Neither tonight's anniversary of the dawn of the Jewish people nor the anniversary of the birth of the Jewish state three weeks from now should be seen as normal or taken for granted. The late poet Natan Alterman made sure to remind us of this in his poem "The Simple Son" – his take on one of the four sons from the Passover Haggadah. Alterman does not characterize the simple son as foolish or ignorant, but rather as someone enthralled and amazed by the wonderful miracles happening around him. Alterman's simple son is actually the wisest son, the one who fills the necessary role of preventing us from becoming complacent or growing too accustomed to miracles, which all "wise" men tend to begin seeing as ordinary events.
Tonight, as we sit around the Passover Seder table to sing songs praising God for the miracle of our Exodus from Egypt, may we do so with the spirit of Alterman's simple son, and not just out of habit. Like every generation before and after us, we too must see ourselves as if we left Egypt. Or as the great Maimonides once clarified, we must "show ourselves" as if we ourselves left Egypt – to our children, our grandchildren and our surroundings.
When we recall what we had endured early in our history from the Passover Haggadah, we realize that Israel's Declaration of Independence, which states that "the Land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people," is misleading. It was actually in Egypt that the Jewish people were born. It was there that we celebrated our first day of independence as a people, many years before we came to the Promised Land.
We also recall that the exodus from Egypt was just that – an exodus. Even though the Israelites did not truly wish to leave Egypt, God took us by the hair and pulled us out of Egypt forcibly, by miracles and wonders, with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.
The most relevant parallel between the Israelites' first day of independence in Egypt and the State of Israel's Independence Day thousands of years later is highlighted in a truly beautiful Haggadah that includes commentary by the late Dr. Israel Eldad. Eldad believed that the climax of the story of our exodus from Egypt – the parting of the red sea, the greatest miracle of all – was also the most dangerous, as it could have resulted in a perpetual expectation for celestial miracles, thereby encouraging us to be passive and lack initiative.
Because of this fear, Eldad explains, the great sages of Israel added the brave act of Nachshon ben Aminadav to the biblical story. Nachshon saw the Israelites standing desperately in front of the sea, because the Egyptians chasing them had cut them off, and resolved to jump straight into the raging sea, which only then parted. This teaches us, Eldad says, that even divine miracles are worthless without acts of human virtue.
"No sea would have parted, and no waters will ever part before us," Eldad teaches, "without the Nachshons among us." From the days of Nachshon ben Aminadav when we became a people, to the days of the pioneers, settlers and fighters of our generation, these are the people honored by Alterman as "the silver platter upon which the State of Israel was given."
