But within this broader context, this ritual conveys the striking message that nothing is ultimately our own, not even our children. We fulfill that mitzvah each time we eat by reciting one of the forms of the Birkhat Hamazon, the blessing over food. For the Jew who lives a traditional liturgical life, there is no more routinized prayer. We say it many times a day, often mindlessly, without attending to thewords of the liturgy. But the words are direct and powerful.
Ultimate vulnerability is an inevitable part of our human situation.
The point of these narratives is that according to Torah, exile is far more than a historical condition. It is also a metaphysical symbol for the human condition. To live a human life is to be in exile wherever one lives on the face of the earth. This state of ultimate vulnerability will end only with the coming of the Messiah, says our tradition. Until then, we must live with the peripheral awareness that our destinies are never totally under our control.