I

n 1947, David Ben 
Gurion famously said 
at the United Nations: 
“Three hundred years ago 
a ship called the Mayflower 
left for the new world … Is 
there a single 
Englishman who 
knows the exact 
date and hour of 
the Mayflower’s 
launch … do 
they know how 
many people 
were in the 
boat? Their names? What 
they wore? What they ate? … 
“More than 3,300 years 
before the Mayflower set sail, 
the Jews left Egypt. Any 
Jewish child, whether in 
America or Russia, Yemen 
or Germany, knows that 
his forefathers left Egypt at 
dawn on the 15th of Nissan 
… Their belts were tied and 
their staffs were in their 
hands. They ate matzot and 
arrived at the Red Sea after 
seven days … Jews worldwide 
still eat matzah for seven days 
from the 15th of Nissan, and 

retell the story of the Exodus, 
concluding with a fervent 
wish ‘Next year in Jerusalem.’ 
This is the nature of the 
Jewish people.”
It is at the Pesach seder 
that these powerful facts of 
Jewish history are relayed 
— the facts which lay the 
foundation for our vision and 
values contained in the Torah 
and expressed through the 
mitzvot. The Pesach seder has 
a special place in the hearts of 
Jews across the world. More 
than 80% of Jews in Israel 
participate in some form of 
Pesach seder; and in South 
Africa the figure is more 
than 90%. (In America, it’s 
70%, according to the Pew 
Research Center.) 
The power of the Pesach 
seder goes way beyond 
statistics. The seder is in 
our hearts because it is at 
the heart of Judaism and the 
future of the Jewish people. It 
is that time of the year when 
one generation hands over to 
the next the history, vision 
and values of what it means 

to be a Jew.
How does the seder 
ensure that the facts and 
values of our Divine mission 
are conveyed from one 
generation to the next? The 
clue is the mah nishtanah — 
the famous four questions. 
If you look carefully in the 
Haggadah, you will find 
that these questions are not 
answered immediately, and 
some are only answered 
indirectly. 
The inescapable 
conclusion is that in a certain 
fundamental sense the 
questions are more important 
than the answers, and that the 
Pesach seder is not merely a 
history lesson dictating dry 
facts to the new generation. 
The questions symbolize an 
active and lively interaction, 
which aims to nurture an 
open and loving atmosphere. 
 The seder is a dynamic 
dialogue, not a monologue 
because it is conveying the 
very essence of who we are 
and what our purpose is 
on Earth. G-d has designed 

the seder to be a space and 
a forum where the facts, 
values and vision of Judaism 
are transmitted from one 
generation to the next in the 
context of the bonds of love.
The Pesach seder, with its 
potential to uplift and inspire 
families, can be a model for 
Jewish life in general. It is in 
the hearts of so many Jews 
across the globe because we 
intuitively understand its 
vital importance for a vibrant 
Jewish future. The seder is a 
call to Jewish families for how 
to live our lives. It teaches us 
all how we need to make time 
and space for one another 
in order to discuss and to 
debate the most important 
dimensions of what it means 
to be a Jew. 
Just as on the seder night 
when families sit together to 
discuss the big ideas of what 
it means to be a Jew, so too 
can we do that all year round, 
making time for each other. 
Let’s do it at the Shabbat 
table and during the week by 
learning Torah together. Let 
the dynamic conversations 
continue beyond the seder. 
Let families talk to each 
other, discussing and 
understanding what it means 
to be a Jew, our values, our 
faith, who we are, where we 
come from, our faith, our 
values, our vision for the 
future.
Chag Sameach! 

Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein, who 
has a PhD. in Human Rights Law, is 
the chief rabbi of South Africa. This 
essay was written March 10, 2021, 
for theshabbosproject.org.

SPIRIT

Pesach — In Every 
Generation

A WORD OF TORAH

Rabbi 
Warren 
Goldstein

THESHABBOSPROJECT.ORG

42 | APRIL 14 • 2022 

