Passover in the time of a pandemic

Tim Woodcock writes: Today is the start of Passover. Here is a fascinating news article about what Passover looks like locally this year, given the current situation with coronavirus.

https://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/faith-and-values/a-pandemic-passover-st-louis-area-jewish-faithful-mark-holiday-in-a-year-different-from/article_a6225cd9-460e-5057-9ef9-714dd44a0d65.html

This line in the Post-Dispatch article particularly jumped out at me:

“We sing ‘Next year in Jerusalem’ during the Seder, meaning next year there will be freedom. But this year it also, to me, means next year we will be together again, next year I will get to see you, next year this will be over.”

Nancy Quigley adds: In an article by Alana Newhouse (NYTimes, April 5) titled “The Power of Passover During a Plague,” she describes this religious observance as “an agglomeration of a long and global inheritance,” a story which must be told to the children. The Haggadah is a sort of narrative for Passover and in part focuses on God’s liberating the Jews from slavery in Egypt.  But the author suggests the focus of the Haggadah is not the God-driven part of the story but the human-driven one.

“God will come to help when God comes to help; the question is what we do between now and then."

I especially liked this last sentence in these times.



“The Power of Passover During a Plague”: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/30/opinion/sunday/passover-covid.html

See also: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/08/us/passover-seder-plagues-coronavirus.html

Unfortunately, you'll need a subscription to be able to access the two NY Times pieces.