Chaverim y'karim - dear friends,

 

As Amy and I were preparing for our Seder — I noticed something that stood out to me - perhaps for the first time. The phrase b’chol for vador (in every generation) appears twice in the Haggadah.

 

Universal or Particular or both?

 

In the first instance, the phrase reminds us that in every generation there are enemies who rise up to destroy our people. The phrase has a particular ring to it. We can’t forget what happened to us in 586 BCE, 167 BCE, 70 CE, 135, 627, 873, 992, 1007, 1096, 1144, 1147, 1189, 1215, 1242, 1290, 1306, 1348, 1391, 1492, 1495, 1496, 1500, 1510, 1536, 1597, 1736, 1840, 1881, 1894, 1903, 1929, 1935, 1938, 1942 and 2023. One of our haggadot list all of those dates save 2023 since it was published before October 7. 

 

In the second instance of the phrase, we are reminded that each of us is obligated to see ourselves as if we, personally, left Egypt. Taking the story to be our own yields an acknowledgment that we have a duty to the downtrodden of society. We were once slaves. We know what it is like to be othered, abused, and persecuted and we have a responsibility to lift up those who need help and/or support.

 

I think an important message of Passover is both universal and particular. We must extend ourselves to others and we must ensure that we never forget what has happened to our people and what our unique obligations are to uphold Judaism and the Jewish people.

 

Passover demands that we hold on to both the universal and the particular, seeing them both as precious, important, and foundational. 

 

From the close of Passover, the Jewish world enters a time known in Israel as "The Yamim / The Days." These days are very different from the Yamim Noraim (Days of Awe) that start our year with Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur. These days are about memory, our particular story, and our longed and fought for independence.

 

Among the Millions: One Story from the Shoah

 

On Thursday evening, at 5:00 pm at Congregation B'nai Israel in Southbury, our synagogue, along with others in western Connecticut, will gather for a community-wide Yom HaShoah Service. We will gather to remember those murdered and those who resisted, those who fought bravely and those thousands of Jewish communities that were wantonly destroyed by the genocidal madness of the Nazi Empire. Most poignantly, we will hear from survivor Judith Alter Kallman.

 

With Yom HaShoah's soon arrival, we know that Israel's Memorial Day and Independence Day come just a week later. Our story is one that oscillates and we have to hold the tragedies with the victories, the past with the present - ever hoping for a better and stronger future.

 

The Psalmist wrote to number our days (Psalm 90) and these days of the Omer give us space and structure to do precisely that. As we near Yom HaShoah, Yom HaZikkaron, and Yom HaAtzmaut, may we take account of our rich - albeit tragic at times - story and remember that our strength is in our holding one another, loyal to our people, and purposefully-engaged with our sacred customs, values, and heritage.

 

A closing prayer from Rabbi Reuven Hammer as a way of setting our intention this week as we approach Yom HaShoah v'HaG'veurah:

 

The ark of the Torah, the ark of faith, stands alone and bereaved.

We remember those who can never be forgotten.

We know how to remember those we have known and who are no more.

We know how to elevate the soul of one individual.

But we are all mourners, all of us raise up the memories of six million and not just one alone, not just the souls of those we have known, but of those that no one among us has every known….

 

May God avenge the blood of the innocent and may the memory of those who died be for a blessing. 

 

Rabbi Mark Cohn, 22 April 2025

 

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Pictured above - stamps from Israel with the citation, "In every generation, everyone is to see themselves as if they, personally, have come out of Egypt."