Passover and the blood libel

At the end of the Passover Seder, some Jews open the door to the outside to say this prayer:

“Pour out Thy wrath upon the nations that know Thee not, and upon kingdoms that did not call upon Thy name. For they have consumed Jacob, and laid waste his habitation. Pour out Thy rage upon them, and let Thy fury overtake them. Pursue them in anger and destroy them, from under the heavens of the LORD.”

That is unique in Jewish Prayer. We don’t pray for bad things to happen to bad people—we pray for them to change their ways. But Passover is the celebration of our freedom as a people, and the blood libel is now a year-round problem, conveniently blaming Israel because it sounds nicer than Jews making matzoh

Perhaps the reason to open the door and make that prayer is to create a public show for the haters.

But the days we accept the hatred are over. During Passover, a dangerous time for Jews, we remember that Jews everywhere are part of a free Jewish nation. We will no longer hide. We will opem our doors and let the entire world know that we will never stand for hatred against the Jewish people again.