Dear Friends,
With Passover fast approaching, I extend to you my warm greetings. It is heartbreaking and unfathomable that some of our brethren will be spending a second Passover in captivity in Gaza. We pray for their speedy return, and the WJC is doing whatever it can to assist in that effort.
The Festival of Passover is also known as the Festival of Spring, a time of year typically associated with renewal and rebirth. The new growth emerging from the bountiful earth and the blooming of flowers connects us to the idea of liberation and new beginnings. As we commemorate the Israelites’ journey from bondage to freedom, may we also tap into the strength we need to overcome our own challenges: The last year has been a difficult one indeed, with the ongoing wars in Israel and Ukraine and the surge in anti-Israel and antisemitic sentiment across the world, especially on university campuses.
Passover is also about identity and the continuity of the Jewish people. We retell the story of how we became a people in an effort to connect with our ancestors. It is also a festival very closely linked to family and community, as traditionally Jews gather around the Seder table with family and friends. Community is something on which the WJC places a high priority, as our purpose, first and foremost, is to serve our affiliated Jewish communities around the world.
I hope to see many of you soon at the 17th World Jewish Congress Plenary Assembly, taking place from 18–20 May 2025 in Jerusalem. As the most significant global gathering of Jewish community representatives, this event will bring together delegates from more than 100 countries to shape the future of Jewish communities worldwide.
In my own name, and on behalf of the entire WJC family, I wish you a meaningful Passover. May we all be able to celebrate in freedom.
Ronald S. Lauder
President
World Jewish Congress
