Parashat HaShavua - Passover 2024

בְּכָל־דּוֹר וָדוֹר חַיָּב אָדָם לִרְאוֹת אֶת־עַצְמוֹ כְּאִלּוּ הוּא יָצָא מִמִּצְרַיִם

In every generation, we must see ourselves as if we personally came out of Egypt.

These words have always been my favorite moment in the Haggadah.  I have always felt such pride in this core Jewish commitment to empathy, our steadfast connection to the experience of the oppressed.  But this year, I have been asking myself new questions about this teaching.  What does it really mean to see oneself as if we personally came out of Egypt?

I questioned my 10th grade honors class and they offered some really thoughtful perspectives.  One student made a connection to the Shoah, saying that as fewer and fewer survivors are alive to tell the story, we have to take on the story ourselves.  We have to somehow remember and pass forward experiences that we ourselves did not have so they are not forgotten by the next generation.  Another made a connection to systemic racism and wondered if this is in fact an impossible mitzvah to fulfill.  There is no way to understand the experience of slavery without having been enslaved oneself. just as there is no way to fully understand the experience of being Black in America without experiencing it, and we should have the humility to recognize that.

And of course it is impossible to say these words this year without thinking about the hostages.   We will recite these words at our seder knowing that there are 133 souls who are still in captivity, who do not yet have the luxury of seeing themselves as if they came out of Mitzrayim – which means the narrow place – because they are still in the narrowest place possible.

Another version of the teaching of בְּכָל־דּוֹר וָדוֹר, found in some Sephardic Haggadot and following the Rambam, makes a small but significant change: 

בְּכָל דּוֹר וָדוֹר חַיָּב אָדָם לְהַרְאוֹת אֶת עַצְמוֹ כְאִלּוּ הוּא יָצָא מִמִּצְרַיִם

In every generation, we must SHOW ourselves as if we personally came out of Egypt.  

This year, the Rambam’s formula feels especially apt.  It’s not about how we feel but how we show up.  How can we continue to show up on behalf of the hostages as the risk of the world moving on and forgetting increases?  How can we show up as people whose commitment to liberation from oppression is a guiding force in our lives?

May our Passover celebration help each of us to find ways to show up for the people who need us, both individually and collectively as members of am yisrael.  Hag Sameah.

Rabbi Anne Ebersman
Director of Jewish Programming N-5 and Director of Hesed (Community Engagement) and Tzedek (Social Responsibility)