to bring tears to our eyes.

We weep for the legacy of antisemitism that has brought so much destruction into God’s world. We weep for those who even today, 3,000 years after our people were born, feel they cannot be fully free because of the prejudice against them, against their children, against our small family of faith.

Maror brings pain but not despair. We combine it with Haroset to remind us that the world is also full of sweetness, and it is our task to feel both, the honey and the sting, the tribulations, and the richness of tradition, the bitter and the sweet.

As we taste the maror and recall the anguish that afflicts our people and our world, we hope that in the year to come, there will be less pain, fewer who suffer, and more who can celebrate at home and in peace.

Sincerely,

Rabbi David Wolpe
Rabbinic Fellow
ADL

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