Passover in a Time of Fire: Choosing Resilience When the World Shakes 

Yael Eckstein  |  April 1, 2026

Passover is the holiday of remembering. Of telling a holy story. Of telling it again. Of sitting around the table and saying to our children: This is who we are, this is where we come from, and this is what we survived. 

But this year, as we prepare for Passover, the Exodus story doesn’t feel like ancient biblical history. Because this year, once again, we are celebrating Passover in a time of crisis—amid ongoing threats to Israel’s security and rising antisemitism around the world. 

Our world feels unstable. Our future can feel uncertain. And yet, Passover arrives with its timeless message: even on the darkest nights, God is preparing redemption. 

Passover is the story of a people who walked out of slavery and into freedom with nothing but faith. They did not know where they were going. They did not know how long the journey would take. They only knew that God was calling them forward. And they answered. 

That choice is the heart of Passover. And it is the heart of Israel today. 

The ongoing rocket and missile attacks on Israel have shaken the region. Families are anxious. Parents put their children to bed wondering what tomorrow will bring. But if there is one thing I have learned living in Israel, it is this: fear does not get the final word. 

We have faced crises before—long before the current moment, long before the modern state of Israel was declared. 

The Jewish people have always lived with pressure from adversaries. Pharaoh. Haman. Rome. Persia. The Inquisition. The Nazis. Hamas. Iran. We have stood at the edge of the sea, pursued by danger, unsure if the waters would part ahead. 

And we are still here. Not because we are stronger. Not because we are larger. Not because we are more powerful. We are here because we refuse to give up. We refuse to surrender our hope. We refuse to let fear define us. 

The Exodus was not a passive miracle. The Israelites had to take the first step into the unknown. They had to trust that God would meet them on the journey ahead. They had to trust that slavery was not their destiny, even when freedom felt impossible. Passover has always been a call to trust—and a call to courage. 

This is the same courage Israel is being asked to show today.