This Passover, as for thousands of years, Jews gathered around seder tables will recall the story of our ancestors’ enslavement in Egypt. The purpose of remembering, however, is a little unclear, and, in our time, hotly contested: Is the lesson that we should do whatever is necessary to avoid being oppressed again—or is it that all forms of subjugation are inherently wrong and unjust, and that Jews should seek to end oppression for everyone?
Passover is a unifying holiday for observant Jews the world over. The most celebrated of Jewish holidays, Passover, represents liberation and is symbolic of self-determination. Known as "Pesach" in Hebrew, Passover commemorates pivotal events in the Book of Exodus. Jews celebrate the freeing of Israelite slaves from Egypt and Moses guiding them to the Promised Land. The eight-day event often coincides with Easter week but alternates yearly based on the lunar cycle and starts the night of a full moon.
Passover 2025 begins on the evening of Saturday, April 12, and runs through Sunday, April 20. This is now the second Passover since Hamas brutally massacred 1,200 Israelis on October 7, 2023, and a massive propaganda campaign began to convince the world that Israel is a “settler colonialist” state that is illegally occupying land that belongs to the “Palestinians,” who are supposedly the indigenous people of the land.
