Every year the youngest child at the table asks: “why is this night different from all other nights?” This year the question is clearer than ever. Here are seven ways this Passover is different. The first four name the hardships we carry. The last three point toward what endures.

מַה נִשְּתַנָּה הַלַּיְלָה הַזֶּה מִכָּל הַלֵּילוֹת

This is the holiday of freedom, and we cannot leave.

The skies above Israel are not safe. There are almost no flights. And yet, within that constriction, a different kind of freedom: a freedom of thought, stripped of everything that is not essential. We are fighting for our survival, for the most fundamental freedom there is. Sometimes, it takes a siege to know what you are truly free for.

This is not a Passover of spring, of lightness, of relief. It is a Passover of what is essential.

This Passover connects us to the hardest moments in our........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)