BO

OUR CHILDREN, OUR FUTURE

The threat of a plague of locusts, which would completely obliterate the vegetation in Egypt, finally brought Pharaoh to his senses—at least temporarily. In desperation, he summons Moses and Aaron. “You may go and worship in the desert—but who is going?”

Moses replies, “With our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our sheep and with our cattle, because for us, it is a festival for G-d” (Shemot 10:8-9).

Pharaoh, incredulous, suspects bad faith: “Your evil intentions are clear. Let the men go and serve G-d, for that is what you really seek.”

Pharaoh’s attitude is understandable. What place do children have in a major spiritual event? Won’t they get in the way and disturb? When Pharaoh says, “Let the men go and serve G-d,” he reflects an attitude that prevailed in his time—and for much of history.

Moses, however, emphasizes that in Judaism, engaging children in the religious experience is of fundamental significance. In fact, the Pesach Seder, which celebrates the Exodus, is the ultimate child-centred occasion. Involving children is not a modern innovation but a practice that dates back over two thousand years to the rabbis of the Mishna and Talmud. They specified that certain rituals should be performed differently at the Seder to provoke children’s curiosity, ensuring they ask questions.

The late Rabbi Lord Sacks often pointed out that when Moses addresses the people in Egypt on the brink of the Exodus, he does not speak about liberation or the destination—a land flowing with milk and honey. He speaks about children. Three times in this parasha, Moses turns to the future, to the duty of adults to educate the next generation about the story that is about to unfold:

“When your children ask you, ‘What is this service to you?’ you shall answer, ‘It is the Passover service to G-d. He passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians, sparing our homes’” (Shemot 12:25-27).

“On that day, you shall tell your child, ‘It is because of this that G-d did for me when I left Egypt’” (Shemot 13:8).

“Your child may later ask you, ‘What is this?’ You shall answer, ‘With a show of power, G-d brought us out of Egypt, the place of slavery’” (Shemot 13:14).

As Rabbi Sacks beautifully said, “Moses wanted us to teach our children a story. He wanted us to help our children understand who they are, where they came from, what happened to their ancestors to make them the distinctive people they became, and what moments in history shaped their lives and dreams. He wanted us to give our children an identity by turning history into memory, and memory itself into a sense of responsibility.”

All that remains of Pharaoh’s Egypt are stone pyramids. Yet, three-and-a-half thousand years later, the descendants of Moses’ generation—old and young—are still here telling the story. In challenging times, this reality gives us strength and hope.