V’hi she’amda — in every generation, they stand up against us, and in every generation, Hashem saves us.
This year, we do not need to search our history books to feel the truth of these words. We say them at our Seder tables while our brothers and sisters in Israel are still under threat, while antisemitism grows around us here in America, and while many of us carry worry in our hearts alongside the joy of the holiday.
And yet — we gather. We search for chametz, we prepare our Seder plates, we light candles and sing Hallel. This is who we are.
Our Bukharian Jewish community has carried its faith across oceans and through great hardship. We know what it means to hold onto our Torah and traditions when the world outside is not friendly to it. That strength is not gone — I see it in our shul, in our families, in the next generation that is choosing to come closer rather than walk away.
The V’hi she’amda — the «this» that has always protected us — is that connection to Hashem and Torah. May this Pesach deepen it in all of us.
Wishing you and your families a chag kasher v’sameach.
Rabbi Baruch Babaev
Chief Rabbi of Bukharian Jews of USA and Canada