This prayer was compiled by Rabbi Yissachar-Bernard Davids who, prior to World War II, served as Chief Rabbi in Rotterdam, Holland. During the war, he and his family were transferred to the Bergen-Belsen Nazi concentration camp. On Pesach, in Bergen-Belsen, Rabbi Davids instructed his fellow prisoners to eat chametz due to the Jewish principle of pikuach nefesh—the paramount rule that preserving life takes precedence above all other commandments. During the clandestine Pesach Seder held at Bergen-Belsen, the rabbi recited the regular blessings for matzoh, but then added the above prayer for the specific situation.

I always wondered what God was doing during this Seder at Bergen-Belsen. I imagine that Hakadosh Baruch Hu was crying at the tragedy and simultaneously smiling at the holiness of this moment. Even in the most horrid of locations and in the most challenging of experiences, when everything was taken away from these Jews, this group of Pesach commemorators showed themselves to be truly free people, contributing a sense of eternality to the genetic makeup of our people.

In every generation we are as a community and as individuals confronted with pressures and experiences that enslave us. Some are most challenging, like those in Bergen-Belsen, and some are not filled with as much darkness but are perplexing nonetheless. The Pesach agenda is to remove the chametz, the obstacles, the barriers—the stagnation that hinders our engagement with a purposeful lifestyle. Bedikat chametz is about recognizing that the darkness that clouds the crevices of our existence can be minimized or even fully dissipated. That process begins with the realization that a search is required and the leavening process that occurs in our lives can be reversed. Rabbi Davids showed us that no condition can forcibly deter us from celebrating the true Pesach experience—the opportunity to lead lives as free people.

May we all be blessed to engage in a Pesach experience that inspires us.

By Rabbi Kenneth Brander