Passover is upon us once again, the festival of freedom when we commemorate our ancestors? deliverance from bondage in Egypt.

Throughout the world, a familiar scene will repeat itself, as Jewish parents relate the story of the Exodus to their children, preserving the chain of Jewish memory that links us to our past while fortifying our future.

The Passover Seder is a powerful ritual, one that continues to resonate with many Jews who otherwise are largely unaffiliated or even uninvolved with Jewish life.

But the question that comes to mind, and which demands an answer, is what is the relevance of all this in the 21st century? After all, Israel is a sovereign and independent country, and most of world Jewry currently resides in the West, where they enjoy unprecedented freedom to live as they see fit.

The answer, in fact, is really quite simple, and it goes directly to the heart of what Passover, and our nation?s history, is truly all about: the Jewish people?s unshakeable determination to persevere, even in the wake of disaster and tragedy...

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Michael Freund served as Deputy Director of Communications & Policy Planning in the Israeli Prime Minister's Office under former premier Binyamin Netanyahu. He is Founder and Chairman of Shavei Israel (www.shavei.org), which reaches out and assists "lost Jews" seeking to return to the Jewish people.