Passover: The message of empathy in the Haggadah

The retelling of the story of the Jewish people’s exodus from Egypt and journey to the Promised Land of Israel is the essence of the Passover holiday, especially of the Seder on the evening before the first day of the holiday, and again on the evening before the second day in the Diaspora. All over the world, Jews retell this amazing story every year on this holiday, with a great variety of Haggadot from many different Jewish denominations and communities, both traditional and contemporary. Every year, new Haggadot are published, with new interpretations and traditions.

While many meanings and messages can be derived from this experience in every family and community, for me there is one main message that stands out: “In every generation, each person is obligated see himself or herself as if he or she actually left Egypt.”

What does this mean? And why is it more important this year than ever before?

What does it mean to see yourselves as having left Egypt?

In order to answer this, we need to understand that “leaving Egypt” is both a physical and metaphorical idea. For the Jewish people, Egypt was the place where we were enslaved for some 400 years. Leaving Egypt was our process of national liberation. We left Egypt for the Land of Israel, the Promised Land, where we would be free to develop our destiny and become responsible for the welfare of our people, and for anyone who would reside among us.

Egypt is also a metaphor. It is a place of slavery and suffering, a narrow place, according to the Midrash, a place where people live in dire straits, like in a prison. Leaving Egypt, therefore, is the movement from slavery to freedom, from powerlessness to power, from irresponsibility to responsibility. All peoples who go through a process of national liberation leave the dark place of “Egypt” for the promise of freedom in their own land. This process is not limited to Jews, but the exodus experience is the classic paradigm for this process.

Not only nations go through this process but also individuals. As the great Hassidic teacher Rabbi Nachman of Breslov said, “The exodus from Egypt occurs in every human being, in every era, in every year, and even on every day.”

Passover and a sense of empathy in the story of the Haggadah

In the Haggadah published by Noam Zion and David Dishon called A Different Night, the editors suggest to the participants in the Seder to “think about the many ‘exoduses’ throughout our lives, whether emerging from one geographical place to another or from an experience of ‘slavery’ to one of greater freedom.” This can help us personalize the exodus story. By doing so, we can become intimately involved in our own processes in our lives, from our own experiences of servitude to those of freedom, as well as those of our people and other peoples.

One of the central moments of the Seder is the recitation of the Ten Plagues, which the Egyptians experienced, which led to Pharaoh finally allowing the Jews to leave Egypt. These plagues were very harsh, especially the last one, which was the killing of the first-born males of the Egyptians. This recitation raises some ethical questions for some of us. Were all these plagues necessary in order for us to become a free people? And how do we feel when we recite the plagues? Are we supposed to feel happy? Is it natural to have some feelings of revenge, since the Egyptians enslaved us for 400 years? Or do we at least have some mixed feelings about it?

Fortunately, the Jewish tradition developed a custom which helps us deal with this. With the recital of the plagues, we also spill a drop of wine with the mention of each one. Based on the verse “If your enemy falls, do not celebrate; if he trips, let your heart not rejoice” (Proverbs 24:17), Spanish commentator Abarbanel wrote:

“By spilling a drop of wine from the Passover cup for each plague, we acknowledge that our own joy is lessened and incomplete, for our redemption had to come by means of the punishment of other human beings. Even though these are just punishments for evil acts, it says ‘Do not rejoice at the fall of your enemy.’” 

In addition, we learn from a famous passage in the Talmud: “God is not happy at the downfall of the wicked…When the angels tried to sing songs of praise to God at the Red Sea, God silenced them and said ‘My handiwork, my human beings, are drowning in the sea, and you want to sing a song of praise?’” (Megillah 10b, the Babylonian Talmud).

Without these commentaries, it would be almost impossible to engage in the recitation of the Ten Plagues. On the contrary, these interpretations help us develop a profound sense of empathy for others, especially others who are killed in wars for the sake of our safety and freedom. Reading these passages on Passover should help us become more empathetic people in general, and especially in a time of war.

During the past year and a half, we have been experiencing war between the State of Israel and the Hamas regime in Gaza. The war began with the massacres, kidnappings, and rapes on October 7, 2023, by Hamas militants in southern Israel. It has continued for most of the past 18 months, except for some pauses for exchange of Israeli hostages held in Gaza in return for many Palestinian prisoners held for a long time in Israeli prisons. During January 2025, with the inauguration of a new president in the US, a ceasefire was arranged through the intervention of international mediators from the US, Qatar, and Egypt. Both Israel and Hamas agreed to this ceasefire, which included the release of 33 hostages in phase one, but Israel did not act in good faith with regard to ending the war, and continuing the hostage-prisoner exchanges in stage two. The ceasefire lasted about two months, the war continues, and the hostage-prisoner exchanges have not entered phase two. This renewed war against Hamas in Gaza in mid-March has once again led to the killing of many innocent civilians – especially women and children – among the Palestinians in Gaza.

Some people in Israel are happy about this and call to re-occupy Gaza and establish new settlements, which will make the conflict much worse than it is. Not only is this dangerous, but they miss the message of Passover. They are guided by other texts that teach about nationalism and the need to retaliate brutally, texts that I believe distort the meaning of Passover and Judaism in general.

This Passover, as we retell the story of our journey from slavery to freedom in our homes, synagogues, and communities all over the Jewish world, may we be mindful of the other people seeking to experience the same journey toward freedom and the chance to live a decent, safe life. Moreover, we should support their desire to do so.

In addition, we should not rejoice in the killing of our enemies, not be happy that so many of them are being “eliminated”, for they too are human beings created in the image of God. Rather, we should take the central message of this holiday to heart and show empathy for fellow human beings “on the other side” who are dying and suffering in great numbers. Our joy should never be complete as long as other human beings are suffering. Rather than endless war, we need to cooperate with those in the international community who are trying to help us resolve our conflict with the Palestinians and with the Arab states so that all people in the region can live in peace with security.■