What Passover says about violent resistance
What would you do to free your people from bondage?
Next week is the Jewish holiday, Passover. Passover tells the story of an oppressed people rising up and organizing to win their freedom. Every year it feels like there is a relevant current event that can connect and draw lessons from the story of Passover. In years past I have written Passover interpretations about low-wage workers, Black Lives Matter, and resistance to Trump. This year as Passover draws nearer, I find myself feeling dread rather than excitement. The lessons of Passover feel ironic and depressing in the midst of the horrors in Gaza that many American Jews continue to support. What does Passover mean this year?
I have been reflecting on the role of violence in the Passover story: who enacts violence and when is it justified. To make sense of these thoughts, I offer a new Passover interpretation. Before telling and re-telling the Passover story, I want to clarify that references to Israel and Egypt are not about the modern nation-states; “Hebrews” does not mean the current Israeli state and Egypt is not referencing the present day nation-state.
The traditional Passover story goes like this: once upon a time the Hebrew people lived as migrants in ancient Egypt. A Pharaoh came to power who enslaved the Hebrew people and ordered the murder of all male Hebrew children. A Hebrew mother, Yohevet, saves her baby by putting him in a basket on the Nile river. This child is discovered by Pharaoh's daughter and she names him Moses. Moses grows up as Egyptian royalty until he learns of his Hebrew heritage. Moses flees to the desert where he meets God in the form of a burning bush. God instructs Moses to free the Hebrew people from Egypt and assists Moses by carrying out ten plagues against the Egyptian people. Eventually, Moses leads the Hebrews through the Red Sea to freedom and Pharaoh's army is washed away.
It’s a simple story of right and wrong, of freedom and bondage, of liberty and justice. The Egyptians perpetrate violence by murdering Hebrew children and enslaving the Hebrew people. Once Moses decides to organize to free his people, it is God who commits violence on their behalf. You don’t hear about the Hebrews committing violence against Egyptians, except when Moses instinctively kills an overseer before fleeing to the desert. This framing of violence feels convenient for the Jewish retelling of this story. We don't really talk about if the plagues were right or wrong, if they constituted collective punishment against Egyptians, or if they were acts of terror. We avoid these questions because God commits the violence, so they must be justified.
This year, I imagine a Passover story without God’s violence, a story where the Hebrews free themselves from bondage. How would we judge the story of Passover if it was the Hebrew people committing acts of violent resistance against their Egyptian oppressors?
A New Passover Story
The story starts the same way: the Hebrews live peacefully as migrants in Egypt until a new Pharaoh takes power who enslaves them and orders the murder of every male Hebrew child. One day, Moses finds a special looking mushroom. He is hungry and decides to eat it. Several hours later, he has a transcendental experience and hears a voice telling him to free the Hebrew people. Moses and his brother organize a delegation of Hebrews to meet with Pharoah to plead for their freedom. Pharaoh says no.
Moses organizes letter writing campaigns, rallies, and work slowdowns, but none of these tactics are successful. Pharaoh remains steadfast in his commitment to slavery and puts even harsher conditions on the Hebrew slaves. Frustrated and dying of overwork and starvation, Moses and his council decide it is time to escalate the fight against slavery and take up armed resistance against the Egyptians. Moses and his advisors craft a campaign of escalating violence to force Pharoah to relent and let their people go. They create a new resistance organization called the Hebrew Freedom Fighter Army (HFFA).
The first act of the Hebrew Freedom Fighter Army (HFFA) is to poison the water in Egypt. They contaminate the Nile river and all water sources with a signature red dye representing the blood of the enslaved workers and the violence wrought upon the Hebrew people. The Egyptians are without drinking water for at least seven days and all the fish die.
Following their water sabotage attack, the HFFA release thousands of frogs, bugs, and wild animals into Egyptian neighborhoods. Frogs and bugs cover the homes of Egyptian civilians and wild animals roam the streets attacking innocent people. Under pressure from the Egyptian nobility, Pharaoh tells Moses if the Hebrews end their acts of terror he will give the Hebrews their freedom. Moses agrees and ends the attacks, but as soon as they end, Pharoah withdraws his promise and increases work hours and overseer violence against Hebrew slaves.
Moses responds by recruiting newly radicalized young Hebrews to join the HFFA and escalate the campaign against Egypt. Moses and his scrappy guerilla organization poison Egyptian livestock and release new contaminants that cause outbreaks of boils and disease. Enraged by his own boils and dead livestock, Pharaoh commits to even greater retribution against the Hebrews. Pharoah releases a statement calling Hebrews barbarian terrorists worse than any foe the Egyptians ever faced. Pharoah criminalizes any support for abolition of slavery in the Egyptian territory.
