Celebrating Spring in Corona Times

Passover on Zoom!

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  • Photos by Analise Granados ’21

  • Photos by Analise Granados ’21

  • Photos by Analise Granados ’21

  • Photos by Analise Granados ’21

  • Photos by Analise Granados ’21

Along with most people in the world right now, my family’s life has been put on hold due to the Coronavirus outbreak. We hoped that our lives would have more normalcy by this time and we would be able to celebrate one of the most important holidays in our family: Passover. It didn’t, so we had to adapt our celebration to the times.
The story of Passover begins when the Egyptians order the enslavement of the Israelites and the mandatory drowning of their firstborn sons in the Nile. The prophet, Moses, was one of these sons, but was pulled out of the river by the Pharaoh’s daughter and received a command from God to free the Israelites later in his life. After the Pharaoh refuses to grant the Hebrews freedom, God unleashes the ten plagues on the Egyptians, but asks the Israelites to smear the blood of lamb on their door so the plagues can pass over them—hence the name, Passover. The main purpose of the story of Passover is to remember the freedom that God gave the Israelites\;we should never take our freedom for granted, and we should not lose sight of the suffering of others as well.
Because Passover falls in the Hebrew-calendar month of Nisan, which occurs in late March or early April, my family always makes a point to use the holiday to recenter our lives and values at this busy time of year. Around Passover, my mom always used to tell us “Life is busy! Take this time to breathe and be with your family, cause you won’t get it often.” I never realized the importance of her sentiments until I was in the midst of the fast-paced life that is being a high-school student at the Academy in the springtime. To take this breath, we usually attend services at our synagogue, have a traditional seder with friends and family, make lots of matzoh-ball soup, staying up late telling stories of Passovers past.
Just a few weeks before Passover, it was clear this year would be very different from other years, and we all felt quite discouraged. The spring holidays, including Easter, Passover, and Ramadan, are only a few of the many events that have been drastically changed since coronavirus became such a big part of our lives. This is why my mom said sternly last Sunday, “I think this is actually a blessing in disguise.”
Family, friends from synagogue, and colleagues all joined us on Zoom as we began with traditional prayers for the first cup of wine and matzoh. Between songs and prayers, each family had an opportunity to share their experience or insight on this aspect of the seder. In this reflection period, families told us about adding a spoon to their seder plate, a symbol for all those who are sick or experiencing malnourishment at this time, along with other items to honor those who are suffering. As we all relaxed into our seats and sang Dayenu, even the lag of zoom didn’t stop the celebratory songs from filling each household with hope and a minute of relief.
Our whole family realized on Zoom Wednesday night,though we may feel discouraged, this Passover is actually so much more relevant as most of our time now is spent with our family, remembering to take that breath. We had thought the opposite, that we would not be able to fully celebrate this year without our synagogue or friends, but in reality, we are much more in touch with our gratitude—what Passover is all about. So I urge you to reflect on your spring holidays this year. How are they different? What do they mean to you and your family? Even if you don’t celebrate, try to think about how this time next year will be different because of the things we take for granted. It is a tradition to say, “next year in Jerusalem” during Passover, so this year we said, “next year in Jerusalem, in person, and with more awareness.”