Rabbi Brad Levenberg’s Message for Passover 2026

What Does it Mean to be a Good Jew?
There is a moment in the Passover seder when the conversation turns to the Four Children, each asking a different question, each reflecting a different posture toward Jewish life. For generations, we have returned to that scene as if it captures the full range of who we are: the wise, the rebellious, the simple, and the one who does not know how to ask. It’s a powerful framework, for sure. It’s also, perhaps, a little too neat.

The truth is that most of us move between those voices all the time. There are days when we feel deeply engaged and curious and committed to learning and practice. There are other days when we feel distant and skeptical and unsure of what any of it means. And then there are moments when we simply show up without a clear question at all, trusting that something in the cadence of Jewish life will meet us where we are.

So, what does it mean to be a good Jew?

It’s tempting to answer with a checklist: attend services. Study Torah. Support Israel. Act with integrity. Each of these matters, and each reflects a dimension of a life rooted in Jewish values and community. But none of them, on their own, fully captures what is being asked of us.

To be a good Jew is not about choosing the right category; it’s about staying in relationship with our tradition, even when it challenges us. It’s about staying in relationship with our people, even when we disagree. It’s about staying in relationship with the questions themselves, even when the answers are not immediately clear.

Passover reminds us that Jewish identity is not only inherited; it is continually shaped through participation and through the act of telling the story again. Maybe being a good Jew is less about arriving at a fixed definition and more about refusing to opt out, remaining present to the conversation, being willing to ask the hard questions, being willing to listen to answers that reassure us and those that are disruptive, and, either way, being willing to respond.

As such, the Seder table provides great wisdom. Being a good Jew is to remember that every voice matters: those revealing wisdom, those that we hear as challenging, those that are awaiting an invitation to be heard, and those still finding their way.

Rabbi Brad Levenberg is the Senior Rabbi for Temple Sinai and President of the Atlanta Rabbinical Association.