Something very dark and ugly happened in Pennsylvania on the first night of Passover, when Jews all over the world were celebrating the Passover holiday. Passover is the only major Jewish holiday which is not celebrated in synagogue; seders, the ritual retelling on the story of the exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt, is held in the home. It is a family event, a pedagogical instrument for children and a refresher course in freedom, ethics and justice for adults.
The Haggadah, the book which retells the story, is structured like a lesson. The youngest person at the seder table asks, "The Four Questions" beginning with the words "Why is this night different from all other nights?" The rest of the seder is in response using rituals and symbols to bring to life the story of Moses leading his people from slavery to freedom. There are several underlying messages in this story but two feel especially urgent in these times.
The first -- The Haggadah demands that because we were strangers in the land of Egypt, Jews must remember the stranger and love the stranger. We are commanded to extend our circle of moral obligation beyond our own people and include all humanity. It is customary to invite non family members and even strangers to the seder table.
The second - "In every generation, every person is responsible to see ourselves as if we too had lived through the exodus from Egypt." The word Egypt in Aramaic is "Mizraim" which literally means a "tight place." We are taught to put ourselves in the place of our ancestors and to remember that any freedom we might be privileged to have today is connected to and because of their struggle.
It is a continuous on, and the freedom won by our ancestors isn't guaranteed.
Because the Haggadah also says, "In every generation, they rise up against us to destroy us."
Like what happened in Harrisburg, PA at 2 AM Sunday morning.
I couldn't help but see the lessons of the seder in real time when I read about the arson and attempted murder of the governor of Pennsylvania at the governor's mansion in Harrisburg hours after his family had held their seder. The words, just recited at my own family seder, felt not only prescient but very much alive and present.
Josh Shapiro is, along with Chuck Schumer and Bernie Sanders, a very high profile Jewish politician and lawmaker. He became even more prominent when it was revealed that he was a very serious contender for Vice President on Kamala Harris' ticket. Some have speculated he could be a Democratic contender in 2028. He is also a gifted orator, sometimes compared to Barack Obama. And, as a graduate of a private Hebrew Academy, Shapiro is very outspoken about his Jewish heritage and identity.
All of this clearly has made him a target of the hatred and lawlessness that has been unleashed by trump, musk, and maga.
Governor Shapiro and his family were targeted by a hate filled individual. He planned to do them harm. In his statement to the police, he said he was ready to use the hammer he'd broken into the house with to attack the governor were he to appear.
So yes, in every generation, someone WILL rise up and try to destroy the Jewish people. Those of us born in the shadow of the Holocaust know this in our blood.and breath. We have met and even loved real people who survived the death camps of Europe. Their stories came to us through their breath and flesh, not dead letters on a page. And while Jews in America have enjoyed a generation or two of relative acceptance and security, the deadly confluence of the war in Gaza and anti Israel sentiments on the left, along with trumpism and the rise of Christian Nationalism on the right has made life for Jews in this country very tenuous.
And yes, each generation must learn the difficult lesson that freedom and justice must constantly be earned.
In the wake of this event and the timing ( Jews are often attacked on or near Jewish holidays ) something new is becoming clear to me.
To wit - How interesting that a holiday celebrating freedom is not a party or a fun, public celebration like the Fourth of July. Jews do not come together to celebrate our freedom - we come together to teach our children to remember the struggle. We are not taught to enjoy the fruits of our ancestor's struggles; we are taught that we have inherited the responsibility to be keepers of the struggle.
What must we do to fulfill our obligation? We must remember all the lessons of the seder- especially the one which reminds us that we were strangers in a strange land and therefore we have a duty not only to welcome the stranger but we must fight against any actions or structures which oppress them.
We must do everything in our power to fight for their well being and freedom as if it were our own.
This current brutal administration, along with a feckless court and self-disempowered congress is giving us plenty to fight against. So many, at times times it feels impossible. And trump, in particular has been using anti-Semitism as a cudgel to "justify" an unconstitutional crack down on free speech and academia.
We cannot fall for that.
Faulkner wisely said, "The past is never dead. It's not even past."
The rabbis who wrote the Haggadah were wise. They knew that each generation would always need a reminder to continue our faith, tell our story, embody our moral and ethical laws and fight for the human rights and dignity of all people.
Shapiro was defiant in the face of this violence. "We celebrated our faith last night proudly, and in a few hours we will celebrate our second seder of Passover," he said hours after the fire was extinguished.
For all of us, the second seder, occurring the day after the targeted attack on a Jewish governor and his family, had a much deeper meaning. It should harden our resolve to live the lessons of our faith.
