The Jewish people’s freedom from Egyptian bondage took place approximately 3,500 years ago, as told in the first 15 chapters of Exodus. We are commanded by God to remember these events and to teach them to our children. Why? So we may never forget the blessing of His protection. So we will always be intolerant of slavery in all its forms. And so we will remain alert, and not slip ourselves into taking our lives for granted,

Each year on Passover, we ask “Mah nishtanah,” “Why is this night different?” This year, though, we know why: Pesach 5781 is simply unlike any other. Well, except for last year.

The global pandemic of COVID-19 has changed life on planet Earth, an there is simply no way that our holiday observance could resemble years past. We are wandering in the desert, so to speak - abruptly taken from life as we knew it. Instead, let us focus as the Israelites did on deciding intentionally what lessons we've learned that we will commit to bringing forward with us into the world as things do reopen.

As Jews (y'all count right now) we are a resilient and imaginative community. We have faced challenges at almost every turn throughout our history – and that, my friends, is the story we tell from the Haggadah. With creativity, love, and defiance, we will adapt our Passover rituals to this moment.

Passover reminds us that the comforts of a modern and privileged existence are fragile. But it is also a story of hope, of improving the world, and of righting injustices. Perhaps Covid can be the Egyptian taskmaster who pushes Moses to action -- the moment when we can come together as a community to address inequality and oppression and lift each other up into liberation.

With this in mind, Let us welcome the festival of Passover!


haggadah Section: Introduction