Most Jews know the the reason for taking out a drop of wine from the seder cup as each of the ten plagues is recited: the drops remind us of God's tears when he had to harm another of his peoples, the Egyptians, with his plagues, individuals who are "victims" of decisions made my their power structure part of the exodus story.
But what if we find new historic events to make this old ritual live anew....to refresh our moral imagination.
Virtually every Jew who has had any religious education knows the rabbinic tale explaining the reason for taking out a drop of wine from the seder cup as each of the ten plagues is recited. The drops, say the rabbis, represent the tears God shed as the Egyptians, his children, every bit as much as the Israelite, were drowning in the Sea.
Over the years, the "point" of the story—that we share a common humanity even with our tormentors—has become dulled as the story’s annual recitation has turned into a "mere ritual".
But what if we were to say that God’s tears were shed not only for Egyptians drowned at the Sea but also Nazis freezing at Stalingrad-and for Palestinians shot and killed on the Temple Mount at Jerusalem and Gaza? If such things are hard to say, the story has done its job anew: It has gotten us to think hard about the kind of life story we Jews are enacting as individuals, the kind of history we are creating as a people.
Taken from Michael Goldberg's book: Why Should Jews Survive, pg 6.