[1]J Street
Hi There,

For the past couple of months, I’ve been writing a weekly commentary on
Substack called Word on the Street, providing my latest thinking on all
things at the intersection of Israel-Palestine, the American Jewish
community and US politics.

This week, I focused on four lessons from the Passover seder that can help
guide us in fighting modern day Pharaohs and other epic challenges we
face.

[ [link removed] ]Read the full post here – and hit subscribe so you don't miss out on
future posts >>

Thank you, sincerely, for following along.

– Jeremy Ben-Ami, J Street President

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Passover Lessons for Fighting Modern Day Pharaohs

No holiday means more to my family than Passover. Our seder is filled with
singing, eating and drinking, of course, but also with learning about how
our traditions and teachings apply today.

Needless to say, there’s no shortage this year of modern-day challenges to
which to apply centuries of seder-related learning. But – in keeping with
Passover’s favorite number – I’ll limit myself to four.

1. Pharaohs are Bad for the Jews

Jewish history is jam-packed with stories of suffering at the hands of
tyrants. The Egyptian Pharaohs were just the beginning. In the seder, we
read that “in every generation, they rise up against us to destroy us.”

It’s an annual reminder that we come by a communal sense of danger and
victimhood honestly.

From the Babylonian king and the Roman emperor who destroyed temples and
exiled the Jewish people through the Inquisitions of the Middle Ages, to
the modern era of czars, Hitler and Stalin – tyranny doesn’t turn out so
good for the Jewish people.

Democracy, on the other hand, suits us pretty well ... [[ [link removed] ]Read more]

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P.S. If you haven’t already, please take a moment to read through our
“[ [link removed] ]Fifteen Steps to Freedom” Haggadah supplement – hopefully, it inspires
a lively discussion at your family’s seder table!


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© 2025 J Street | [ [link removed] ]www.jstreet.org | [email protected]

J Street is the political home for pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy
Americans who want Israel to be secure, democratic and the national home of the
Jewish people. Working in American politics and the Jewish community, we
advocate policies that advance shared US and Israeli interests as well as Jewish
and democratic values, leading to a two-state solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.



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