Seder Menu: Debate as the Main Course

Wednesday April 1, 2026/14 Nisan 5786/Pesach

וְהַלֻּחֹת מַעֲשֵׂה אֱלֹהִים הֵמָּה וְהַמִּכְתָּב מִכְתַּב אֱלֹהִים הוּא חָרוּת עַל הַלֻּחֹת, אַל תִּקְרָא חָרוּת אֶלָּא חֵרוּת, שֶׁאֵין לְךָ בֶן חוֹרִין אֶלָּא מִי שֶׁעוֹסֵק בְּתַלְמוּד תּוֹרָה.“The tablets were God’s work, and the writing was God’s writing, incised upon the tablets” (Exod. 32:17). Do not read, “incised,” (harut), rather [read] “freedom” (herut)—for no person is truly free except the one who labors in Torah. (Mishnah Avot 6:2)

Friends/Hevre,

Everywhere we look we find essays and social media posts trying to motivate us for the Pesach festival of freedom when deep down we feel so besieged: by war, by antisemitism, by missile barrages, by sectarian politics, by reckless leadership (or lack thereof); by everything that makes it feel like we’re heading not out of, but back into, Mitzrayim - our narrow places. I, too, have tried to offer different ways of accessing the holiday’s messages of liberation during these difficult times. Here’s one more.

Most of us are not racing to bomb shelters (although many of us know someone who is). Most of us have not been a victim of bias (although many of us have been). But almost all of us are wrestling with the question of what the most enduring and successful end to the war with Iran should look like. Almost all of us are wrestling with the question of what it means to be a Jew in North America these days; where the boundaries of Jewish acceptance seem to begin and end and how to deal with the sobering realization that we are not as welcome as we thought we were. Almost all of us are wrestling with the question of what it means to be an American or a Canadian at all and how to navigate our commitments to our country’s security while heeding Passover’s repeated legacy of protecting the stranger. And almost all of us are dreading how the discussion of these questions will unfold at our Seder tables filled with relatives and friends from across ideological and cultural divides.

But remember this: all the wrestling we’ll do at the Seders is a mark of freedom itself. Our ability to gather freely in our homes, tables laden with sumptuous food and wine, decorated seder plates, shining kiddush cups, and haggadot in hand, is the setting for the freedom we bear to tell our own stories, to ask complicated and challenging questions, to protest the status quo, to argue for different interpretations of our current crises and the paths to solving them. And that, of course, is the whole point of the Seder. The haggadah is not a siddur, a prayer book to be recited formulaically. It is a collection of texts and commentaries, songs and poems, about the Exodus that unfold over 15 ritual steps all inviting us to tell the story of the struggle for freedom - both the ancient and ongoing one - in our own voices, with our own vision of the promised land we seek.

In responding to that summons, what we do best - discuss, debate, argue - is one of the most powerful manifestations of our freedom: the freedom to think, to feel, to be different, to believe, to engage, to commit. And when we do so with respect, patience, and humility, our freedom - individual and collective - is only strengthened. Defiance, dismissal of others, narrow thinking, and indifference are indicators of our limitations, not our potential. Let’s not return to the enslavement of our own divisiveness. It is beyond time to liberate ourselves from all the internal oppression we self-inflict. 

As our hearts weigh heavy with worry for our loved ones in Israel, for her soldiers and pilots, for American military personnel, and for our own safety, let’s come to the Seders with strong feelings and urgent questions. Let’s raise them with dignity and passion. Let’s each claim our place along the diverse landscape of ideas that’s agitating Jewish people around the world right now. Let’s speak our freedom; deliberate on it. And may we and the world emerge from this fraught time enlivened and enlarged in our capacity to embrace one another in true liberty.

Chag Kasher V’sameach,

Dini