Sharing a personal memory

A few years ago, at the height of state capture, I joined the civil society movement to protest the corruption of President Jacob Zuma. There were many marches in Cape Town and Pretoria, one of which concluded on the lawns in front of the Union Buildings. I will never forget that moment because it was just a few weeks before Pesach, at this time of year, and I spoke to a rally of tens of thousands of people. 

At that rally, I instinctively turned to Pesach as the frame of reference for the struggle against the corruption of the Zuma administration. I told the crowd that the festival of Passover would soon be marked by Jews around the world, celebrating the liberation of Jewish slaves from Egypt. And then I asked them, “What did Moses say to Pharaoh?” And the entire crowd erupted together: “Let my people go!” 

I continued, “And what should we tell Jacob Zuma, who sits in his office in the Union Buildings just behind you?” And again, the crowd responded in unison, “Let my people go!” And so I led them in a chant against the government of the time. 

Reflecting on this episode, I realised that the events we mark on Pesach are acknowledged by billions of people around the world as historical fact. All Christians and Muslims accept the origin story of the Jewish people – how we were slaves in Egypt, and how G-d intervened in history with the 10 plagues and the splitting of the sea – with great “signs and wonders” – to free us. These events recorded in the Book of Exodus are not myth; they are real and true, and as Jews, we testify to them every single year. 

Consider this: ever since that very day we were liberated – which we know the exact date of, exactly 3 338 years ago – Jews have been gathering around seder tables to tell of the events. This has provided a direct historical record. No generation would have been the first to tell the story if it had not actually happened, and each succeeding generation knew about it because their parents had told them, and their parents before them. And today, billions recognise it as the birth of the Jewish people and a foundational moment in human history. 

That rally reminded me of something else: how many of our fellow South Africans share our sacred values. I have felt this especially over the past two and a half years since the horrific events of 7 October 2023. There is a silent majority of South Africans who stand with us, who understand the story of the Jewish people, our G-d-given connection to the Land of Israel, and our G-d-given values. 

Those events on the lawns of the Union Buildings also brought home to me the eternal relevance of our Torah, a moral legacy that has inspired the struggle for freedom across millennia and continues to guide us to this very day. 

But the seder is first and foremost a deeply personal Jewish experience. And while humanity has drawn inspiration from our origin story, the real reason we bear witness to and tell our story is to teach our children and the generations that follow what it means to be a Jew. 

Let us remember: this is not just a family gathering, or some quaint tradition. It is the retelling and reaffirmation of our history, bearing witness to the Divine origins of our people, and how these miraculous events instruct, inspire and guide us to this day, uplift all of humanity, and shape our Divine mission and living legacy of what it is to be a Jew.