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This Passover, Combine Respect for Tradition with the Courage to Innovate
Henry Kissinger once famously said, “Whenever you have two alternatives, the first thing you have to do is to look for the third that you didn’t think about, that doesn’t exist.”
With Kissinger’s recent passing at the advanced age of 100, much has been written about the legacy of the 20th century’s greatest statesman, and particularly how he mastered the art of thinking outside the box, while respecting the box itself as the foundational framework of diplomacy.
In the early 1970s, amid a sharply divided Cold War world, Kissinger — then National Security Advisor in President Nixon’s administration — orchestrated a groundbreaking diplomatic maneuver that would reshape global politics: the opening of relations between the United States and the People’s Republic of China.
Kissinger’s approach was innovative yet deeply grounded in existing diplomatic structures. His secret 1971 trip to Beijing, facilitated through discreet communications and intermediaries, exemplified his belief in the power of traditional diplomacy, creatively applied. By leveraging established channels in unconventional ways, Kissinger not only bridged a vast ideological divide but also set the stage for a new era in international relations.
This bold initiative showed that although the “box” — namely: the existing structures of international diplomacy — provides necessary stability and continuity, stepping just beyond its traditional bounds can lead to transformative outcomes. Kissinger’s diplomatic accomplishment showed the value of maintaining a delicate balance between innovation and tradition, a lesson that remains pertinent as we navigate today’s complex global landscape.
And considering Kissinger’s Orthodox Jewish roots, perhaps it is not such a surprise that he intuitively understood this concept. After all, he grew up with Pesach and Seder night. The idea of thinking outside the box while respecting the box itself was deeply embedded in his Jewish DNA.
Just as Kissinger navigated the complexities of international diplomacy, so too does the Pesach Seder navigate the balance between rigid structure and the necessity for creative engagement. Each year, as families worldwide prepare for Pesach, they revisit the ancient traditions and rituals that define this pivotal Jewish holiday.
Central to the festival’s observance is the Seder, a ceremonial dinner on the first night of the festival, and outside Israel, on the second night as well. The theme of the Seder is retelling the story of the Exodus from Egypt. However, despite the ritual’s deeply structured nature, the Seder is ripe for incorporating spontaneity and creativity.
A 2017 study from the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management highlights a paradox that transcends cultural and religious boundaries: structure, while simplifying comprehension and organization of our surroundings, can significantly stifle creativity. The research, which was led by doctoral candidate Yeun Joon Kim and Professor Chen-Bo Zhong, drew on several experiments, including one involving LEGO bricks.
It turned out that participants asked to assemble a model from LEGO bricks sorted by color and shape exhibited noticeably less creativity than those who were given a box of randomly assorted bricks. The findings, published in the journal Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, suggest that over-structuring and over-planning can dampen the innovative spirit.
The Seder is intricately designed with a series of rituals and readings from the Haggadah — the text that guides the evening’s proceedings. Steeped in structure — indeed, the Hebrew word “Seder” means “order — at first glance, it would appear that this deliberate organization is critical, ensuring that the multifaceted story of the Exodus is presented in a comprehensive and accurate manner, allowing each participant to follow the chronological progression from slavery to freedom in a well-honed and immutable framework.
But this first impression is wrong. Despite its structure, the Seder is uniquely conducive to creativity and personal expression. The readings from the Haggadah, while fixed, are not just about droning on about a passive version of ancient events. Instead, the Haggadah’s readings serve as a springboard for discussion, questioning, and exploration.
The narrative is crafted not just to be told, but to be engaged with; it calls for each participant to delve into the meanings, themes, and moral questions inherent in the ancient story. This engagement is vital to the educational mission of the Seder, which aims not only to transmit historical knowledge but to instill a deeper understanding and personal connection to the events of the Exodus.
Besides, although the Haggadah provides a set script, it is replete with obvious cues for personal input and interpretive freedom. It incorporates various symbols and rituals — like the eating of bitter herbs or the spilling of wine — which are designed to evoke sensory responses and emotional reactions that transcend mere verbal storytelling. These elements are invitations for participants to reflect on the harshness of slavery and the sweetness of liberation, integrating their own narratives with the ancient text.
