Many of you will have seen the wonderful new music video which was commissioned for this year’s Seder - watch again HERE. It starts with the words B’chol dor vador - in each and every generation we must regard ourselves as if we have personally left Egypt. These ancient words from the Passover Hagaddah have had a contemporary resonance for each and every generation across the last two millennia. Whether it was fleeing Crusaders, Cossacks or escaping the Nazis via the Kindertransport, our Jewish ancestors have left many Egypts. 

The Hebrew word for Ancient Egypt - Mitzrayim - comes from the root-word TZaRaR. If that word sounds a little familiar, it’s because the Yiddish word for troubles - Tzores - come from the same Hebrew root. TZaRaR is a narrow, unhappy place where a person is oppressed, restricted in their freedoms, and barely able to breathe. We cannot think of a more apt Hebrew word with which to connect us with the plight of the 133 hostages and their imprisonment in narrow tunnels under Gaza, so close to the border with Egypt. In each and every generation this prayer has gained a new resonance, and this year it has never felt more apt. Not only must we recite it in defiance of antisemitism and all those who would constrict and confine our Jewish way of life, we must also recite these words as our heartfelt prayer for the hostages, especially for our four adopted ones:

1.   David Cunio

2.   Ariel Cunio

3.   Arbel Yehoud

4.   Dolev Yehoud

May God who brought our ancestors out of Egypt, bring them home from darkness to light.

Shabbat Shalom and Chag Pesach Sameach