This Passover will be different from all other Passovers. It will be a different world over. The atrocities of October 7 and the ongoing Operation Roaring Lion combine to make this distinction inevitable.
One of the most powerful sections in the Haggadah, a section we have read over and over throughout the centuries, much as our forefathers read it over the years at their Passover Seders, resonates thunderously this year.
It is the section that reads: “In every generation they rise up against us, to destroy us. But the Holy One, blessed be He, saves us from their hands.”
At first glance, these lines might appear fatalistic. They are not. Read them again. Read them as a premonition of hope, not of doomsday or despair.
With these few lines, the Haggadah recognizes that throughout Jewish history there have been significant threats to the very existence of the Jewish people.
The Haggadah continues to require us to be aware of that history and to recognize those threats. And then it requires us to act and to protect ourselves.
It impels us to value the miracle of continued Jewish survival. It incentivizes us to remember and take pride in the remarkable creativity and achievements of the Jewish people, collectively and individually, throughout our amazing and storied history.
This is no small feat. This section of the Haggadah is a proclamation of hope, not despair. It is a realistic understanding of the challenges facing the Jewish people and of overcoming adversity.
And this year, when the Haggadah speaks of what occurs “in every generation,” we need to recognize that the text is speaking not only to us, to our generation, but of us – of our generation.
The resilience and resourcefulness, the power and passion, the strength and creativity, the unbridled love and pride in people and in country emanating from Israel as we prepare to celebrate Passover 2026 are awe-inspiring.
Haters of Israel refuse to see the greatness of our small yet strong country in the Middle East. They refuse to accept that the Jewish state is fighting for freedom for all people of all religions, not just for citizens in the Middle East.
Haters of Israel see the combined US/Israel strikes on Iran as motivation, as an excuse, to attack Jewish targets. These people who hate America, hate Israel, hate Jews, didn’t wake up one morning and say, “today I hate.” Hamas’s October 7 massacre and Operation Roaring Lion on February 28 gave them the excuse to act out their hate – excuses they were already aching for.
Our modern-day enemies love to target Jewish people at their Jewish institutions on Jewish holidays. They will select the easiest targets that will generate the largest and loudest blasts worldwide, especially in the Islamic world.
And they will continue to attack smaller targets, like schools and synagogues in Paris, New York, or Sydney. They target and seek to show the world that Jews are vulnerable. They are combining the trifecta of people, place, and festival.
They destroy. We build.
Much as it was during the Seder we celebrated during the COVID years, each Seder will be tweaked and adjusted to reflect Jewish life after October 7 and February 28.
Defiance in the face of adversity
The language of the Haggadah is there to help us. It speaks of defiance in the face of adversity. The themes of Hamas, Hezbollah, antisemitism, and Iran all fit effortlessly into that larger motif, as do the themes of social justice, Jewish suffering, and Jewish vulnerability.
The language of freedom and the suffering that was endured is part and parcel of our larger story of liberation. It is a central Seder theme, as well as a part of the modern State of Israel.
The optimism of “Next year in Jerusalem” will never be extinguished. It is an optimism resounding with Jewish resilience throughout history. It is the realization of the Zionist dream of self-defense and eventually living in peace.
So, referencing “Dayenu” (“We have had more than enough”) over the latest turning points in our nation’s history – October 7, the hostages, the murdered, the injured, the Iranian drones and missiles, the hate – “Dayenu!”
But throw at us what you wish; we will survive. We will flourish. We are the people of Israel.
With wishes for a safe, quiet, hopeful Passover for Jews worldwide.
The writer is a columnist and a social and political commentator. Watch his new TV show, Thinking Out Loud, on JBS.