Our Daily Kavanot during Passover will feature pieces from our Wise Passover Haggadah Supplement. Each day, our clergy will focus on a different element of the Passover holiday.
Rebirth, Hope, and Natan Sharansky
By Rabbi David Woznica
Today we observe the fourth day of Passover, a holiday Jews have observed for thousands of years. There may be no holiday in history that has been commemorated for as long as Passover. It is the most widely celebrated Jewish holiday. The Haggadah has been reprinted more than any Jewish book.
Passover is z’man heyruteinu, “the season of our freedom.” It was a moment of the rebirth of our people, and it gave rise to the belief that tomorrow can be better than today. It was, in some ways, the beginning of hope.
Yet, since the moment of the Exodus, our people have not always been free: Certainly not free to live as Jews.
Jews living in the Soviet Union were prohibited from practicing Judaism; at the same time virtually all Soviet citizens were forbidden to leave the country. Natan Sharansky (known then as Anatoly Sharansky) was arrested for the “crime” of teaching Hebrew and charged with treason.
He was sent to the notorious Lefortovo prison (his memoir, “Fear No Evil,” is an essential read) and became the best-known Jewish refusenik of his day. Thanks to the efforts of his wife, Avital, and Jews worldwide who protested on his behalf, he was released after nine long years.
Immediately after winning his freedom, he did what our people set out to do when they left Egypt 3,200 years earlier. He set off for the Promised Land of Israel, where he became a national political figure and human rights activist. His life story is incredible.
As our people collectively experience a rebirth following the Exodus from Egypt, Natan Sharansky experienced his rebirth from slavery to freedom in our lifetime. He did not lose hope, and he represented the hope of a people—a people who took to the streets around the globe, lest the world forget him.
Elie Wiesel, of blessed memory, said, “… even when it seems hopeless, I invent reasons to hope.” I have little doubt both Wiesel and Sharansky’s hope was rooted in their belief in God. For in freeing our people from Egypt, God became our eternal hope.
We were honored to have Natan Sharansky as part of our Center for Jewish Life series. You can watch the video of Rabbi Woznica in dialogue with Mr. Sharansky HERE.