On Passover, we tell the story of our people emerging from “Mitzrayim” – “the narrow place.” A place of fear. A place of shackles and of oppression closing in around us. The word evokes a feeling that there is no way out and no way forward.

In recent years, that story may feel less distant.

For our community, it can feel like we are in another narrow place. Rising hatred. The normalization of antisemitism in our politics. Increased violent attacks on our community. We’re faced with questions of our own safety, of our own belonging. The burden of our history is crushing, and our current situation only adds more weight.

But that’s why we tell the Passover story every year. Yes, to understand the pain our people have experienced. But also to remember that we can survive and move beyond it. The Jewish story — our story — is a story of survival.

But we don’t escape the narrow place alone. We do it together. Even in the face of great threats, solidarity and collective resistance bring us out the other side.

It can feel easy to retreat inward. To isolate ourselves. But the story of Passover calls for the opposite. It calls for us to resist hatred. It calls for us to see ourselves in the oppression our forebears experienced and commit ourselves to ensuring no one experiences the same pains.

As we retell the story this year, we must see ourselves in the experiences of the past as well as seeing the impact of our work in the experiences of the future. May we move through the narrow place together toward a future that’s wide open with possibility.

Chag Pesach Sameach,
Nate Wolfson
Communications Director, The Nexus Project