‘They are part of our community’: Cloud hangs over suburban Passover celebrations
Passover is a celebration of liberation and freedom, commemorating the end of the Jews’ captivity in Egypt.
But a pall hangs over this year’s celebration, when hostages remain captive in Hamas’ hands, a wave of antisemitism sweeps across the world, and Israel faces attacks from Iran and its proxies.
“To me, Passover is even more meaningful and relevant this year than ever before,” said Buffalo Grove resident Lenna Silberman Scott, whose son, Andrew, is serving in the Israeli Defense Forces.
While the words read during the Passover Seder are timeless, applying them to the current circumstances makes them more meaningful, she added.
“We say in the Seder (that) we were slaves in Egypt and are taught that we should experience the Seder as if we were there,” Scott said. “And today, there are modern equivalencies that we can connect to in a really powerful way.
“It is our obligation to acknowledge the hostages in some way during the Passover Seder,” she added. “Passover is about standing as a community, and they are a part of our community who are being denied their freedom today.”
Alison Pure-Slovin, the Midwest region director for the Simon Wiesenthal Center, lamented the lack of attention to the hostages. The center is a Jewish global human rights organization researching the Holocaust and hate.
“We need to remember that there are hostages, that they are in captivity, that the Red Cross has not demanded to see them, and that their loved ones don't know if they're alive or dead,” Pure-Slovin said.
The Haggadah — a Jewish text that sets forth the order of the Passover Seder — states that in every generation God saves Jews from those who wish their annihilation, Pure-Slovin noted.
“It's interesting because it's not in the past tense. Somehow we know for the Jewish people, there is always antisemitism,” she said.
Pure-Slovin said it is a frightening time for Jews, many of whom are afraid to wear symbols of their religion in public. In Skokie, where she lives, synagogues are under armed guard.
Andrew Silberman said he is connecting to the holidays in a much different way, as he serves in a war zone and is fighting for the people of Israel.
“I see myself in this timeline of Jews that have fought for Jewish freedom,” the Stevenson High School graduate said.
“In Israel, I don't really experience much antisemitism, but I see a lot of it on the internet of how exposed it's gotten,” he added.
Rabbi Meir Moscowitz, of the Lubavitch Chabad of Northbrook and regional director of the Lubavitch Chabad of Illinois, said he has received more interest and more calls since Oct. 7 from people reaching out saying “they want to connect Jewishly,” whether that means lighting Sabbath candles or wrapping tefillin in synagogue.
People will be celebrating Passover with greater meaning and connection than in the past.
“By us turning inwards with our connection to God and our connection to each other, that gives us great spiritual strength and ability to move forward,” he said. “And I think that's what we're seeing today.”
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