‘Freedom: from whatever enslaves us’
I’m not particularly religious, I’m a humanist. I’m not a zealot and I don’t seek to convert others to my world views (or any other views for that matter). I’m not divisive, I’m inclusive (to a point). And I’m not the kind of person to stand on digital battlegrounds and join in protests or seek to silence others. I’m Jewish by birth and enjoy some of the allegorical stories that come with that, culturally and spiritually. Today is a perfect example of that. I’m aware that anything touching on religion and politics these days is likely to cause offence, alarm, upset, anger and vitriol. That’s not my aim.
Today is the Jewish holiday of Passover and tonight, around the world, families will sit and share the ‘Seder’ meal together. It’s always been my favourite festival, despite the privations and restrictions it places on us (long nights of storytelling and prayer, no bread or any food with yeast in it for eight days, an unreasonable amount of cleaning and preparation for the festival itself). The holiday marks the period when The Children of Israel fought to be freed from the grip of slavery in Ancient Egypt, leading to The Exodus and Pharoah ‘letting our people go’. Sounds like fun? You’d be forgiven for thinking ‘not so much’. But I love it.
