We cannot talk about Passover, a holiday celebrating Jewish liberation, without talking about the extreme violence and dispossession carried out against Palestinians at this very time in the name of the Jewish people.
I’ve translated below the words of Simon Assoun, who organizes with me as part of Tsedek!, a collective of decolonial Jews in France. Simon’s words exactly convey my feelings at this time.
Tonight, we remember that we were an oppressed people in Pharaoh’s Egypt. We celebrate our collective liberation and our self-determination, which we know can never be taken for granted.
Passover isn’t just a holiday about the past but, a celebration of the transmission of our history, it is grounded in the present and facing the future. It questions who we are, who we want to be, and our role on the path toward dignity and freedom for all.
This year, perhaps more than other years, passover tastes like the bitter herbs [maror, that we traditionally eat during the passover seder]. The crimes committed in the name of judaism, in the name of Jews, in eretz Israel, in Palestine, are damaging us in the deepest possible way. This year, Passover is twice as necessary.
May all modern Pharaos fall. None of us are free until we are all free. What does the name of Jerusalem mean if its not the name of justice that God directs us to build where we are? Justice is a duty, a struggle, and an ethic.
A lot of sadness this year, but crying and condemning aren’t enough. We do need to remember. But we must also fight. Heal. Build. This is to me the deeper meaning of Judaism and its message for humanity.
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