Passover, which started on the evening of March 27, is one of the most meaningful times of year for Jewish people throughout the world. The holiday, which will conclude on Sunday night, April 4, combines what is important for families with what is important for Jews as a distinct people.

 

The holiday, in a more modern context, links Jews to struggles for liberation and freedom in our country and throughout the world. On a very personal level, Passover is a time for my family and other families to get together for very special Seder meals that are very rich in symbolism and camaraderie. For me, and for other Jews, the rich symbolism and meaning of the holiday hearken back to childhood memories of families enjoying the matzah, or unleavened bread that our ancestors ate when they were in the desert following their legendary escape from slavery in the land of Egypt.

 

We remember eating horseradish, which symbolizes the bitterness of our enslavement, and the charoses, the delectable dish of apples, nuts and sweet wine or dates with wine and nuts, which symbolize the bricks and mortar that are associated with the enslavement of the ancient Israelites.

 

The celebration of Passover, in a very real sense, is a celebration of the beginning of Judaism as a distinct religion and of Jews as a distinct people. For my family and most of our Jewish friends, the holiday reminds us that tolerance for others and support for the liberation struggles of others are imperatives.

 

On a much more basic level, Jews throughout the world, during Passover, look forward to getting together with relatives and friends they may not have had a chance to interact with while living the helter-skelter lives of our difficult, modern times.

 

Last year, we celebrated Passover remotely because the pandemic made it unsafe for us to mingle on even the most basic level. In contrast, this year, my wife and I celebrated the holiday with my niece, her three children, my sister-in-law and her special male friend on the evening of March 27. Our vaccines, in a very real sense, have given us a feeling of some relief from the coronavirus.

 

For us, our celebration of the Seder served to symbolize our desire to return to our real-life interactions with people we care about, including non-Jews as well as Jews.

 

For as long as I can remember, we have invited some of our special non-Jewish friends to join us at the Seder table [a Jewish ritual service and ceremonial dinner for the first night or first two nights of Passover], and join our celebration of Jewish peoplehood and liberation struggles throughout the world. In a very real sense, we have invited non-Jews to learn why Passover is such an important holiday for Jews throughout the world.

 

In recent years, my wife and I have also been invited to celebrate Passover with my best friend and his family, including his wife, his two daughters, and their spouses. Again, Jews and non-Jews joined together in the telling of the Passover story. My friend and his wife, as well as my wife and I, struggle to make Judaism relevant in our modern times. In this endeavor, the celebration of Passover with my best friend has featured the holiday storybook, the Haggadah [a Jewish text that sets forth the order of the Passover Seder] that he and his wife have painstakingly written.

 

Interestingly, the revised holiday storybook was not my first experience with a revised Haggadah. As Re-constructionist Jews [a modern Jewish movement regarded by some scholars as the fourth major stream of Judaism, after Orthodox, Conservative and Reform] who view Judaism as a constantly evolving civilization, my wife and I had experience with revised Haggadahs when we attended Seders at the Society for the Advancement of Judaism, the main synagogue for a branch of Judaism that reflects our desire to bring new meaning to the ancient traditions that we cherish. 

 

As a Jew who likes to think of himself as a forward-thinking person, I straddle two civilizations. I am proud to be an American, and I am also proud to be an American Jew. As American Jews, we share many common traditions with other American Jews, as well as many common traditions with Jews throughout the world. As American Jews, we also share common traditions with other Americans who share backgrounds and traditions that are similar to ours.

 

The celebration of Passover, which was limited severely during the height of the pandemic in our country, reinforces the concept of the Jewish people as a distinct force for good throughout the world. In a very real sense, our rituals and traditions remind us of the positive role we can play in the world in which we live.

 

Michael Horowitz is a long-time journalist, Bronxite and member of the American-Jewish community.