Why is this year different than all other years?- Why is this sedar important to you?

Passover has always been a holiday where space and time are like Einstein said: relative. Throughout history Jews have been called to imagine what it was like to be in the same time and space as their ancestral, enslaved Jews in Egypt.  So while it may be hard to imagine a time where the water turned to blood, thunderstorms of hail and fire rained from the skies, and frogs and locusts were everywhere. It's not hard to imagine a world filled with horrors daily that are brought about by our own plague- the COVID-19 pandemic.

And the effects of the pandemic extend far beyond the millions of infections, deaths, and lingering physical effects of the disease. People live in fear of not only death but starvation, homelessness, and unemployment, it has fueled our social isolation and political divides and increased anxiety, depression, addiction, domestic violence, and divorce. It has torn apart families, businesses, and institutions.  

in ancient times when the Jews reached their homeland but were later dispersed in the diaspora, they have since imagined that next year they will be back in the same space - Jerusalem.  

We too have had our lives disrupted and separated from that which have come to appreciate as normal and fulfilling, and are prevented from gathering in the same space.

So when we end our seder saying, “Next Year in Jerusalem,” we will add a wish of “Next year may we be physically together in the same space, safe and mentally and physically well" 

Thinking of time and space, the Passover story can be a metaphor for mindfulness that guides our actions and interactions. 

What ideas about being present in your mind are there to consider? What freedom from too many grievances from the past can we attain? And what feelings about living too much in fear about the future can we clear?


haggadah Section: Introduction
Source: mark shapiro