Translation by Yehoshua Siskin
The elections are being held on a dramatic day: the 10th of Nissan. Two historic events occurred on this day, thousands of years ago.
On the 10th of Nissan, several days before the Exodus from Egypt, the Children of Israel set aside sheep to be sacrificed four days later, prior to the first Pesach. Our commentators note that the sheep was considered a deity by the idol worshiping Egyptians. Therefore the setting aside of a sheep for slaughter was a harbinger of freedom and redemption. The Jewish people dared to go against the accepted norms of the Egyptians as a first step on the road to independence.
Years later, it is told in the Book of Joshua that today, the 10th of Nissan, was the day when the Jewish people crossed the Jordan River and first set foot in the Land of Israel. The fact that on this day Jews first entered the Land of Israel together as a nation is also noted in the Knesset legislation of 2016 that made the 10th of NIssan into Yom HaAliyah (Aliyah Day), an Israeli national holiday.
All of us are products of Aliyah. Everyone who lives here is a new immigrant, or the child of a new immigrants, or the grandchild of a new immigrant, etc., etc. It's a continuous ingathering of the exiles project.
And so, yes, on the 10th of Nissan we are going to the polls to vote in the fourth elections. But if we look back into the past we are reminded that our history is greater than what is happening today and far more ancient.
