How did Passover traditions come about?
Rabbi Brad Hirschfield explains the meaning of Passover
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I love Passover, a Jewish holiday that begins Wednesday night.
It is a wonderful holiday that I looked forward to as a child and enjoy passing down to my own children. From the preparation of the home to gathering for the Seder meal, every moment and every ritual is carefully planned to remind us of what our ancestors endured and what God did to rescue them.
This year Passover will look different because of the coronavirus pandemic. Instead of inviting over family and friends for the Seder, we will share the meal with only those in our homes – and some of us will be completely alone.
Instead of hearing the usual joy and laughter fill the room, we will hear the question “did you remember to wash your hands?” more than once.
For many, this Passover will be depressing. The happiness shared by loved ones will be replaced by the loneliness of isolation. It will leave many angry and bitter wondering “why?” and “why now?”
I, too, feel the pain, confusion, and fear that the world is experiencing in these uncertain times. Yet, I look to Passover as an ideal time to reflect on what God may be teaching us.
Christians and Jews alike are familiar with the Exodus story that is the foundation of Passover. We teach our children about it through stories and songs, even jokes. Remembering God’s deliverance is a part of our story as people of faith.
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But what do we mean by deliverance? For the Jewish people in ancient Egypt, it meant being delivered from slavery and given freedom – going from a life they did not choose to one they could choose every single day.
We commemorate this event at Passover as part of our history but also as part of our future, recognizing that God wants us to be free even today.
The road to deliverance is not necessarily comfortable. On that first Passover, God asked the Jewish people to do the unthinkable: not to fight, not to make one last stand against an impossible army. He asked them to stay inside and wait. He asked them to pray and to trust.
As we prepare to observe Passover in the year of coronavirus pandemic, I hear God calling us once again to stay inside and wait for our deliverance.
No, we may not be physically enslaved, but how many of us can say that we are not enslaved to our lives?
We make many choices that determine the path we follow in life. But often we become so consumed by our jobs or by money that we miss the more important things in life.
If only we had more time, we tell ourselves, we would talk to our neighbor or call our parents. If we had more time, we would spend it helping others like we know we should.
Well here we are, stuck in quarantine with all the time in the world. Perhaps this is what God’s deliverance looks like. It is our chance to look at ourselves and decide what kind of life we want to go back to when this is over.
I recognize that seeing God’s deliverance through the coronavirus may be hard for some to accept.
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Unlike the 25 percent of Israelis now without jobs during the pandemic, I am blessed to be working from home right now. But knowing that encourages me to work even harder at the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews on behalf of Israel’s neediest citizens.
While members of our staff were delivering an emergency food box to 83-year-old Esther, she told them: “This coronavirus is a message from God. People are so busy thinking about themselves and now they have to stop and realize that they should be thinking about others.”
Amen, Esther. As a global society, we were going down a path of indifference to one another. We were abandoning our values of caring for our neighbors and honoring our elders. Thankfully, God does not give up on us as easily as we give up on ourselves.
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This Passover, I am choosing to see God’s deliverance in this difficult time. It is an opportunity given to all of us to reset our priorities, to consciously choose godly values, and to model this to our ever-watchful children.
I have no doubt that God is working in this midst of crisis, guiding us to something better than we can imagine. Hopefully next time, it won’t take a plague to get our attention.