32 | APRIL 18 • 2024 
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et My people go that 
they may celebrate a 
festival for Me in the 
wilderness …” Exodus 5:1. 
Have any words ever 
sounded more profound and 
relevant than they do right 
now. 
By the time the sun sets on 
the first seder, if they are still 
in Gaza, some 134 hostages, 
whether they be alive or dead, 
will have been held hostage 
for 198 days. 
Perhaps the themes of 
Passover, the Festival of 
Freedom, have never felt 
more meaningful, painful or 
relevant in our most recent 
memory as they do right now. 
After almost seven months 
of holding vigils for the 
hostages both physically and 
spiritually, how do we as Jews 
gather at our seder tables 
when the hostage situation by 
Passover may be unresolved? 
How do we commemorate 
this holiday while our 
brethren remain enslaved in 

captivity? 
Perhaps Passover will feel a 
bit different this year because 
it may be the first in our 
lifetimes when we are living 
through history. But through 
the centuries, Jews have sat 
at their seders and celebrated 
Passover in many instances of 
persecution. 
Local rabbis have 
ruminated about the notion 
that Passover may come 
without a return of the 
hostages. Several say it has 
been on their minds for 
months as they reflected 
on how this will change the 
timbre of our seders and 
Passover observances. 

PESACH IN TIMES 
OF TROUBLE
Rabbi Benzion 
Geisinsky of 
Chabad of 
Bloomfield Hills 
reminded that 
this is not the 
first time in 

Jewish history that Jews have 
observed Passover in times 
of persecution and existential 
threat. 
Geisinsky pointed to 
a piece in the April 2020 
issue of Moment magazine. 
Compiled in the early days 
of the COVID pandemic, it 
contained examples of how 
Jews celebrated Passover 
under Babylonian and 
Roman exiles, Crusades and 
the European Black Death. 
Survivors of the 
Inquisition, Jews held seder 
not on the first two nights 
but on the fifth nights in 
communities in Spain, 
Portugal and Sicily and 
Sardinia, ironically helped by 
their Christian neighbors, is 
one example from centuries 
ago. 
“While I’m sure the 
discussions around the 
Passover table were very 
different in times of 
persecution and troubles 
than during happy times, 

the words of the Haggadah 
stayed the same,” Geisinsky 
said. “Certainly, during the 
most horrific times in our 
history the words of ‘vehee 
sheamda’ (that which refers to 
our ancestors applies to us as 
well) were very relevant. 
“We all declare that ‘in 
every generation, they are out 
to get us … and G-d saves us 
from their hands.’ But never 
have we given up the hope for 
 
‘Next year in Jerusalem.’” 
Geisinsky said the words of 
the Haggadah are perfect the 
way they are. 
“Though we could surely 
use a l’chaim during the 
[festive] meal, we are all 
wishing for the ultimate 
redemption to come upon us 
speedily.” 

ADDING NEW 
TRADITIONS
Rabbi Steven Rubenstein said 
the community may want to 
add a tradition of singing the 
Acheinu prayer for redeeming 

Local rabbis share their 
Pesach messages.

Let My 
People Go

continued on page 34

Rabbi 
Benzion 
Geisinsky 

STACY GITTLEMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

PASSOVER