Ceremony and Celebration Family Edition, The Hagim, Pesah, Dayeinu, A Story for the Night of Stories
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Natan Sharansky is a hero of the Jewish people. Growing up in the Soviet Union, when it was almost impossible to live a Jewish life, he knew the term “Jew” only as something to hide. But then in 1967, following Israel’s dramatic victory in the Six-Day War, Jews began to reconnect to their ancestral faith with pride. Many began to dream of returning to their homeland but were prevented by the Soviet authorities. They became known as Refuseniks. Sharansky, who was arrested at the age of twenty-nine for his Zionist activities, was arguably the most famous Refusenik, with thousands of people campaigning for his release from the Soviet gulag prison system in Siberia. He gained his freedom in 1986 and realised his lifelong dream to immigrate to the State of Israel.
At the beginning of the Coronavirus global pandemic, when many Jews around the world were facing the notion of a Pesaḥ Seder without their family around the table for the first time, he was interviewed about his experience of Pesaḥ in the gulag. The Soviet authorities knew the importance of Seder night, and cruelly ensured that Sharansky was in solitary confinement, where he was served nothing but three pieces of dry bread and three cups of water per day.
“I decided my three cups of water would be my wine and my three pieces of dry bread would be my matza,” Sharansky recalled. “And my salt would be my maror. I found out that this is the great place to feel the unique struggle of the Jewish people – to be connected with every Jew in the world, and to enjoy thinking that this year we are slaves and next year we [will be] free people in Jerusalem.”
Sharansky concluded his interview by emphasising that even if we are not with our family on Seder night, we are still connected, for we are one big family, a people with a shared history, a shared future, and a very special role in this world.
☛ REFLECT Natan Sharansky found meaning in the Pesaḥ story for his situation, both in the gulag and during the Covid pandemic. What meaning for this year can you find in the Pesaḥ story?