It’s hard for my wife and I to believe, but our eldest daughter will be entering ninth grade this Fall, and for the last four months the three of us have been obsessing over the question of which high school she will attend. I’m pretty sure that in almost 15 years of marriage, we have never spent more time discussing a single subject! To my surprise, this process was possibly more challenging for me than it was for my daughter because it forced me to question not just who she is but -- who am I? What are my values as a parent? What do I represent to my child? To the community?

The Passover Seder starts off with the Four Questions. Usually the youngest member present asks them, but what if someone is alone for the Seder (as many have unfortunately been during Covid)? Who asks the questions then?

Amazingly, Jewish tradition instructs us to ask ourselves. Not read them, not think about them, but ask them. Out loud, to ourselves.

In this way, Passover is perhaps the best example of how Judaism challenges us to question what we represent and our values, and how we are going to convey them to the next generation.

When we sit down for the Passover Seder this Saturday night--whether or not we are in the company of family or friends--we take a moment to ask ourselves the questions that will define us as individuals and as Jews, for generations to come. I feel blessed that at JGSI we get to do this every day, as we relentlessly work to preserve the Jewish culture by connecting Jewish grad students and alumni to their heritage and community.

And as for our daughter, she’s happy with her decision, and I hope the values Aliza and I “pass over” to her played a large role in that. Now we can take a big sigh of relief -- until driving lessons start that is! :)