34 | APRIL 1 • 2021
SPIRIT
S
cholars have long
wondered why Jews
who number less than
one-quarter of 1% of the world
have had such a profound influ-
ence on almost every field of
human endeavor.
In the 20th
century, Jews,
more than any
other minority,
have been recipi-
ents of the Nobel
Prize, with almost
one-fifth of all
Nobel laureates
being Jewish.
Perhaps, it all goes back to
the very beginning of the birth
of our people and the Passover
holiday.
Passover conveys five major
concepts that became our man-
tras for how to lead successful
and productive lives. They are
the five most important things
to know about Passover, and
to incorporate into every day
of the rest of the year. Because
we’ve absorbed them into our
national psyche for the thou-
sands of years since the Exodus,
we’ve been privileged to fulfill
in great measure our propheti-
cally mandated role to become
a light unto the nations.
They are our greatest contri-
butions to the world and can
be summarized in five words:
memory, optimism, faith, fami-
ly and responsibility.
IMPORTANCE OF MEMORY
The Irish Catholic writer
Thomas Cahill was so over-
whelmed by how the Jewish
people literally transformed
the world that he authored the
international bestseller, The
Gifts of the Jews. One of the
major gifts he credits to Jewish
genius is the invention of the
idea of history.
Remember that you were
strangers in the land of Egypt.
Remember that the Lord took
you out of the bondage of
slavery. Remember is a biblical
mandate that had never seemed
important to anyone else before
the Jewish people. It was the
Passover story that initiated a
commitment to memory.
Memory links our past to our
future. It turns history into des-
tiny. Learning to treasure it was
the first step in our climb up the
ladder of greatness.
IMPORTANCE
OF OPTIMISM
The true miracle of Passover
and its relevance for the
ages is the message that with
God’s help, no difficulty is
insurmountable. A tyrant like
Pharaoh could be overthrown.
Slaves could become free men.
It was the biblical record of
the Exodus that enabled the
spirit of optimism to prevail for
the followers of Martin Luther
King in their quest for equal
rights, because they were stirred
by the vision of Moses leading
his people to the Promised
Land.
That optimistic spirit, based
on our own miraculous history,
is the second great gift we have
given to mankind and defines
our identity.
IMPORTANCE OF FAITH
A pessimist, it’s been said, is
someone who has no invisible
means of support.
Jewish optimism is rooted
in a contrary notion, a firmly
held belief that we are blessed
with support from above by a
caring God. And that faith in a
personal God gives us faith in
ourselves, in our future and in
our ability to help change the
world.
Faith gives us the certainty
that whatever our present-day
problems, history moves in the
direction of the final messianic
redemption. That is what has
always motivated us to believe
in progress and to participate in
tikkun olam, efforts to improve
the world.
IMPORTANCE OF FAMILY
Passover taught us yet another
major truth: the way to perfect
the world is to begin with our
own families.
God built His nation by ask-
ing Jews to turn their homes
into places of family worship
at a seder devoted primarily
to answering the questions of
children.
Children are our future.
They are the ones who most
require our attention. The
home is where we first form
our identities and discover our
values.
At the seder table, the chil-
dren are encouraged to be the
stars and their questions are
treated with respect. And that
is the first step to developing
Jewish genius.
IMPORTANCE OF
EMPATHY FOR OTHERS
As we celebrate our Divine
deliverance from slavery, we
may ask why did God allow
us to become victims of such
terrible mistreatment in the first
place?
We were slaves in Egypt, so
we have empathy for the down-
trodden in every generation.
We experienced oppression, so
we can understand the pain of
the oppressed.
We began the seder by invit-
ing the hungry and the home-
less to join with us. We con-
cluded the seder by opening the
door for Elijah. It is our accep-
tance of responsibility to others
that is the key to hastening the
arrival of the Messiah.
Rabbi Benjamin Blech is a professor of
Talmud at Yeshiva University His website
is rabbibenjaminblech.com. For a longer
version of this essay, visit aish.com/h/
pes/t/g/The_5_Most_Important_Things_
to_Know_About_Passover.html.
Passover’s
Five Lessons
Rabbi
Benjamin
Blech
aish.com