Remember, Passover is more than the Seder (or pl. Sedarim). For some in our community, you will engage in your Second Night Seder this evening: Perhaps doing exactly what you did last night or even something radically different. For others, you are now in the midst of observing Passover for the remaining biblically ordained 7 (and some of you go with 8) days of Passover.*
We’ve asked the question: “Why is this night different from all other nights?” But this year, we are leaning into an extended question: “Why is this Passover, the full week, different from all other years?”
The majority of us have never been so at-home for Passover.
We’ve never been so plagued.
We’ve never been so physically removed from the rest of the world.
And yet, though we haven’t had the experience, our ancestors have. As a part of our collective and communal memory, our people have faced this kind of exile throughout generations past. It’s in our spiritual DNA to come together as a community through hardship, to ground ourselves in ritual and tradition, and through the collective observance, to come out stronger and more connected.
We’ve come together for the Seder, and now it’s time to stick together through the rest of Passover.
How can you find personal liberation this week? As the days of our physical distancing continue to grow, be sure to check-in with how you or your family are feeling enslaved to the times. Then take it one step further. Talk about strategies for liberation this week. Carry the themes of the Passover Seder into your daily conversations. Normally the Seder happens and many of us head back into the office the next day or back into our typical routine. With normal routines disrupted, let us take this opportunity to elevate our personal observance of Passover.
May our engagement with the remaining days of Passover be uplifting and inspiring. May we find new observances and moments that we will carry into future years. And, may our personal and collective observances bring us closer to a time of redemption: redemption from isolation, redemption from the plagues of the world, redemption from what we know today to something unknown and yet more beautiful than we could ever imagine.
Wishing you a meaningful Passover and Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Rachael
