How Will This Night Be Different—for You?

Chag Sameach!

There’s something quietly powerful about the stillness right before the Seder begins.

Candles flickering.
Wine poured.
Matzah covered.
The kids fidgeting.

We’ve done this before.
We’ve gone through the motions.
We’ve asked the questions.
We’ve told the story.

Again and again.

But maybe this year, it’s not about the motions.
Maybe this year, it’s about presence.

Maybe this year, it’s about asking ourselves—honestly—how will this night actually be different for me?

Not just in the food. Not just in the tunes.

But in the questions I’m willing to sit with.
In the vision I’m willing to step into.

The Seder is not just a ritual.

It’s the most powerful strategic blueprint we’ve been gifted.

Fifteen steps. Each one guiding us to peel back the layers.

Of our story. Of our fears. Of our dreams. Of our identity.

The first mitzvah given to Klal Yisroel wasn’t Shabbos. It wasn’t Tefillin.

It was: “הַחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה לָכֶם.”

This month is yours. It is yours to make holy.

You play a critical role in sanctifying time.

This is your time. Your opportunity to define the moment.

To step into it and say— I’m going to be present.

I’m going to be bold.
And I’m going to be real.

That’s what Kadesh is. We sanctify the moment.

We don’t wait for holiness to show up.

We bring it.

But let’s step back for a minute leading up to Pesach.

There’s something about the physical work of cleaning for Pesach that forces you to confront yourself. The crumbs in the corner. The habits in your head.

When we burn our chometz, we’re not just emptying the pantry. The seforim highlight that there is an internal reflection we experience in those moments.

Chometz and Matzah have the same ingredients. Chometz is just inflated.

We’re saying: I no longer need to inflate myself to feel worthy. I don’t need to delay the future out of fear.

I am ready.
I believe.

I no longer need to hold on to ego disguised as precision.
I no longer need to use busyness to hide from clarity.
I no longer need to protect an image that doesn’t serve who I am becoming.
I no longer need to be the version of myself that others expect—instead of the one Hashem is calling forth.

We start the Seder with breaking a matzah. Because our story didn’t start on a high.

Greatness comes from acknowledging the places we’ve cracked. It comes from being willing to begin from where we actually are.

קָרוֹב ה׳ לְכָל־קֹרְאָיו לְכֹל אֲשֶׁר יִקְרָאֻהוּ בֶאֱמֶת:

Freedom isn’t born from comfort. It begins with truth.

The pain.
The challenges.
The places where we still feel stuck.

The voice in our head that says: “You’re not ready yet.” “You don’t have what it takes.” “You’ve tried before.”

But here’s what the Torah teaches us:We were redeemed in the merit of two mitzvos. Bris Milah and Korban Pesach.

Two actions. Two declarations. Not of perfection.

“וָאֹמַר לָךְ בְּדָמַיִךְ חֲיִי.”

Hashem says: In your blood, you shall live.

In your struggle.
In your responsibility.
In your commitment to something bigger than yourself.

At the core of this night is the Mah Nishtanah. But it’s not just a performance for the kids. It’s an opening for every person at the table.

Tonight is about asking questions. Asking others.

And asking yourself.

Questions that shake the dust off your soul. That make you reconsider the stories you’ve been telling yourself. That invite you to dream again.

How is this night different— not for your ancestors— not for your great-grandparents in Europe— but for you?

What part of yourself have you been hiding that’s ready to come forward this year? What are you ready to hold on to more tightly?

What future are you so deeply connected to, so lit up by, that you’d be willing to do the hard work of getting there?
What are you ready to let go of and/or solve to create it?

This night is about belonging.

I belong to this people. I’m connected to this story.

Not just to the story. But to your story.

The moment you saw Hashem so clearly orchestrating your next step out of a narrow place.  The moment you knew, even if just for a second, that He was writing your story too.

For me, it was in finding my wife, my partner in building our family. The Talmud says that קָשִׁין זִוּוּגִין כְּקְרִיַּת יַם סוּף. And it was in that challenge where I connected to Hashem in a way I never had before. It was in my davening I tasted a deeper joy, the joy of building a bright future despite the uncertainty and anxiety of the present.

And in that moment—I felt it.

That same boldness the Jews must’ve felt stepping out of Mitzrayim for the first time.

What’s your moment? What was your own Yetzias Mitzrayim?

This night is about belief.

In each other. In Hashem. In the possibility of who you are becoming.

“וְלָקַחְתִּי אֶתְכֶם לִי לְעָם” And I will take you to be My nation.

Hashem didn’t just free us from Pharaoh. He invited us into partnership.That’s the foundation of everything.

Our peoplehood. Our identity. Our purpose.

This is about building a future that’s bold and vibrant. A future so rich, so beautiful, we can’t not build it.

What’s driving you this year? Is there a passionate vision worth climbing toward?

A vision not created in a vacuum. Rooted in your values. Defined by your role. Shaped by a God who believes in what you can become.

When you see yourself as part of something eternal, your goals get bigger.

Clearer.
Braver.

You stop avoiding discomfort and start trusting it.

Because that’s what we’ve always done.

“עֲבָדִים הָיִינוּ” We were slaves. We were built in backbreaking labor. We know how to do hard things. We carry generations on our backs. We weren’t forged in luxury—we were forged in the fire of challenge.

And that same fire lives inside you.

That’s what I think about when I remember my grandfather. A Holocaust survivor who emerged with conviction, faith, and pride. I saw it in his eyes at the Seder. That fire was alive in him. And it lives in us.

So pause this year. Right before Kadesh.

And ask:

How will I show up tonight?

What might be possible if I don’t just remember the story—but allow it to shape mine?

What’s the next step I’m ready to take—toward building something lasting? Something alive?

Hashem believes in you.
You have a mission.
You are capable of empowering clarity, of conviction, of courageous steps.

Through celebrating who you are—it will give birth to who you can become.

This night is not just about where we came from. It’s about allowing that to shape what we’re here to build. And how deeply we’re willing to believe in that future.

Chag Kasher V’Sameach,

Uri