There is no unifying story for Passover this year

When my grandfather was alive, we rarely saw eye to eye. Our disagreements were too numerous to count, and they’d multiply whenever we were together. No setting was too sacred for us to forego our spats. Even the Passover Seder could become the backdrop to our bickering — the Jewish equivalent of arguing around the Thanksgiving table. But despite our differences of opinion, we always sat together at the same table. There was always room for both of us.

At the Passover Seder, Jews read the Haggadah, a book that recounts the story of the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. In recent decades, it’s become fashionable to adopt different haggadot to suit eclectic sensibilities. There are humanistic, atheistic, pluralistic, feminist, social justice, and a litany of other haggadot to choose from. Yet, importantly, they each tell the same story. The interpretations may change but the basic narrative remains the same.

Around Passover tables this year, it’s not just the youngest who are asking questions. The pain radiating out from Gaza and Israel, and the anger felt about this conflict around the world, demand that even the elders among us ask entirely new sets of ethical questions. We must ask what it means to be safe, merciful, decent and compassionate. The answers are not so clear cut and they will not be found easily. But there is no option other than to continue asking.

Traditionally, the Seder ends with the pronouncement, “Next year in Jerusalem!” At times in the long arc of Jewish history, this statement spoke to a deep yearning. At other times, it felt like a promise. For many Jewish people, it was a statement of hope.

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