In the face of deadly retaliation, Moses releases a counter-statement promising to escalate the campaign and proclaiming that Hebrews will free themselves by any means necessary. The Hebrews wrap stones in straw used for construction, set them on fire, and launch them into Egyptian neighborhoods raining down a fiery hellstorm on civilian and government infrastructure across Egypt. The HFFA releases locusts into Egyptian fields destroying all their crops.
The Hebrews effectively cut off Egypt’s drinking water, livestock, and crops - creating a famine in Egypt. Moses and Aaron meet with Pharoah to negotiate their freedom, but an angry and vindictive Pharoah refuses and digs in his heels. Moses stands up and walks out of the meeting, but not before warning Pharaoh of the immense suffering to befall him and his family if he does not relent.
The next day, the HFFA sabotages the candelabras and lighting systems in Egypt. At midnight under the cover of darkness, the Hebrew Freedom Fighters sneak into Egyptian neighborhoods and in an act of cathartic retribution murder every first-born Egyptian. Moses himself leads a team that infiltrates Pharaoh’s home and murders his young son in cold blood. The HFFA tells Hebrews that as long as they have a sign on their door supporting the freedom movement, their first-borns will be spared. Some Hebrews are skeptical or downright horrified at Moses's violent campaign, but they put up campaign signs for their own safety.
In the middle of the night, Pharaoh summons Moses and Aaron to his quarters. With his dead son in his arms, Pharaoh tells Moses that his people are free to go. Knowing Pharoah has changed his mind before, Moses rushes the Hebrews out of Egypt and they quickly board boats to cross the Red Sea. As they are crossing the sea, Moses sees the Egyptian forces approaching behind them and receives word that a vengeful Pharaoh is on the move. Moses instructs the HFFA to fire what is left of the hellfire stones used in the campaign on the Egyptians. Miraculously, the Egyptians are defeated and drowned in the Red Sea. On the other side of the sea, finally free, the Hebrews rejoice in victory.
When people commit violence
In this re-telling, when Hebrew people carry out the plagues, they could be described as terrorist attacks against Egyptian civilians. Hebrew slaves intentionally and repeatedly attack and murder innocent Egyptian people. Is it still justified because of the horrific conditions of bondage and oppression?
I offer this interpretation to reflect on what we can learn from the Passover story this year. If a people are occupied and oppressed, do they have the right to violent resistance? The Passover story would suggest that yes, they have a divine right to violent resistance against their oppressors. Today’s meta-narrative often distinguishes between state violence with accidental civilian casualties and terrorists that purposefully kill civilians. In the Passover story, Pharoah murders Hebrew children on purpose, but God also murders Egyptian children on purpose. The Passover story suggests that violence, even against civilians, is justified in the face of enslavement and oppression. I do not support violence against civilians, but find it interesting that God who carries out the ten plagues upholds collective punishment against oppressors.
In the traditional story, violence against civilians is committed by the Egyptians and by God - leaving the Hebrews as innocent victims. As Jewish people around the world sit down for Passover seders this year, I would challenge us to consider how we are framing the use of violence. Another interpretation shared by a friend notes that Jews are generally in favor of God’s plagues, but I am asking “were they justified?” At the seder, Jews pour out 10 drops of wine to remember the Egyptians, but generally we view their death and suffering as a necessary sacrifice for Hebrew freedom.
At the seder, Jews are asked to empathize with Hebrew slaves. We eat bitter herbs, matzoh, maror, and charoset, all sorts of things to try to remember the horror of Hebrew enslavement. I recently listened to a podcast series about American abolitionist John Brown; the host started by asking this key question, “What would you have been willing to do to end slavery?” John Brown was willing to build an armed militia to fight against the US government. In my retelling of the Passover story, Moses was willing to build an armed guerilla force to fight the ancient Egyptians. In the traditional story, God was willing to smite the Egyptians and murder their children.
My work is dedicated to organizing people to build collective power for shared liberation. I continue to believe and hope that we can make change through democratic processes and non-violent social movements. However, I know that oppressed people around the world don’t always have those options. When occupied people resist their oppressors, Jews should remember that we are on the side of the oppressed, not the oppressor. By telling the Passover story year after year, we align ourselves with the violent slave rebellion, not the pharaoh who enslaved and murdered Hebrew people.
This year on Passover, I am thinking about Moses, John Brown, Palestinians in Gaza, and all people around the world fighting for freedom.
Pele you write to beautifully of things that are so hard. I also appreciate the links. Seder will be so hard this year (my sister supports the Israeli action in Gaza)... I really hope hope hope that we can just not discuss this, because I don't know how to calmly discuss this at Seder. I really appreciate your framing of the 10 plagues, perhaps will add some kind of introduction to Dayenu. Shabbat Shalom.
This blog is extremely helpful in framing real life. Thought provoking and insightful. Thanks.