Dear Seattle Community,

Tomorrow night, as we sit around our Pesach (Passover) Seder tables, we will retell our people’s ancient story of liberation from bondage in Egypt.

One of the moments we know well in the story is when the Israelites are standing on the shores of the Red Sea. They found themselves with the Egyptian army coming after them from behind and the vast expanses of the sea ahead of them. They were physically stuck. The people said, “Maybe it is better to go back to Egypt and serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” At this moment, Moses said to the people: “Have no fear! Stand by, and witness the deliverance that God will work for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today you will never see again” (Exodus 14:13).

It feels to me like we are in a modern-day moment like the one we read about in the story of Passover. Like many of you, I am deeply worried about where we find ourselves right now – trapped between the proverbial army behind us and the expanses of the sea ahead of us.

In the last month, multiple synagogues in Toronto were shot at; there was an explosion outside of a synagogue in Belgium; four ambulances owned by a Jewish organization in London were torched; and there was an attack on Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan, while preschool, with hundreds of kids, was in session in the building. 

It is a miracle that no one was killed in any of these attacks, and yet part of the intent of terrorism is to stoke fear. I can tell that our community is on edge. In recent weeks, I have heard from community members who have hesitated to send their kids to Jewish events, and rabbis telling me that they are rationing limited funds for security. 

It is at moments like these that we have to hold onto the words that Moses cried out, standing on the shores of the sea: “Have no fear! Stand by, and witness the deliverance that God will work for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today you will never see again.”

Just after the text tells us to have no fear, we read that Moses held his arms out over the sea to part the water. But the midrash teaches us that it was not until the moment Nachshon, Aaron’s brother-in-law, had faith and waded into the water, all the way up to his nose, that the sea split.

There’s a critical lesson here for us all. We must strive to have no fear. And, we must have faith that the evil we see today, we will not see in the future. But we also have to take action and be willing to step into the water when we are stuck between an army and the sea.

At the Federation, we work every day to step into the water and create the path towards the Jewish future we aspire to.

Last week, our camp scholarship committee met. Once again, we will help hundreds of young people from across the state have the transformative experience of a summer at Jewish overnight camp – a place where it is safe for kids to be their full selves.

We also just wrapped up the fourth and final session of Shared Table, our bridge-building initiative. Over the last month, 50 Jewish community members representing a wide geographic, religious, and ideological spectrum got together to discuss their differences and to find common ground. They shared their personal stories, navigated heated emotions, and built skills to embrace the complexity of our diverse opinions. “Our diversity is our strength”, one participant said, and I believe those words are true. It is our hope that this program will ripple throughout the Seattle community as these participants bring their new skills into other spaces.  

Last week, we had our third Loeb Leadership Institute lab – a deep dive learning about what it means to have a culture of philanthropy. The Loeb Leadership Institute is part of our Federation’s commitment to building a strong leadership pipeline for our broad Jewish community.

And, this past weekend, our Security Director, Lee Yates led a training for over 50 community members, BeAware™: An Introduction to Situational Awareness, which taught participants how to recognize threats, report suspicious activity, and be an active participant in our community’s safety. Lee is available to provide training for any Jewish organization in our community, at no cost to the organization, funded by the Federation. To request a security training, click here.

Finally, I look forward to speaking at Limmud Seattle in a few weeks in a session about “Reclaiming Jewish Joy.” You can learn more about Limmud and register here. I hope I’ll see you there. I spend a lot of time talking and writing about countering antisemitism and keeping our community safe, but the reason those things are so important is so that we may live a joyful Jewish life filled with learning and meaning.

As we head into Passover, I’m holding onto Moses’ words, but I’m also holding onto Nachshon’s actions. At the Federation, it is our job to stand up for our community. It is our job to keep our community safe. And, it is our job to do whatever we can to build a thriving Jewish future. We will only be able to do that work if we continue to take the steps into the water together and have faith that the sea will part.

Chag Pesach Sameach,