As we gather around the Seder table this Pesach, recounting the story of our ancestors’ liberation from Egypt, we are reminded that the command “Let My People Go” is not only ancient – it is achingly contemporary.
This year, the festival of freedom carries a sombre weight. More than 59 hostages remain in Hamas captivity – held in abysmal conditions, denied food, water, medical aid, and even the most basic human dignity.
These men, women, and children are not symbols. They are real people with families, with names, with lives cruelly interrupted. Their plight echoes the suffering of our people in Egypt, and it calls on us to raise our voices, louder than ever, and demand: Let Our People Go.
The story of Pesach is not simply about physical liberation. It is about the rejection of tyranny, the resilience of a people in the face of cruelty, and the divine insistence that slavery – of any kind – is a moral abomination.
Today, the Jewish people confront a modern Pharaoh in the form of Hamas: a terrorist regime that rules by fear, preaches hatred, and glorifies death. That some in the international community continue to equivocate or minimise this evil is a travesty that must be challenged.
Let us also reflect on the broader messages of Pesach – solidarity, justice, and the imperative never to be silent in the face of injustice. As our ancestors cried out from bondage, and God heard their cries, so too must we ensure that the cries of the hostages are not ignored by a world far too quick to forget.
We remain steadfast in our calls for the immediate and unconditional release of every hostage. We urge the British government and international community to apply unrelenting pressure on Hamas and its backers, and to reject any efforts – legal, political, or rhetorical – that seek to legitimise or sanitise this brutal regime.
May this Pesach inspire renewed hope and resolve. And may we merit to see all our people – wherever they are – free at last.
Chag Pesach Kasher v’Sameach,
The National Jewish Assembly
