It is hard to believe that we are reaching the end of the third week of our new reality. Some of us may feel that we have finally settled into a routine and adjusted our expectations for this new mode of living. Others may still be struggling to get our footing each morning and wonder how we will get through the day. Many of us have become emotional sponges, absorbing all of the fear and anxiety in the world without a way to release it. It is normal and expected to experience ups and downs as we navigate this new stage in our lives, and I encourage you to be present with the range of emotions you may be experiencing.
Though we may find ourselves more physically confined than usual, our minds may still be racing as we figure out as we try to be present with our jobs, our families, and preparing for Pesach. I invite you to take a brief pause on Sunday night and join me at 8:20pm for a pre-Pesach session on “Dayeinu: Do We Really Mean it? Cultivating Awareness and Gratitude During Times of Crisis.” We will discuss the history of this song, and have an opportunity to reflect on our own lives and craft our own versions that we can each bring to our seders this year.
In the Jewish tradition, if something happens three times it is considered to be a chazakah, or a new presumptive state. Tonight we enter our third consecutive Shabbat with shul doors locked and establish a new chazakah of being unable to physically celebrate Shabbat together. This reality pains me greatly, and I look forward to when we can safely break this chazakah and return to life as we know it. Until then I take great comfort in our virtual community, and I encourage you to join us this afternoon for Rabbi Herzfeld’s D'var Torah at 5pm on Facebook Live, the laining of the parsha at 5:30pm, Mincha at 6pm, and Kabbalat Shabbat and a D'var Torah at 6:15pm, all available via Zoom. Thank you to Deborah Kopp for sponsoring the laining in honor of her Hebrew birthday this Shabbat.
I want to close by sharing a new song called “Keter Melucha” by Israeli musician Ishay Ribo. His song explores the pain of moving from Shabbat to Shabbat in a world increasingly filled with isolation and fear. The song can be found here and the lyrics and unofficial translation can be found here.
Wishing you a Shabbat of peace and healing, Ruth
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Dear Friends:
I write to you on the eve of Shabbat Hagadol with prayers for health and blessings. One of the reasons it is called Shabbat Hagadol is because in the times of the Exodus from Egypt this Shabbat —the Shabbat before Pesach — a great miracle occurred. This year we also desperately pray for a miraculous salvation.
May Gd watch over our community, our city, our country, and our world. May Gd heal the sick and protect our medical professionals serving on the front line. May Gd give our scientists the wisdom to find a treatment for this horrible disease.
In this time of crisis we wonder how can we celebrate a holiday.
The answer is that now more than ever we need a holiday. We need to remind ourselves about why we love life.
The Passover Seder is a story of redemption and of expressing gratitude even for an incomplete and fleeting redemption. For many years Jews celebrated redemption in Pesach night even in the face of brutal persecution. That’s the message of the Dayenu song—each incomplete stage of redemption is enough. We express gratitude for every blessing in life—even without complete redemption.
So too, as Pesach comes upon us we should take time to appreciate what we do have on the holiday. We all know what we don’t have this year. But we can also celebrate what we do have. Even though that celebration is muted and temporary, it is necessary to remind ourselves of why we love life.
Every year we bake matzah in our shul. It is a highlight of my life. This year I will not be making any matzah -- instead I bought my matzah. Not because I can’t bake it. I have the shmurah flour and I could bake it in a safe way. But this year that’s not what Pesach is about. Pesach this year is not about embracing as many customs as possible no matter how difficult or intense. This year Pesach is about emphasizing the need to guard our health and the health of those around us. The most important mitzvah we can do is save a life. If we can possibly save one more life by adopting a leniency or forgoing a treasured custom then that is the greatest mitzvah we can do.
So join me in celebrating Shabbat Hagadol and reminding ourselves of what we are grateful for in life. This year let’s never forget to remind ourselves about why we love life. Shabbat Hagadol Shalom. This week have a great Shabbat! Shmuel
Ohev Sholom - The National Synagogue 1600 Jonquil Street NW Washington, DC 20012
