In Loving Memory of Malca z”l
“And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.” (Passover Haggadah, [Exodus 1.7])
“Even the poorest Jew, a recipient of charity, must, on the eve of Passover, eat only in a reclining position, as a mark of freedom…” (Mishna, Pesahim 10.1)
The key idea expressed in Passover is the certainty of freedom. With the Exodus a new age dawned for humanity: redemption from oppression and misery. If the Exodus had not taken place, humanity would have been destined to follow another course.
During the night of Passover the Jew says, that if not for Exodus, “Neither my fathers, nor I, nor my children would be free, we would still remain slaves.”
Passover respects the universal, indivisible greatness of freedom and liberty. The Passover holiday calls us from the most abject misery to the mizrah by which human dignity is restored. The night of the Seder forces man to face, and to fight for, himself. The Haggadah call becomes quite clear: it summons every Jew to join his brothers and sisters in the building of Jerusalem, of Judaism and in the strengthening of the State of Israel.
AM YISRAEL CHAI!
“The People of Israel Live!”
(Baruch Cohen is Research Chairman of CIJR, and a member of the Montreal Holocaust Memorial Center)
