WEB-EXCLUSIVE COMMENTARY

By Patti Davis

Special to Newsweek

Updated: 4:27 p.m. ET April 14, 2006

April 14, 2006 - The other night, I joined friends at their home for a Passover Seder. It isn't the first Seder I've been to, but it has been many years since I've participated in this traditional dinner. It's impossible to not reflect on the state of the world during the readings, and the adults who were present did exactly that.

"This is really poignant right now," someone murmured as we dipped greens in salt water to remember the tears of ancestors and the tears of those who are not free today.

The Seder is meant to teach children-and remind adults-about the bitterness of oppression and the sweetness of freedom. Around a candlelit table, surrounded by friends and loved ones, we read from a text that is both ancient and new. There is comfort in ancient stories and rituals, less comfort in the new. Our thoughts stray to the present day, to the world outside the walls around us, the world we will walk out into once the dinner is over. A world the children of today will inherit. What are we teaching them there?

The day's headlines were about Iran and the possibility of that country developing nuclear weapons, the possibility that the Bush administration will attack sites in Iran . We live daily with the Iraq war, a quagmire that we were led into on the basis of lies and for which this president has never apologized and never will.

I thought about the fact that America is being led by a president whom the majority of people have no trust in. That essentially leaves us without leadership, because people don't follow someone they can't trust.

I thought about the fact that on this day, as food was being prepared in so many households for the Seder, the awful carnage of the Canadian seal "hunt" was beginning. Defenseless pups were being clubbed in the head while their mothers cry out helplessly. There have already been reports of violence against the protesters trying to document this slaughter. What do we tell children about that kind of permitted cruelty? What do we say about the men who wield the clubs, turn the ice red with blood and the government that allows it?

And what about other slaughters around the world? Darfur , for example? Britney Spears and Sharon Stone have gotten more press than the systematic ethnic cleansing that is still going on in Darfur -the rapes and mutilations of those whom the Janjaweed want exterminated from the earth simply because their skin is darker. What do we tell children about people who have shut down their hearts and killed all compassion in themselves so they can kill others?

This is Holy Week. Easter Sunday is not just a day to hunt for eggs, it marks a solemn occasion. For both Jews and Christians, this week is a time meant to reflect, a time to account for what we have done in the past, are doing in the present, so the future can be more hopeful. No matter what one's personal beliefs are, it's important to stop and reflect on the meaning of religious holidays.

We live in a time when there is so much cruelty in the world, the temptation is to not think about any of it. To tune it all out and just go shopping instead. But if we do that, we are darkening the doorstep of the future and punishing our children.

One of the last readings at last night's Seder contained these words: "Passover is a night for openness. We open our doors to visitors, our minds to learning and personal growth, and our hearts to those less fortunate."

The challenge for all of us is to carry those sentiments out into the world after the meal ends, after we blow out the candles, close the book and walk out into the night. It's a hard thing to do, to keep our hearts open. Because we have to be willing to allow our hearts to be open to pain and despair as well as love and joy. But the alternative is to contribute to the heartlessness of this world, and there's already too much of that.

Davis, the daughter of Nancy and Ronald Reagan, is a writer based in Los Angeles .

© 2006 Newsweek, Inc.