Obama and Pollard

Had Barack Obama gone to Israel last year, he would have been accused of election-year pandering. That he did not go to Israel since becoming president was “proof” to many that he was secretly anti-Israel and would come out in the open if re-elected.

Now, he is out in the open. He has no further need for Jewish votes, or for Jewish contributors to a re-election campaign. Yet he went to Israel and made very clear to everyone throughout the Middle East and the world at large that the United States’ commitment to Israel remains as strong as ever.

On Monday evening, in their respective time zones, Jews all over the world will sit down to a seder, a ritualized dinner party celebrating the Exodus from Egypt. Pesach — Passover — is one of the most unifying events in the annual life of our people. Even so-called secular Jews, even many of the unaffiliated, have some kind of Pesach experience.

And that means that for one night, at least, since not everyone celebrates a second seder, Jews all over the world share a common bond. For one night out of 365, Jews of all stripes and streams acknowledge a common heritage, and acknowledgment they might not make at other times.