Protest and Passover in Israel

 

This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance...

And when your children ask you, ‘What does this observance mean to you?’ you shall say, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when he struck down the Egyptians but spared our houses.’ ” And the people bowed down and worshiped.

Exodus 12:14, 26-27 NRSVue

After 11 weeks of protest against changes to the judiciary in Israel the last few days have heated up as hundreds of thousands have takem to the streets. In the most recent protests, public figures have joined those opposed to "reforms" which would move Israel's democracy away from vital checks and balances toward a much more authoritarian, government. The current regime is a "deal with the devil" government with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, under investigation for a variety of crimes. and right-wing Jewish representatives working together. While the changes to the judiciary were not mentioned during the election late last year they have apparently been in the works for years.

We are interested in what is unfolding for a number of reasons, including our scheduled trip to Israel at the end of next week. While we're looking forward to moving around the country without impediment we also understand the importance of this resistance to authoritarianism. 

At one of the weekend rallies one of the speakers used language rooted in the Jewish tradition to describe the struggle. Here is a portion of a report in the Times of Israel:

Speaking at the main rally in Tel Aviv, historian Yuval Noah Harari said civil servants and military forces must obey the courts and not the government, should Israel end up in a constitutional crisis.

Addressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Harari said: “We know you are responsible for all that is happening… You are not an emissary. You are definitely not an angel. After 2,000 years, we still remember pharaoh. And we will remember you. There’ll be no streets, squares or airports named after you. But we will tell the story of the man who tried to enslave us and failed.”“You are surrounded by people with no backbone. But we have backbones… We will not be slaves. Next year we will be free people,” he added, in a reference to the upcoming Passover holiday.

We will be in Israel during Passover which begins April 5th, and commemorates the meal leading to freedom for the Jewish people from the slavery and oppression of the Egyptian pharoah. I will be sure to share my thoughts on the experience of being there during this momentous time. 

Israelis block the Ayalon highway in Tel Aviv during a protest against the government’s planned judicial overhaul, on March 25, 2023. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)