Rabbi Yaakov Menken, Coalition for Jewish Values managing director, told Newsmax on Friday that Passover is a "great example" of "how education can be done in a way that involves adults and children."
"To put it in modern terms, it's a great example of parental control of education because you have parents sitting down with their children, with their extended family, talking about the miracles that happened to the Jewish people back in Egypt, the miraculous rescue from horrible conditions of enslavement," Menken said on "Wake Up America." "There are so many things done in the Seder to convey that message to children, to keep them interested, to keep them aware – and awake, at that hour – and that's a great part of the holiday, is just the way that the whole family comes together to bring this message alive."
This year, the Jewish holiday of Passover, which celebrates the deliverance of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, begins at sundown Saturday and ends at nightfall on April 20. During the first two nights of Passover, a Seder (candle-lit dinner) is eaten, which is comprised of ceremonial foods to commemorate the flight of the Israelites from Egypt, including unleavened bread called matzo that resembles a large, flat cracker.
Menken said the "whole point of the Seder" is to "recount" the miracles the Israelites encountered when Moses ordered Pharaoh to "let my people go."
"It's interesting how Passover manages to answer to each generation, but, certainly, you look at Pharaoh and, in fact, you can open the Book of Exodus and just read the story and think about how irrational Pharaoh was," Menken said. "It wasn't just that he didn't know Joseph, who had saved the entire country; it was that he regarded Jews as a hostile force who would join with the enemies and then they would leave and go to their own place, all of which was horrible. Wow, doesn't that sound a lot like what people are saying on campus?"
The rabbi was referring to the anti-Israel protests and antisemitism that roiled college campuses across the country last year. He reiterated how Passover is a model for education, going back thousands of years, that demonstrates how adults and children can be involved in a family-oriented style of learning.
"The one key element of the Seder is reciting, 'This is what has stood for our fathers and us, that in every generation they rise over us to kill us,'" Menken said. "In every generation there's going to be antisemites. They're going to rise over us, to kill us, and God will save us from their hands."
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Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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