Gary Cooperberg, March 27, 2007

As the holiday of Passover approaches, our minds are focused upon Redemption. Passover was our first Redemption. We were slaves unto Pharaoh in Egypt and there was no rational way to imagine how that slavery would ever end. Hadn't it been for direct Divine intervention we would still be enslaved in Egypt today.

It is a commandment from our Torah to recount all the miracles that were performed for us in those days as we sit at our Seder table on the night of Passover. Our Redemption from Egypt is central to all of our holidays as well as the holy Shabbat. How awesome it is then to celebrate the actual anniversary of that event. Redemption from Egypt was designed by G-d to prove to both the Jewish People and to all of Mankind, that we have a Creator who cares about His World and whom we must all recognize and serve.

When Moses went to Pharaoh and demanded, in the name of the Living G-d of Israel, that he free the Jews, Pharaoh declared that he never heard of this particular deity. It was this response that necessitated the ten plagues and which eventually saw the Children of Israel walk out of Egypt with their heads held high in clear sight of their oppressors.

As we read in the Hagaddah, in every generation there arose those who sought to destroy us, and every time the G-d of Israel intervened and saved us. One would think that with such a long history of peril and rescue that we would recognize our obligations to our Creator and seek to please Him in every way possible.

Today when we have reestablished Jewish sovereignty in much of our ancient homeland, a fact which defies explanation considering the incredible obstacles which tried to prevent it and which still seek to undo it, we must take pause and consider the miracles of our time. If we stop and just look at the bare facts we cannot deny that the very existence of the Jewish State can only be credited to Divine intervention. Were G-d not watching over us day and night this state would perish in an instant. Instead, in spite of enemies who seek our destruction, "friends" who seek to appease the Moslem majority, and our own leaders who fear the nations more than they fear our G-d, this country continues to thrive and grow.

Admittedly we suffer greatly from terror and other tragedies. But this is because we, as a nation have failed to place our complete trust in our G-d. And if this is true of Jews who live in the Land, how much more true is it for Jews who choose to continue to live in Exile? Our rabbis tell us that the final Redemption will resemble our first Redemption in many ways. Rashi tells us that a full eighty percent of the Jewish people perished in Egypt prior to the exodus during the three days of darkness because they simply did not want to leave! American Jews would do well to think about this. It is a tragic mistake to think that a Jew is better off in the Exile than in his destined homeland. In spite of real and apparent dangers which do exist in Israel, the danger to the Jew is far greater outside of Israel. . . even in the USA. This year, at the end of your seder, when you recite the phrase, "next year in Jerusalem," consider the fact that, if you really mean what you say you can celebrate Passover in Jerusalem next year. And, what is more, you can come home and live here as well.

Gary Cooperberg, a resident of the Jewish community in Hebron, Israel, is the founder and director of Project Shofar.

Copyright © 2007 Gary Cooperberg