The Obama family sat around a White House table this week for the fifth year to hold a ceremonial Passover Seder meal, with matzo bread [an unleavened cracker], bitter herbs and other symbolic fare.

“Passover is a celebration of the freedom our ancestors dreamed of, fought for and ultimately won,” the president said in a greeting he issued to the people in Zion. “I saw once again how the dream of true freedom found its full expression in those words of hope from [the national Israeli anthem] Hatikvah, 'lihyot ‘am chofshi be’artzeinu,' 'To be a free people in our land,'" Obama waxed poetic, having just completed a successful visit to the Holy Land.

His call to view life through the eyes of Palestinians resonated among the young Israelis who convened last week [March 21] at the Jerusalem conference center to hear him speak. This exercise, simple and obvious as it may sound, is not easy. It runs counter to our indoctrination, which included years of education and the continuous dehumanization of the Palestinians. It’s hard to find a young Israeli who does not repeat the mantra, “There’s no one to talk to on the other side,” and few are bothered by the reality of the Israeli occupation in the West Bank.

Speaking to the students, Obama described the special bond he feels with the Passover holiday and the message it conveys.