We read the Haggadah not as a piece of ancient history, but as a vital prologue of events that can reoccur in our time. No Jew living in Egypt ever imagined that thePharaoh
s would forget everything that Joseph did to saveEgypt from ruin, but they did exactly that, enslaving them and then throwing their sons into the Nile.
On September 16, 1919 Adolph Hitler wrote a letter of his hatred for theJews, outlining his plans which called for,"Theuncompromising removal of the Jews altogether," which he said can only be accomplished, "Under a government of National strength and never under a government ofNational impotence." Hitler warns against an "emotional anti-Semitism which will always find its expression in the form of pogroms" and seeks rather "a legal ... removal of therights of the Jew."But nobody believed him.
A few days ago, in spite of the sensitive Swiss negotiations, Mohammad Reza Naqdi, a top Iranian General didn't hesitate to brazenly declare, "Destroying Israel isnonnegotiable."
Ironically at the same time when Jews everywhere sit around their Seder tables and fill up their four cups of wine to celebrate Passover, another group of the most powerfulnations, including the United States, have announced in Switzerland that they have concluded the first phase of a framework towards an agreement that will be negotiatedand finalized in June, aimed at preventing Iran - the worlds most dangerous terrorist regime - from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Forgotten however is that unlike Passover, where parents playfully hide the Afikoman, hoping that their children will find it and remain involved in the Seder, the risk of thisframework with the Iranians is that in this instance, we are dealing with a country who has proven to be the grandmasters of lying and deception who, for decades, havesuccessfully hidden their nuclear weapons program right under the noses of the world's intelligence agencies.
To bet the house that such a scenario with an unrepentant Iran will not repeat itself - because of its promise to cooperate with inspectors - while at the same timecontinuing its worldwide terrorist activities, poses a grave risk and existential threat to the State of Israel and the entire Middle East.
Wishing you and your family Chag Sameach,
Rabbi Marvin Hier Simon Wiesenthal Center, Founder and Dean
s would forget everything that Joseph did to saveEgypt from ruin, but they did exactly that, enslaving them and then throwing their sons into the Nile.