The Seder’s structure also includes several built-in moments specifically intended to provoke discussion and participation, such as the asking of the Four Questions. Traditionally posed by the youngest at the table, these questions about why this night differs from all other nights shouldn’t just prompt answers, but a lively exchange of ideas and interpretations — and, more importantly: even more questions. The Seder is not a monolith; it values the insights and curiosities of all its participants, regardless of age or scholarly background.
In essence, the Seder exemplifies a dynamic interplay between tradition and innovation, much like Henry Kissinger’s approach to diplomacy. While it adheres to a predetermined order that ensures the story of the Exodus is told with fidelity and depth, it simultaneously encourages a creative engagement that makes each Seder a unique and deeply personal experience.
This blend of structure and spontaneity not only enriches the ritual itself but also reinforces its enduring relevance, inviting each generation to find its own meaning and message in the ancient tale of liberation. In remembering Kissinger’s legacy, we are reminded of the power of balancing respect for tradition with the courage to innovate — a principle that continues to resonate both at the Seder table and, hopefully, in the broader world. This principle reminds us that in the interstices of rigid structures lie the opportunities for transformative creativity and enduring change.
The author is a rabbi in Beverly Hills, California.
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Trump Says Iran Must Give Up Dream of Nuclear Weapon or Face Harsh Response
Atomic symbol and USA and Iranian flags are seen in this illustration taken, September 8, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
President Donald Trump said on Monday he believes Iran is intentionally delaying a nuclear deal with the United States and that it must abandon any drive for a nuclear weapon or face a possible military strike on Tehran’s atomic facilities.
“I think they’re tapping us along,” Trump told reporters after US special envoy Steve Witkoff met in Oman on Saturday with a senior Iranian official.
Both Iran and the United States said on Saturday that they held “positive” and “constructive” talks in Oman. A second round is scheduled for Saturday, and a source briefed on the planning said the meeting was likely to be held in Rome.
The source, speaking to Reuters on the condition of anonymity, said the discussions are aimed at exploring what is possible, including a broad framework of what a potential deal would look like.
“Iran has to get rid of the concept of a nuclear weapon. They cannot have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said.
Asked if US options for a response include a military strike on Tehran’s nuclear facilities, Trump said: “Of course it does.”
Trump said the Iranians need to move fast to avoid a harsh response because “they’re fairly close” to developing a nuclear weapon.
The US and Iran held indirect talks during former President Joe Biden’s term but they made little, if any progress. The last known direct negotiations between the two governments were under then-President Barack Obama, who spearheaded the 2015 international nuclear deal that Trump later abandoned.
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No Breakthrough in Gaza Talks, Egyptian and Palestinian Sources Say
Families and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the deadly Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas gather to demand a deal that will bring back all the hostages held in Gaza, outside a meeting between hostage representatives and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in Jerusalem, Jan. 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad
The latest round of talks in Cairo to restore the defunct Gaza ceasefire and free Israeli hostages ended with no apparent breakthrough, Palestinian and Egyptian sources said on Monday.
The sources said Hamas had stuck to its position that any agreement must lead to an end to the war in Gaza.
Israel, which restarted its military campaign in Gaza last month after a ceasefire agreed in January unraveled, has said it will not end the war until Hamas is stamped out. The terrorist group has ruled out any proposal that it lay down its arms.
But despite that fundamental disagreement, the sources said a Hamas delegation led by the group’s Gaza Chief Khalil Al-Hayya had shown some flexibility over how many hostages it could free in return for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel should a truce be extended.
An Egyptian source told Reuters the latest proposal to extend the truce would see Hamas free an increased number of hostages. Israeli minister Zeev Elkin, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet, told Army Radio on Monday that Israel was seeking the release of around 10 hostages, raised from previous Hamas consent to free five.
Hamas has asked for more time to respond to the latest proposal, the Egyptian source said.
“Hamas has no problem, but it wants guarantees Israel agrees to begin the talks on the second phase of the ceasefire agreement” leading to an end to the war, the Egyptian source said.
AIRSTRIKES
Hamas terrorists freed 33 Israeli hostages in return for hundreds of Palestinian detainees during the six-week first phase of the ceasefire which began in January. But the second phase, which was meant to begin at the start of March and lead to the end of the war, was never launched.
