This year the event that was initiated over 3,300 years ago, will be celebrated on the evening of April 8th. I am writing about Passover, the celebration of the liberation of Israelites from slavery and their exodus from Egypt. The holiday lasts for eight days during which observant Jews eat matzah (unleavened bread). For the first two nights the families gather at the festive table and read from the Passover Haggadah (story), while guests follow the prescribed order (Seder) in eating and drinking. This is the most popular holiday for Jewish families to get together (it has been around for many years before Thanksgiving family gatherings).
What makes this night different (this is an actual line taken from the Haggadah) this year, is that more than ten people are not permitted to gather indoors, at a table, must sit six feet apart from each other, and grandchildren are advised not to come to their grandparents, since youngsters can be carriers of COVID-19, so as not to transmit it to people more susceptible to. This doesn’t sound like much fun. Both of our daughters along with their significant others were planning to come to San Francisco to celebrate Passover together. As time progressed with the developments of the quarantine, plans changed, and we decided to not gather together to protect everyone’s well-being. But how can we celebrate? In the older times it was a congregation rabbi who was an authority and had all the answers. In my case I called Rabbi Shlomo Zarhi from the oldest synagogue in San Francisco, Hevra Thilim, which was founded in 1892. Rabbi Zarhi is a young man and his advice was to use modern technology called Zoom.
As these are very unusual circumstances, I decided to check another source. I reached out to Rabbi Gershon Winkler. His “Walking Stick Foundation” spreads ancient Jewish Wisdom that are applicable to modern times. His latest writing is called “Antidotal Dotings from Gershon”. I hope you will read the whole story; meanwhile, I would like to share with you some of the ancient wisdom.
“Though a plague can last even as long as seven years, no one dies before their appointed time” (2nd century B.C.E., Rabbi Shimon Shetah
And there is one more. This one comes from the prophet who lived in the 8th century B.C.E.
The ancient rabbis taught “When there is an epidemic in the village, keep your feet within your home, as it written “Come my people, enter within your chambers and shut your doors around you, hide but for a brief moment, until the rage has passed.” – Isaiah 26:20
Those quotes remind me of what “the wisest man who ever lived”, King Solomon wrote in 935 B.C.E. “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again, there is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9).
As far as our gathering goes, we decided to postpone it until May when the quarantine will hopefully end, and we will be able to drive down to Southern California to see our daughters.
P.S. Since Passover is a spring holiday, it is a great opportunity to see Spring blooms around us, as you can see in these four images.
Enjoy and Share with Friends!
