In a little less than two weeks Jews around the world will gather with friends, family and guests to recall a central episode in the Torah and in the history of our people, as we remember the exodus of the Jews from Egypt. The holiday of Passover is rich with symbolism, tradition and memory at every level, from the familiar items that we find on the Seder plate each year to the recitation of the 4 questions by the youngest child at the table to that first taste of Matzah and the sinus-clearing rush of horse radish.
There are many important themes that characterize this holiday, most prominently the idea of a journey from slavery and oppression to freedom. This struggle to break free from the heavy hand of Pharaoh is at the heart of the Passover Hagadah, chronicling not only the tyranny of the oppressor but both the timidity and the courage of those who would seek to free themselves. Our teachers thought that this idea was so important that they put it at the center of our observance of the exodus frrom Egypt, for just as it is incumbent upon us to hear the sound of the Shofar each year during the Hgh Holidays, so too must we place ourselves in the sandals of our ancestors and say that Gd took us our of Egypt.
While I like the idea that Gd took "us" out of Egypt as a way of asking the Jewish people to identify with our ancestors and the difficult path they trod from Egypt to the Land of Israel (with plenty of souris along the way) I think that we should also see the "us" part as an explicit reminder that community and being in community is intrinsic to Jewish identity and expression. This theme of communal connection runs throughout the Haggadah, from Moses's decision (with a little help from the Almighty) to return to Egypt and the israelites after he flees, to the mass movement of all of the Israelites out of Egypt towward the end of the narrative. And the seder itself is inherently communal - a ritual meal, centered around an ancient narrative with the idea that "all who are hungry should come and eat."
Looking at the Haggadah from this angle I am reminded once again that just as the idea of community was central to the eventual success of Moses and the Israelites escape from bondage in Egypt, we also need community today - not to escape slavery (although there are of course still slaves and people oppressed today) but to continue to thrive and grow as a people, to keep Judaism alive and well in a post-modern world, and to speak out against injustice, unified in our belief that as a people who escaped oppression together that we have a responsibility to use our collective voice on behalf of others.
Wherever you are celebrating Passover this year, be it in New Hampshire, Israel or elsewhere, I wish everyone a very happy (and meaningful) holiday.
