At Pesach time each Jew must feel as if he himself had experienced all the events of the Exodus. During this season we are called upon to remember the bitter dregs of the life of slavery in Egypt and miracles that were performed for our ancestors. Moreover, we are beckoned to imagine that we too were being brought out of bondage so that we can take possession of our inheritance - the land of our fathers.

Yet, today, more than thirty six years after Israel's stunning victory in the Six Day War and the return of Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, we once again are being lured back to the days of servitude with a new sort of psychological subjugation It is during this season of our emancipation from the slavery of Egypt, (the name "Mitzraim" has its roots in the Hebrew word for limitations) that we most acutely feel that we are being forced into becoming captives and bondsmen of a different kind. Rather than the physical subservience of  Pharoah, new taskmaster seem to have been appointed over us in the form of diplomatic negotiations. Today, we have become slaves to the pressure of foreign governments who claim that they understand Israel's security needs better than we do. It is as if we are being  coerced to substitute the "peace process" for the dream of the return to Zion, as our chief national priority.

Even those of Israel's purported supporters who we are told sincerely care about her security, have today joined in pressuring her to consider trading parts of Jerusalem for peace. We know that the struggle over Hebron, Schechem, Gush Katif and the Golan, is really the first stages in the battle to safeguard the future of Jerusalem. If Israel's allies convince her leaders that "peace" is the ultimate value of a democratic state, even more important than its security and preservation of its rightful heritage, then naturally even Jerusalem can be forfeited to Arafat for his promises of "peace." When Israel becomes a slave to the doctrine of "peace" at all costs, then even Jerusalem is not too high a price for pledges of non-aggression from the Arab states.

During this season of our national freedom it is incumbent upon us to remember the lessons of the past. By supporting the Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria, we are actually joining in the century old struggle to return Jerusalem to its former glory and safeguard it for all future generations. We are fortunate to be living at a time in Jewish history when the Haggadah's words of "Next Year in Jerusalem" is something more than an emotional and mystical pledge, but a reality we can influence by our own efforts.