Writing at Higher Ground, Yael says this Passover is a time of grief and suffering… but also hope:
The nights of Passover are different from all other nights, and this year even more so. Your Jewish neighbours will soon gather to recall their ancestors’ liberation from ancient Egypt and the start of their long journey to Israel, but as your neighbours celebrate this year, they will also grieve.
Lately, I’ve been thinking about Passover and its many contradictions
This sacred and widely observed holiday commemorates the Hebrews’ exodus from Egypt. To celebrate, Jews gather at the dinner table for a seder, a ceremonial meal packed with rituals, stories and prayers. “Seder” is a Hebrew word meaning “order,” and Jews have conducted the Passover holiday in the same order for about 1,500 years.
Throughout the seder, we experience contradictions that reflect the central question of the holiday: Why is this night different from all other nights?
We eat bitter herbs and salt water to remember the tears of the Hebrew slaves and later we sing songs of gratitude, praising God for their liberation. We move through a precisely ordered meal and follow a detailed script of blessings, all while we lounge in our pillowed seats. As we tell stories of our ancestors suffering, outcast and enslaved in Egypt we leave the door open to welcome Elijah the Prophet as well as strangers to our Passover festivities.
This year, thousands of Jewish families will leave an empty chair for Elijah and notice the empty chairs that their loved ones used to fill. As hostages remain in Gaza and heroes remain on the front lines protecting Israel, this Passover will be different from all other nights in the traditional ways and more.
Yael’s Reflections Archive
