On March 3, 2024, Vice President Kamala Harris was in Selma, Alabama.  While I try to stay abreast of the news, I don’t pay much attention to campaign events.  This time,   however, it flagged my attention.  Harris was in Selma on that particular day to participate in the 59th anniversary of the Bloody Sunday attacks on civil rights marchers.  In         commemoration, marchers gathered at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where the brutal attacks took place on March 7, 1965, and marched across the bridge.

 

Bloody Sunday was a major event in the Civil Rights movement.  Although the Civil Rights Act of 1964 had already passed, legally ending segregation, Black Americans, especially in the South, were kept from voting.  I imagine I had some awareness of the event, but it definitely became more pronounced in 2014, with the release of the critically acclaimed movie Selma.

 

I appreciate the power that this retelling and reenacting must have.  As Jews, we are in the season where we are commanded to do this not only once, but twice.

 

Consequently, these days are recalled and observed in every generation: by  every family, every province, and every city.  And these days of Purim shall never cease among the Jews, and the memory of them shall never perish among their descendants.  (Esther 9:28)

 

And taking place four weeks later,

 

Remember this day, on which you went free from Egypt, the house of bondage, how Adonai freed you from it with a mighty hand.  (Exodus 13:3)

 

What is it about these events that make us commanded to remember them?  Yes, it is easy to forget things, especially as time goes on.  More importantly, however, is that each of these events remind us of the potential of what can be.  Jewish history seems to be a never-ending cycle of persecution and prosperity.  Rather than getting overwhelmed by the burden of persecution, by remembering and retelling the events of our ancestors we have the fortitude to march on.

 

As we look back at Purim and look forward to Passover, may our actions and memories bolster us to make it through any tough times.