and a yearning to be accepted by people already established.
This theme finds full expression in the story of Passover. At the Seder table we declare:“ We were strangers in the land of Egypt.” The Exodus is not merely a tale of liberation; it is also a story of migration. A people leaves the land of oppression and sets out toward an unknown future. The memory of that experience becomes central to Jewish ethics. Because we know what it means to be strangers, the Torah repeatedly commands us to treat the stranger with compassion and dignity.
For many Jews today, this narrative resonates deeply. In countries like the United States, most of us, or our parents or grandparents, arrived as immigrants seeking safety and opportunity. Our family stories echo the journeys of Abraham and the Israelites: leaving behind the known, in order to build a new life in a new land.
But the spiritual message of Lech Lecha and Passover goes even further. The journey is not only about movement across borders; it is about the moral responsibility we carry with us along the way. While Abraham’ s path was rooted in faith and openness, the Exodus, experienced by Abraham’ s descendants, shaped a people committed to justice, compassion, and communal responsibility.
Passover reminds us that human beings are often travelers, seeking dignity, belonging, and hope.
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