On Friday night when we sit down at our seder tables, it will matter less how we feel about the contentious presidential campaign, the hateful BDS movement, ISIS and the rise of European anti-Semitism.

Passover is a time to reset our spiritual clocks, when we retell the story of our ancestors’ exodus from the slavery of Egypt.

It’s sometimes a challenge to remember and focus on this pivotal story from year to year, with so much that has happened. Just days ago, a bus was blown up in Jerusalem, injuring 21 people. Palestinian terrorism is, again, at the forefront of our minds. Meanwhile, on the floor of the so-called “United” Nations, the Palestinian ambassador cannot bring himself to condemn the terrorism.

But here’s the reality check: It’s been about seven months since we stood at Yom Kippur’s most holy point, Ne’ilah, and prayed with all of our hearts to Hashem for His forgiveness. It may not seem like it, but we must understand that the easy part of Passover is ridding the house of every bread crumb or Cheerio embedded under a sofa. Passover is a time when we can look back at those months since the Yomim Nora’im and check our progress. We must reconnect with what makes us the Jews who left Egypt, why this experience must be passed down to our children and why it is a key part that makes us, as Jews, who we are.

But what of the world we live in? When Passover is concluded, Republicans and Democrats will still be out there fighting for the White House. But the world will still be judging the people of Israel by a different standard. And we will still need to do our best to be a light unto the nations.

For us as Jews, we have an opportunity to hit our own personal reset buttons and move forward as we count Sefirat HaOmer and work to escape the bonds that hold us back.

We wish for you this Passover season that you find fulfillment, that you achieve your goals, that you tell your family members you love them and that you contribute in your own special way to klal Yisrael so that the words of the Haggadah will stay with you even when the story of Passover is put away for next year.

From all of us at The Jewish Link, please accept our wishes for a Chag Kasher V’Sameach!