Collective

escape

Creating meaning

in quarantine

PASSOVER in 2020

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Passover is considered one of the three most important holidays in the Jewish tradition, and it’s rooted in family and community. Year after year, it’s been a time for gathering, and so much of the excitement about and memories of the holiday come from the people sharing it with us.

As we raise up the matzah, a symbol of the physical and emotional turmoil of slavery, we not only tell the story of our ancestors’ bondage but also empathize with how it feels to be enslaved. During the seder, we read, in Aramaic, “let all who are hungry come and eat,” inviting anyone lacking to sit with us. This can lead to a seder table that is perfectly cramped—a welcome intimacy created by a collective experience.

We can’t open our homes to one another this year, but we can open our imaginations and find other ways to stay connected to family, friends, and strangers. Exchange ideas, humor, and inspiration. Join or host a seder on Zoom. Make your own haggadah. Do Passover in your own meaningful way. We’re still together—in spirit, thought, and caring, if not in person.

During the seder, we taste the maror (bitter herbs) from the seder plate. But we don’t let the bitterness consume us—it’s immediately followed with sweet charoset, for balance. Seders often end with a heartfelt prayer, “l’shanah habaah beyerushalayim”—next year in Jerusalem. At the end of this year’s Passover, we can offer an additional hope: next year in person.

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