Ma Nishtana?
Ma Nishtana? Why is this night different from all other nights?
Once again, the calendar brings us back to the beginning.
We are in the month of Nisan, we are starting a new year[1] and we are ready to sit around the table to celebrate and remember the beginning of our journey as a People: Zman Cherutenu, the time of our liberation.
That time when G-d pulled us with a strong hand out of the yoke of slavery and the narrowness of Egypt.
Once again, we will tell the story in present tense, honoring our texts that instructs us that, in every generation, we must all remember and tell the story as if each of us had come out of Egypt.
And we will ask ourselves again: Ma Nishtana? Why is this night different from all other nights?
The challenge every year is to bring new answers, and this one will be no exception.
I wonder if it is different because we keep needing to defend ourselves, as Jews, all over the world, from attacks that seem absurd and inexplicable, but nevertheless there they are.
But no, that has been happening year after year, century after century, millennium after millennium. Yet, since the time of Pharaoh, here we are, stubbornly and proudly, defending our right to exist.
Will it be different because today we have a Jewish State that defends us and protects us just because it exists?
No, that doesn’t make this night any different either, because thanks to G-d, to the resilience that circulates through the collective veins of this wonderful People, and to the bravery and courage of many men and women for over 80 years the State of Israel has been standing strong in the face of adversity.
Perhaps it is because, while defending ourselves from the external fronts, we also have to deal with the internal one: the greed for power and the excessive and thoughtless actions of some members of our People who believe they are superior and the owners of our faith and our tradition, but all they do is create even more harmful scenarios for all of us.
Well, once again, no. There have always been such individuals throughout history. We had Korach, questioning Moses’ leadership in the wilderness; we had Zealots, Bar Kamza, and the fighting that led to the destruction of the Second Temple; we had Shabtai Tzvi and his detours… and today we have voices that, from positions of power, encourage irresponsible and thoughtless actions that affect us all equally.
So, what makes this night different?
I believe that what makes us different – tonight and so many other nights– is the persistence and collective awareness of ethics and morality.
The stubborn insistence from many of us, throughout the planet, in keeping our ancestral values in our present daily actions.
To continue eating matzah when other delicacies are available.
To continue dipping the bitter herbs in salted water and then enjoy a sweet dessert.
To continue bringing memory to the present, telling our story to the little ones in a world that often seeks to destroy us.
To keep on defending our right to exist and to be, without renouncing any of those values.
Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks (Z”L) said that what has saved us as a People was our ability to always sustain rational thought, despite deep and unwavering faith, and to keep on planning the future, despite our loyalty to the past.
Time, in our tradition, is woven into our sacred language.
KEDEM ק ד ם is both past and future.
That’s our secret.
At a time when everything is going at an astronomical speed, barely touching the surface – because going deep hurts and exposes madness – we continue to take the time to make a Seder: an order.
With steps, with time frames, with songs and aromas.
Ma Nishtana? Why is this night different from any other night?
Tonight is different because we don’t give up.
We will never will.
Am Yisrael Chai.
Now and Forever.
VickyLudmer
Nisan 5786
Abril 2026
[1] Exodus 12:2
