Every year, people co-opt Passover to push partisan agendas. This year, Jewish human rights groups are already promoting Passover Haggadah materials that urge people to put “social justice on your seder table” and confront “racism,” poverty, authoritarianism, and the climate crisis. Instead of letting the holiday change us, we keep recruiting it to endorse causes.

Predictable columns recast the holiday as a lesson in immigrant rights. Reform Judaism even encourages adding modern political symbols to the seder plate, like olives in solidarity with Palestinians, oranges to symbolize LGBTQ+ inclusion, fair-trade chocolate to represent labor rights, and acorns to honor American Indians.

I’m guilty of this myself. I once wrote a column arguing that including the “wicked child” at the Seder table symbolically rejects cancel culture, and an article arguing that the Exodus story defends free speech because Moses demanded that Pharaoh “let my people go,” and the Israelites merited redemption, in part, by preserving their language under slavery.

But politicizing religion risks overshadowing its personal and spiritual essence.

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Progressives do this. Conservatives do too. The right invokes the Bible to oppose abortion and defend traditional family values. The left invokes it to champion social justice.

Pope Leo XIV used a recent address to the diplomatic corps to insist that “every migrant is a person” with “inalienable rights” and to warn governments against using crime and trafficking as excuses to erode migrant dignity. Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, who in the name of God publicly called for mercy toward refugees after President Donald Trump’s inauguration last year, has reentered the immigration fight by appearing at anti-ICE protests in Minnesota in January 2026.

Each side finds its cause, often citing contradictory verses to prove its case. Nehemiah 4:13-14 is used to justify border security by comparing it to defending Jerusalem’s walls, while Leviticus 19:34 is used to advocate for a more permissive immigration policy because it commands kindness toward the foreigner. Genesis 2:15 supports environmental policy because it presents humans as caretakers, while Genesis 1:28 speaks of dominion over nature and can be used to justify exploiting natural resources.

When religion is reduced to political ammunition, it loses meaning. It becomes performative instead of transformative.

Of course, faith can also be a force for moral clarity in public life. The Exodus inspired abolitionists. Rabbis marched for civil rights. But faith should do more than fuel activism. Faith is deeply personal.

It’s like the old ethical teaching about a person who spends his life trying to change the world, his country, his town, and his family before finally realizing he had to change himself first if he wanted to make the greatest impact. Passover makes the same demand. Before we use the holiday to fix the world, it asks us to confront our own demons.

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I have felt this tension at my Seder table. Instead of soul-searching, I mindlessly skim the Haggadah, muse about scientific explanations for the splitting of the sea and the ten plagues, or drift into politics. Anything but inner work.

But Passover is not about figuring out the world’s problems. It is about the bondage within ourselves. It is about allowing the story to transform us. The Haggadah commands each person to see themselves as if they personally left Egypt. It is not a metaphor for someone else’s struggle, for whichever political leader you think Pharaoh represents, or for whichever oppressed people mirror the Israelites. It is a challenge to confront our own constraints and pursue our own redemption, one good deed at a time.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe rebuilt Jewish life from the ashes of the Holocaust through this principle. As documented in “Letters for Life,” the Rebbe focused not on politics or ideology but on encouraging one positive act, one mitzvah, at a time to create lasting transformation. Psychology backs this up. Behavioral activation therapy, used to treat depression, shows how purposeful action can reshape the mind even before motivation arrives.

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The Seder reflects the same idea. The four cups of wine represent stages of breaking destructive patterns, embracing positive change, developing ethical awareness, and internalizing growth.

Through ritual and storytelling, we make our way toward liberation. We do not just remember the Exodus. We live it.

Even matzoh teaches us. Unlike bloated bread, it is flat and humble. It stands in stark contrast to a culture obsessed with image and ego. In a world that rewards puffed-up self-importance, matzoh reminds us that true liberation begins with humility. You cannot escape Pharaoh if you are still enslaved to your own ego.

We eat bitter herbs at the Seder not only to remember our ancestors’ suffering but also to confront our own, to taste the bitterness we carry and draw out what we have buried.

Egypt is not just a historical place. It is a personal metaphor. Mental chains are just as real as physical ones. Fear, shame, addiction, and resentment are our modern Pharaohs. The Seder gives us a spiritual roadmap to break free.

Faith is not meant to serve our platforms or confirm our political biases. It is meant to challenge us and transform us into better human beings.

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A progressive House candidate backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is under fire for dodging in-person debates with her GOP opponent ahead of an April special election, prompting accusations that she is reluctant to defend her far-left platform before voters.

Republican candidate Joe Hathaway is ripping his Democratic opponent, Analilia Mejia, for agreeing to a virtual debate — after repeatedly declining a series of face-to-face opportunities. The candidates are scheduled to participate in a live virtual forum sponsored by the New Jersey Globe on Wednesday evening. 

“Unfortunately, when my opponent dodges and lies about debates, it limits the opportunity for a head-to-head matchup with two weeks left in the election,” Hathaway said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “For now, she can hide behind a screen, but she cannot hide from her record.”

The special election winner will fill an open seat vacated by Gov. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., who resigned after winning the state’s 2025 governor’s race. The outcome will be closely watched for its potential impact on House Republicans’ razor-thin majority.

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Hathaway’s blistering criticism comes after Mejia repeatedly declined debate opportunities with Hathaway that he accepted, the Hathaway campaign told Fox News Digital. 

Proposed debates sponsored by Montclair High School, On New Jersey, Fairleigh Dickinson University and New Jersey Spotlight News ultimately fell through after Mejia did not accept the invites, according to the Hathaway campaign.

Mejia, who narrowly upset a crowded field of challengers in February’s Democratic primary, has also faced backlash for appearing to misrepresent her rationale for backing out of a separate debate opportunity with local chapters of the left-leaning League of Women Voters. 

The New Jersey Democrat said she rejected the debate invite — co-sponsored by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Jersey — because the group was “unable to commit” to having a person of color as the moderator.

The woman-led group fired back in a statement accusing Mejia of lying, saying their intended moderator would have been a person of color. Mejia’s primary objection was not being able to control the selection process herself, according to the group.

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“We were asked to provide a campaign with a list of potential moderators for approval,” Jennifer Howard, LWV president, said in a release. “This is a request that the League of Women Voters cannot accommodate. Our nonpartisan stance does not permit a candidate to influence the selection of the moderator.”

Hathaway, a Randolph Township councilmember who faces an uphill battle to win the Democratic-leaning district, slammed Mejia for backing out of the planned debate.

“If she is willing to lie about something as simple as a debate, what other lies can we expect to hear from her tomorrow?” Hathaway told Fox News Digital.

“We will show a clear contrast between the practical common-sense leadership that I am running on, and the dangerous, radical, and socialist policies of my opponent,” he added.

When asked to comment on Monday, a spokesperson for the Mejia campaign said, “All Joe Hathaway does is complain. We will see him tomorrow.”

The Mejia campaign previously told Fox News Digital that she accepted the New Jersey Globe debate because the outlet met her diversity requirements and was closely following the race.

Mejia, a staunch progressive who served in a senior role in Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign, has called for the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and is a vocal critic of Israel. 

The winner of the special election will face voters again in November for a full two-year term.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) demanded Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., apologize on Monday for appearing on “Real Time with Bill Maher” because of the host’s “long history [of] anti-Muslim bigotry and anti-Arab racism.”

“Your participation in Mr. Maher’s show came just days after you publicly criticized a Muslim public figure for associating with Hasan Piker, whom you accused of engaging in antisemitism, which he has denied,” a letter from CAIR read. “Meanwhile, Bill Maher has called Arabs dangerous to women, claimed that ISIS accurately represents most Muslims, argued that Islam itself is the ‘problem’ and never apologized or retracted these or other hateful remarks.”

The letter continued, “Given this record, your decision to appear as a featured guest on his platform — without publicly challenging or distancing yourself from his rhetoric — sends a deeply troubling message to your Muslim and Arab constituents. It suggests a double standard in which some forms of bigotry are condemned while others are overlooked or implicitly tolerated.”

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In a statement after releasing the letter, CAIR called on Slotkin to denounce her appearance and Maher in support of the Muslim community.

“The double standards that American Muslims face, even from a senator who represents one of our nation’s largest Muslim populations, are truly remarkable. If consistency means anything to Senator Slotkin — and if she believes hate against any of her constituents is unacceptable — she must denounce Bill Maher’s bigotry and apologize for embracing him,” CAIR said.

Fox News Digital reached out to Slotkin’s office for comment. Fox News Digital also reached out to HBO for comment about CAIR’s statements on Maher. 

Slotkin appeared on Maher’s show Friday night, when the two discussed several topics including the ongoing war with Iran. Slotkin voiced her disapproval of President Donald Trump launching military strikes against Iran, while Maher criticized the Democratic Party’s nearly uniform opposition to the war despite Iran’s past actions.

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“Iran has been attacking the West for a long time, including the ally that is our most important ally in the world, and that is Israel. It’s not NATO,” Maher said.

Slotkin also appeared on an “Overtime” panel with Maher, Stephen A. Smith and Laura Coates. During the episode, the panel discussed the growing level of antisemitism in the Democratic Party when Slotkin defended not taking money from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

“Long before October 7, I stopped taking AIPAC money, not because of Israel or any other issue like that, but because they were giving money to people who had been participating in January 6th… AIPAC, they give money to both Democrats and Republicans and people who had been involved in inciting January 6, they were giving money to,” Slotkin said.

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Maher called out the Democratic Party for refusing to push back against influencers who “don’t know s—” and “learn everything about Israel on TikTok.”

“Their leaders are not standing up and saying, ‘Kids, you don’t know what’s going on here. Every war Israel has fought is a war of defense,'” Maher said.