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.
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Thank you, sincerely, for following along.
– Jeremy Ben-Ami, J Street President
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 ... [Read more]
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P.S. If you haven’t already, please take a moment to read through our “Fifteen Steps to Freedom” Haggadah supplement – hopefully, it inspires a lively discussion at your family’s seder table!
