While the original Passover took place over 3,000 years ago, its story is just as relevant today as it was back then. Rounded up below are quotes about Passover to share this year, each of them capturing the timelessness and the history that goes into celebrating the holiday.
If you don't know the story of Passover, you can find it in the book of Exodus in the Bible. The name of "Passover" comes from the story of the death angel, which was told to "pass over" the houses of the Jewish people (who had put sacrificial blood on their doors) when killing the firstborns in Egypt. After the Egyptian Pharaoh's son was killed, he at last told the Jewish people that they were free to flee the land. (Though, he quickly changed his mind after freeing them and chased after them following their escape).
The quotes below touch on the day of Passover from many different viewpoints. Even if you're not Jewish, the Passover holiday is an interesting one to study, and you may just be surprised how relevant the story is in today's heated political and wartime climate.
1. "The Exodus from Egypt occurs in every human being, in every era, in every year, and in every day." — Rabbi Nachman of Breslov
2. "The Seder nights... tie me with the centuries before me." — Ludwig Fran
3. "If you must hate, if hatred is the leaven of your life, which alone can give flavor, then hate what should be hated: falsehood, violence, selfishness." — Ludwig Börne
4. "Today, Passover is a festival of freedom... Passover remains relevant and contemporary, while at the same time a ritual several thousand years old... The content — at least some of it — is flexible and determined by the participants at specific celebrations. Thus, the holy day is still meaningful to younger generations, because it allows for creative input and participation. It breathes." — Jack Santino
5. "Bitter is wine, but it sweetens all bitterness." — Moses Ibn Ezra
6. "To keep green, then, the memory of the Exodus was for the Israelite not only to keep his gratitude to his Divine Redeemer ever fresh, but to ratify again and again his covenant with his religion." — Morris Joseph
7. "The Israelites were free not only from the degradation of bondage, but from its agony. They were safe from the taskmaster’s cruel whip. They were delivered from the fetters of despair. This thought intensifies the effect of the Passover. We feel all the suffering of our dead ancestors. We share their burdens with them. But we hear too the fateful signal which proclaims that the hour of their redemption has struck; we march forth with them from the scenes of oppression in gladness and gratitude.... So indestructible is the effect wrought by these moving episodes of a bygone day!" — Morris Joseph
8. "Passover is one of my favorite times of the year. This is when the whole community and family gets together to remember who we are and why we are here." — Jennifer Wanger
9. "The cause of freedom and the cause of peace are bound together." — Léon Blum
10. "The religious act is done reverently and lovingly in gratitude for the ancient redemption, and thus becomes a type of the deep religious emotion with which that memorable event ever fills the pious heart." — Morris Joseph
