Rabbi Dan Dorsch’s Message for Passover 2026

I wasn’t sure what to write for this column about what it means to be a good Jew. So, I asked my Catholic bookkeeper. Without a moment’s hesitation, she replied: “To call your mother!”

We laughed: but she’s not wrong. We share an office wall. In the years that we’ve known each other, she’s probably heard hundreds of conversations I’ve had with different members of my family.

When I meet with conversion students or interfaith spouses, one of the first things they tell me that typically shocks them is how close (sometimes, uncomfortably so) Jewish parents and children can often be with one another.

There are few topics out of bounds among Jewish families. We complain about our days to one another. We yenta about other relatives. We compare notes about various medical ailments and brag about who has it worse as if they were competitive sports. When we relocated to Atlanta 10 years ago, we reconnected with members of our family we hardly knew and yet felt an instant sense of belonging. That’s what family does. It collapses distance.

This is especially true on Pesach. One of the most important mitzvot of Pesach is making sure that every Jew has a place to go. The Haggadah instructs us: kol dichfin yetay veyechol. “Let all who are hungry come and eat.” On Pesach, we keenly feel an extra sense of familial responsibility to care for those in our extended familial orbit. There’s always room for another one, two, or even 10 relatives around the ever-growing seder table. No one gets left behind.

It isn’t always simple. Families argue. Sometimes, it seems that we can literally be divided by oceans. But ultimately, when push comes to shove, there’s not a single member of my family for whom I wouldn’t drop anything I was doing if they needed my help. We call. We come. We make space.

Ultimately, my Catholic bookkeeper is right. Mishpacha is the meaning of being a good Jew. It is our unwavering commitment to family: each and every time.

Rabbi Dan Dorsch is the Senior Rabbi of Congregation Etz Chaim in Marietta, Ga., and the immediate past president of the Atlanta Rabbinical Association.