Meanwhile, 59 Israeli hostages remain in the hands of the terrorists. Israel believes up to 24 of them are alive.
Palestinians say the wave of Israeli attacks since the collapse of the ceasefire has been among the deadliest and most intense of the war, hitting an exhausted population surviving in the enclave’s ruins.
In Jabalia, a community on Gaza’s northern edge, rescue workers in orange vests were trying to smash through concrete with a sledgehammer to recover bodies buried underneath a building that collapsed in an Israeli strike.
Feet and a hand of one person could be seen under a concrete slab. Men carried a body wrapped in a blanket. Workers at the scene said as many as 25 people had been killed.
The Israeli military said it had struck there against terrorists planning an ambush.
In Khan Younis in the south, a camp of makeshift tents had been shredded into piles of debris by an airstrike. Families had returned to poke through the rubbish in search of belongings.
“We used to live in houses. They were destroyed. Now, our tents have been destroyed too. We don’t know where to stay,” said Ismail al-Raqab, who returned to the area after his family fled the raid before dawn.
EGYPT’S SISI MEETS QATARI EMIR
The leaders of the two Arab countries that have led the ceasefire mediation efforts, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, met in Doha on Sunday. The Egyptian source said Sisi had called for additional international guarantees for a truce agreement, beyond those provided by Egypt and Qatar themselves.
US President Donald Trump, who has backed Israel’s decision to resume its campaign and called for the Palestinian population of Gaza to leave the territory, said last week that progress was being made in returning the hostages.
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Iranian Foreign Minister to Visit Moscow Ahead of Second Iran-US Meeting
FILE PHOTO: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi speaks as he meets with his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein, in Baghdad, Iraq October 13, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ahmed Saad/File Photo
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi will visit Russia this week ahead of a planned second round of talks between Tehran and Washington aimed at resolving Iran’s decades-long nuclear stand-off with the West.
Araqchi and US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff held talks in Oman on Saturday, during which Omani envoy Badr al-Busaidi shuttled between the two delegations sitting in different rooms at his palace in Muscat.
Both sides described the talks in Oman as “positive,” although a senior Iranian official told Reuters the meeting “was only aimed at setting the terms of possible future negotiations.”
Italian news agency ANSA reported that Italy had agreed to host the talks’ second round, and Iraq’s state news agency said Araqchi told his Iraqi counterpart that talks would be held “soon” in the Italian capital under Omani mediation.
Tehran has approached the talks warily, doubting the likelihood of an agreement and suspicious of Trump, who has threatened to bomb Iran if there is no deal.
Washington aims to halt Tehran’s sensitive uranium enrichment work – regarded by the United States, Israel and European powers as a path to nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is solely for civilian energy production.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Araqchi will “discuss the latest developments related to the Muscat talks” with Russian officials.
Moscow, a party to Iran’s 2015 nuclear pact, has supported Tehran’s right to have a civilian nuclear program.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on vital state matters, distrusts the United States, and Trump in particular.
But Khamenei has been forced to engage with Washington in search of a nuclear deal due to fears that public anger at home over economic hardship could erupt into mass protests and endanger the existence of the clerical establishment, four Iranian officials told Reuters in March.
Tehran’s concerns were exacerbated by Trump’s speedy revival of his “maximum pressure” campaign when he returned to the White House in January.
During his first term, Trump ditched Tehran’s 2015 nuclear pact with six world powers in 2018 and reimposed crippling sanctions on the Islamic regime.
Since 2019, Iran has far surpassed the 2015 deal’s limits on uranium enrichment, producing stocks at a high level of fissile purity, well above what Western powers say is justifiable for a civilian energy program and close to that required for nuclear warheads.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has raised the alarm regarding Iran’s growing stock of 60% enriched uranium, and reported no real progress on resolving long-running issues, including the unexplained presence of uranium traces at undeclared sites.
IAEA head Rafael Grossi will visit Tehran on Wednesday, Iranian media reported, in an attempt to narrow gaps between Tehran and the agency over unresolved issues.
“Continued engagement and cooperation with the agency is essential at a time when diplomatic solutions are urgently needed,” Grossi said on X on Monday.
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