Telling the tale
of the Exodus
around the seder table
and making it personal:
‘In every generation,
each person
is obliged
to regard themselves
as if they had
personally
gone out of Egypt’ (Haggadah)

Each person is
obliged
to remember
to feel
the blood rush of
liberation
to savour
freedom
on our tongues
our teeth crunching
on the brittle bread
baked in haste
as the slaves took flight

And also
to taste the maror
imbibe the bitterness
of generations of
back-breaking
servitude
that made our ancestors’ bones
ache with anguish
that crushed their
shrunken spirits

And further
another obligation
after we rejoice
with psalms and song
and complete the seder rites
a take-away
challenge:
‘A stranger you shall
not oppress
for you know
the nefesh
‘inner-being’
of the stranger
since you were strangers
in the land of Egypt’
(Exodus 23:9)

Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah