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Twenty years ago, my friend Daniel Burstyn introduced me to an exercise created for Passover<\/strong>, the Jewish holiday which this year begins on the evening of 12 April. The holiday commemorates the exodus from slavery in Egypt (\u201cMitzrayim<\/em>\u201d in Hebrew, which also means \u201cstraits\u201d or \u201cnarrow places\u201d). <\/p>\n The tradition is to retell the story as if we were experiencing it ourselves<\/strong>. The spiritual power this carries is formidable: we can understand the imperative to forego leavening and eat only matzo for the eight days of the holiday as a metaphor for finding and rooting out whatever might inflate our egos or block our creativity. We can understand the arduous journey of our ancestors to escape the oppression of slavery as a metaphor for whatever obstacles to freedom afflict us today. We can understand the effort of squeezing through the narrow places as the struggle to be born. <\/p>\n In preparation for the holiday, I look inside myself<\/strong> to see where I am stuck or clogged, to ask myself what is waiting to be born. The exercise Daniel sent me consists of five questions posed by Israeli scholar and author Dr. Yair Caspi, who said, \u201cThe joy of the holiday invites us to relate only tales of Mitzrayim that we have left behind us. Tell only tales that end with success, with great Chesed<\/em> (loving-kindness, expansiveness), or miracles. Don\u2019t remind anyone of the Pharoahs sitting at the Seder table.\u201d You don\u2019t have to be Jewish to put these questions to work. If you want to see how I answered in 2005, click here<\/a>. <\/p>\n Yesterday, when I began to consider these questions anew, I decided also to respond to them imaginatively, as if I could write answers that go to the heart of a question posed more and more loudly each day: where are the Democrats? It\u2019s encouraging to see AOC and Bernie<\/a> out there drawing crowds, Rep. Ro Khanna<\/a> holding town halls in Republican districts, even as ordinary folks gear up to take part in Hands Off!<\/a> protests on April 5th. <\/p>\n But where is the courage of most of the other members of Congress, Democrat and Republican alike<\/strong>, to stand up and speak out against the authoritarian coup being masterminded by Donald Trump and Elon Musk? I thought it might help to use the holiday to inquire. My answers below are for the currently cowed and I hope, the soon-to-be brave.<\/p>\n 1. Where was your personal Mitzrayim<\/em>?<\/strong><\/p>\n Many members of Congress are deep in their personal Mitzrayim<\/em> right now. They feel powerless because they don\u2019t have a majority to support liberty and justice in either house, and definitely not in the White House. Many seem to feel their only recourse is to wait for the courts to act. There have been some encouraging developments in lower courts, but it seems most officials are choosing to stand by even as chaos reigns, waiting to see if Trump defies Supreme Court orders. <\/p>\n I wonder if Chuck Shumer, who voted to return to Egypt, feels liberated. I doubt it. What is their plan if Trump does refuse to obey the law? My advice? Start by acknowledging that you\u2019ve surrendered the power you have\u2014to speak out against evil, to rebuke its perpetrators, to try to persuade others to do the same\u2014and that to be human, aware, compassionate, and ready to fight in this time is the only honorable course. <\/p>\n 2. Who was Pharoah?<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s tempting to say \u201cTrump,\u201d and of course, that is true. He seems to have hardened his own heart into a rock. But whatever is stopping elected officials from actively, bravely opposing Trump resides within their own hearts. Sometimes I wonder if the electoral system is Pharaoh, as many officials seem so frightened at the difficulty they anticipate in raising the vast sums our money-driven campaign system absorbs that they silence themselves in the hope of placating big money. But in the end, Pharaoh sits inside us at the seder table, in the chambers of Congress, wherever we go. Our choice is whether to keep feeding him.<\/p>\n 3. For what tasks were you exploited?<\/strong><\/p>\n The chief task members of Congress are fulfilling right now is impersonating responsibility and accountability, pretending to exercise them while compliantly subverting them, enabling the enemies of liberty and justice to normalize the disaster they are overseeing. The Republicans, who have voted overwhelmingly to put villains, fools, and dunces into positions of great power over our commonwealth, obey unquestioningly. The Democrats, with some exceptions, cast their votes and throw up their hands. We are watching a drama along the lines of Invasion of the Body-Snatchers, where human beings with thinking and feeling capability have been replaced by pods. <\/p>\n 4. What was the \u201cfleshpot,\u201d the hearty meal, which almost kept you there?<\/strong><\/p>\n I see three main answers to this question. First, the perks: votes and campaign contributions, committee seats, and influence within their parties. It\u2019s hard to accept that so many of those ostensibly in Washington to shepherd government by, for, and of the people are willing to sacrifice any number of critical, essential public jobs, people\u2019s health and education within the US and abroad, relationships with international allies, the rights of citizens and legal residents, freedom of speech and artistic expression, freedom from being kidnapped and subjected to extraordinary rendition, and much, much more, rather than risk their seats in Congress by standing up and speaking out.<\/p>\n Second, the comfort of being on the side of power and the corresponding fear of ridicule, opposition, cancellation. Musk has threatened to primary every member of Congress who opposes DOGE and Trump\u2019s other travesties. In Republican circles, it\u2019s evidently a death sentence to have Trump invent a stupid nickname for you (although there have been a remarkable number of resurrections, such as Marco Rubio and Tulsi Gabbard), and many people will go to the ends of the earth to avoid a MAGA cancellation. I won\u2019t repeat my whole last point; I\u2019ll just say that it\u2019s appalling how many people are willing to inflict massive suffering on others to preserve their catbird seats. <\/p>\n Third, if buzz is to be believed, the ability to hide their secrets and lies. It is said that Trump\u2019s people have a dossier on every official and blackmail is one of their favorite tools. Just think of the number of Republicans alone who took money under the table, or kept their sexuality or other personal characteristics and habits closeted. I could add \u201cor are secretly agents of a foreign power,\u201d but I doubt Trump would use that one, as it hits too close to home.<\/p>\n 5. What miracles happened in the course of your personal exodus?<\/strong><\/p>\n If they escape, turning their backs on the Pharaoh within, I can promise that miracles will ensue: instead of being hated and scorned when they return to their districts to meet constituents, they will be admired for their courage. Instead of being beset by nightmares of people across the planet dying on account of withholding of medical care and other aid, they will be able to go to sleep knowing they\u2019ve helped to save lives. Instead of drinking themselves into a stupor night after night just to calm the fear that attaches to enabling a corrupt liar and his henchmen to raid our commonwealth for their personal advantage, they will sleep like happy babies, knowing they had a hand in saving this nation from the fate Trump has in store. <\/p>\n That\u2019s just a taste, of course. The list of miracles is very, very long. May we see them comes to pass soon and in our times. <\/p>\n