Question: Where does the tradition of having a special meal on the first night of Passover (Seder) come from and what does it mean?

Answer: The Passover meal is a beautiful tradition that symbolizes the greatest landmark in the history of the people of Israel, the birth of the nation. Everything that was before it we can call a state of an embryo.

This can be compared to the drop of semen that gets into the womb, into a correct and safe place, where it begins to develop. During nine month of pregnancy, it undergoes various stages of growth until suddenly it begins to feel not very comfortable.

The same place that was so safe, good, and that protected the embryo that was developing from the drop of semen suddenly becomes threatening, pressing, wishing to push it out of itself, rebelling against it.

The same thing happened to the people of Israel in Egypt. At first, when the Jews descended to Egypt, everything was fine and wonderful, the so-called seven years of satiation. However, then their condition began to deteriorate quickly; the tension and threat began to grow rapidly. And they didn’t know where and how to run away from it.

This is how an embryo feels in the uterus before birth, and this is how the Jews felt in the Egyptian exile according to what the Torah says. Today, we feel the same way in the modern world, when nature becomes so hostile and threatening to us. Humanity has been developing all the time, but nowadays we feel for the first time that we’ve reached a dead end and have nowhere to develop.

Nature as if begins to clench us in a ring. We are locked on this Earth with poisoned ecology and can’t find a place for ourselves. These processes are very similar: the development of an embryo, the history of the development of the people of Israel, and the evolution of the whole world.

Many secular people who don’t celebrate any Jewish holidays, nevertheless celebrate Passover Seder because it unites us within each familyand as a people. Together we celebrate the birthday of our nation.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 4/12/16

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