May 16, 2026 -
May 16, 2026 -
This past Shabbat was Mia and Jules L.s’ Bnot Mitzvah. The girls were amazing: leading the services, reading the Torah and Haftorah, and presenting a D’var Torah. Remarkably, they did all this only a month after being forced out of their home by a house fire. In their speech, they weave together the themes of Passover and the power of communal assistance, merging them into a unified, poignant message. Enjoy.
“We are so incredibly happy to be here today, celebrating our Bnot Mitzvah with all of you—our family, friends, and community. Becoming Bat Mitzvah means accepting the responsibilities of Jewish adulthood, and for us, that means finding ways to take the timeless lessons of our tradition and apply them to the world we live in right now.
The holiday of Passover, which starts next week, is perhaps the ultimate example of this. The Seder is a meal we share every year, telling the same story, reciting the same ancient words. Yet, as the Haggadah teaches us, in every generation, each person must see themselves as if they personally left Egypt. But how do we really do that? How do the stories of ancient slavery and miracles relate to us in the year 2026?
We’d like to share with you a story from 1946 that shows the Seder’s core message is not just about individual freedom but about the strength we find when we act as a community.
Golda Meir recounted a memorable Passover Seder in the midst of the struggle against the British restrictions on Jewish immigration. On April 8, 1946, Meir, then the acting head of the Political Department of the Jewish Agency, received the following telegram from Italy:
“We are 1100 people who have survived the Holocaust. In our desire to leave Europe and come to Israel, we sailed from Spezia for Palestine – our last hope.
The British Navy has intercepted our ship and is demanding that we turn around. We won’t leave the ship! We demand permission to continue to the Land of Israel. Be warned: we will sink with the ship if we are not allowed to come to Palestine, because we cannot be more desperate.”
The next day, the refugees went on a hunger strike. We asked them to stop because of the harsh conditions on board, and decided to take their place and fast until the ship was allowed to sail to Palestine. On the second day of the hunger strike, every Jew in Palestine over the age of 13 fasted. We suddenly felt that we were a single, unified people.
The third day of the hunger strike was the Eve of Passover. Thousands of people carrying flowers came to Jerusalem to show their support. The Chief Rabbis, who joined our fast, decided that everyone would eat a single piece of matza, no bigger than an olive. We put out cups of tea rather than wine for the hunger strikers.
Think about that Seder night. The people of Palestine were celebrating Passover, but in the most limited way. Why? Because their own celebration of freedom felt incomplete while their fellow Jews were being imprisoned. They felt the words of the Haggadah—”the Lord saved not only our ancestors, but us, as well”—in a completely new way. They understood that their freedom depended on the freedom of others. By joining the hunger strike, the community showed the world and the British government that they were a “single, united people.” Their care and concern brought those survivors to safety the very next day when the British agreed to let them enter Palestine.
This is the Seder’s eternal message. It teaches us that freedom is never fully achieved alone. It requires us to see the pain of one person as the pain of our entire community.
This month has been hard for us because, as many of you know, we used to live across the street. Something tragic happened to us on February seventh, and we will never forget the day that we had a house fire. These past weeks have been so hard for us. There were fire trucks and police officers all over our street, and firefighters in our home. This traumatic experience will never leave our hearts. We will never forget the day when we lost everything in our home. This impacted everything and made it so much harder to get to this day, but we pushed through and made it. We would like to extend a tremendous thank-you to our community. The week of the fire, everyone was helping us and letting us stay in their homes. We received so many clothes, and there were bags and bags of clothes sitting at numerous houses, all donated for us. Our community has been nothing but supportive, including raising generous amounts of money for our GoFundMe, and we are so grateful for all of your generosity. The Plainview community is so caring and so sweet. When we were suffering, the community just kept giving us more, and we are forever appreciative.
Thank you all for being our community, and for helping us to see how the ancient words of the Seder continue to guide us toward a complete and just freedom, together.”
Wishing you all a peaceful and enjoyable Passover,
R’ Neil, Judy, and family
Manetto Hill Jewish Center
244 Manetto Hill Road, Plainview, NY 11803
(516) 935-5454
