Passover 2020: A Wake-Up Call - Message from Rabbi Marvin Hier, SWC Founder & Dean

It is so ironic that the apex of the coronavirus in the United States, theworld’s most powerful country, coincides with the Passover Seder - when Jews around the world commemorate the exodus from Egypt. The central theme of the Seder, remembering the tenplagues that struck Egypt, sound a lot like the origins of coronavirus – a mixture of blood, frogs, lice, wild animals, cattle, boils, hail, locusts, darkness and eventually the death ofthe first (born) victims of the virus - just like the markets of Wuhan, China.

As we read the Haggadah once again, we will also remind ourselves that the antidote to the ten plagues was the new TenCommandments given at Mount Sinai.

Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik pointed out that while the millions of people gathered at Times Square on New Year’s Eve,are never alone, they can all be lonely. This year during the corona pandemic, we will all sit around the Seder table feeling both alone and lonely, wondering what will eventually happento us.

At the end of the Holocaust and World War II, 80 million people, men, woman and children lost their lives. The world wasforced to confront that tragedy by creating the United Nations in the hope of avoiding another one. Today, we must do the same. We must view the corona plague as a wake up call, toprotect our planet from the virus of hate, bigotry and anti-Semitism. In such a world, there will never be a shortage of life-saving vaccines.

Wishing you and your family a happy and healthy Passover!

Rabbi Marvin Hier
Founder & Dean
Simon Wiesenthal Center