As we approach Passover at this anguished moment in our history, we struggle with ways to celebrate freedom.
In the Haggadah we read, “In each and every generation a person — adam — is obligated to see oneself as if s/he came out of Egypt.” The text uses the Hebrew word adam, “human being,” to underscore freedom as a universal right. It draws on the text of creation, “And God created the human, ha’Adam, male and female God created them, and both were created in the Divine image.” The word adam in the book of Genesis inaugurates universal equality, since the act of creation makes no distinctions. Adam is later used in the Haggadah to re-inscribe freedom not for a particular category of Jews but as a universal right.
The founders of the state of Israel recognized that the right of Jews to self-determination is stitched into the fabric of our tradition of the universality of human freedom. Accordingly, Israel’s Declaration of Independence promises “to foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.”
The current Netanyahu government has walked away from every word in Israel’s Declaration. Seven months after the brutal Hamas attack on October 7th, the government continues its dereliction of its civic duties, ignoring almost 200,000 evacuees from Israel’s south and nearly 80,000 from the north; sanctioning settlers’ violence against Palestinians; silent about hostages still in Gaza; ignoring the death of over 33,000 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly children and women, and denying wide-spread starvation.
But Partners for Progressive Israel shows us the potential of a different path. PPI stands with Israelis and Palestinians committed to freedom, justice, and peace for all the inhabitants of the land. The universal human rights etched in our tradition is at the center of Partners’ work. The upcoming Israel-Palestine Virtual Symposium centers on the road ahead as envisioned by people on the ground committed to a common humanity and a shared future.
On this Passover of 2024, may we embrace the promise of universal freedom in the Haggadah and the Declaration’s commitment to human rights for all.
Ayala Emmett is an anthropologist and a board member of Partners for Progressive Israel
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