What Does "Next Year in Jerusalem" Mean for Me?

Every year, it is my honor to help my husband prepare and host a Passover Seder at our home. We invite my in-laws to observe the traditions of his family that have been kept for generations long before us. We come together to re-tell the Passover - the exodus of the Hebrew people from Egypt - to pass down the story of deliverance from generation to generation. The Seder is both a feast celebration and a solemn worship service laden with rich symbolism. The setting in a Jewish home instead of a public house of worship is particularly appealing to me as I see how much it means to my in-laws to gather in a familiar context that slightly changes every year as children grow, new recipes are discovered, and roles swap hands. 

I must admit, as a Christian who has married into this tradition, there is one part of the Seder script that has always left me wondering what meaning I can find in it for myself. At the end of the worship service, all join in saying "Next year in Jerusalem!" This puzzled me because, frankly, nobody at our table is planning to literally pack up this whole family show and cook a big meal in Jerusalem next year. I was never really sure what this phrase might mean for me...someone with a biological ancestry tracing back through many countries, but not through Isreal. Christians do share a love for the Holy Land, but not many of us are buying tickets to go there.

Khalid Alibaih, an artist from Doha, drew sketches
of Allan Kurdi and Omran Daqneesh and posted them
on Twitter

This year, however, with desperate news coming out of Syria and the largest number of refugees in existence since World War II, we began to think more carefully about the Passover story and what it meant for a whole people to leave Egypt and oppression all at once. What does a celebration for the deliverance of the Hebrew people mean in the context of a world where the American president is trying to ban refugees of a certain religion from entering our borders? What should we be thinking of during this feast day of plenty when thousands starve aboard uncertain little boats, trying to flee chemical gas attacks? 

"What should we be thinking of during this feast day of plenty when thousands starve aboard uncertain little boats, trying to flee chemical gas attacks?"

With heavy hearts yearning for meaning and inspiration, we added a section to our family's haggadah (service script) to include excerpts from an addition that can be found in a post called Next Year in Jerusalem at Haggadot.com If you host next year (in Jerusalem or otherwise), please consider adding something similar. If not, please reflect on the words and consider how you might commit yourself to refugees living without safety or basic needs. 

"At the beginning of our Passover Seder, we are commanded to consider ourselves as though we, too, had gone out from Egypt. At the end of the seder, we say the words, "Next year in Jerusalem" to recognize that, just as redemption came for our ancestors, so, too, will redemption come for us in this generation. For those of us fortunate enough to have a roof over our heads, we may understand these words to mean that the parts of us that feel adrift will find steady footing. However, for the world's 65 million displaced people and refugees, these words can be a literal message of hope that they will be able to rebuild their lives in a safe place.

Tonight, we honor the strength and resilience of refugees across the globe. We commit ourselves to ensuring that out country remains open to them, to supporting them as they rebuild their lives, and to championing their right for protection. Just as our own people now eat the bread of liberation, we pray that today's refugees will fulfill their dreams of rebuilding their lives in safety and freedom in the year to come.

Blessed are all those who yearn to be free.

Blessed are we who commit ourselves to their freedom.

Blessed are You, Adonai Our God, source of strength and liberation."