By: Vanina Bazaga – Rosh Chinuch Olam BeYahad, Argentina
“And this is what kept our fathers, and what keeps us, surviving. For not only one arose and tried to destroy us; rather, in
every generation they try to destroy us, and Hashem saves us from their hands”. (VEHI SHEAMDA)
We are currently celebrating Pesach, a highly important holiday for our people, from
which we can extract and learn many things. It is at this time of the year that we perform
the Sedarim (depending on whether we are in Israel or the diaspora) and share among
family the story of how the Israelites managed to liberate themselves from the Egyptians’
claws and head towards freedom. Since then, each one of us as Jews carries all the
departures from Egypt in his veins. I am referring to the “departures from Egypt” in the
plural form due to all of the people trying to subdue or subordinate us throughout our
history. However, we managed to escape, achieving years later our political, religious and
cultural autonomy with the creation of the State of Israel.
Without a doubt, we are a people who constantly seek freedom, and that is why I propose
that in this Pesach, to take advantage of this moment in a different way, we are more
conscious of our rebellion and ability. What do we do and why? To where do we want to
get? Where do we want to take our chanichim? What is it that is bothering you today?
What are you going to do to change it?
For that, in this article, I want to raise the following question: How can it be that a people
that for hundreds of years lived enslaved, trusted a God without a name or form and
decided to move away from its reality heading toward an unknown destination? It is true,
this did not happen from one day to the next, and not all the people managed to leave
Egypt – several were left behind, among them those who did not have faith in freedom,
for example. Not everyone managed to have faith, either at that time or today. Today, we
all know the expression “stepping out of the comfort zone”, which refers to leaving all our
comforts, leaving the familiar and facing a new and unknown reality. This is not easy;
nevertheless, is what we as a “Tnuat Noar” aim for with our education, which is directly
related to the halutziut – the pioneering. In every space, every peula and every event of
the family of Hanoar Hatzioni, we encourage and educate towards “swimming against the
current”, being rebels and not conforming. This is not common; many people prefer to
stay where they are. However, it is our duty as Jewish and Zionist leaders to fight for the
values and to transmit this commitment to motivate the future generations.
In this Pesach Seder, surely we all will sing “Dayenu” (“It Would Have Been Enough”).
This song refers to the help that God gave us during the departure from Egypt and
expresses that the most minimal aid would have been enough for us, but even so, he
continued helping us, and for that we thank him. In this Chag I suggest a new perspective
to this traditional song: “Lo Dayenu” (“It Would Not Have Been Enough”) because as
chaverim in the Tnua, we must not conform; we should aspire to seek more, do more, and
go further. Let us break the mold! The comfort zone has no challenges, teachings or
growths. Let us knock ourselves out looking for ways to get out of Egypt! Let us not be
satisfied with what we have already done; let us keep fighting, keep thinking and keep
changing! Our freedom is in our hands.
Chag Sameach!
