Why is this seder night different from all others? This year, no one will have to ask.
Our Passover plans have been totally upended. We're all in different places. Travel itineraries were disrupted, then totally canceled.
We’re worried about our own health and how we can avoid making anyone else sick. We worry about family members near and far. We worry about the education of our children.
Our professional lives have been rocked and our income may be compromised. We are seeing shortages of household items we took for granted in our 21st-century lives; and we still have our regular concerns about the state of the nation and the world.
On top of that, making a Passover seder while social distancing? Is it even possible?
There’s no template for this. Or is there?
In every generation, we have confronted challenge, as Jews or as members of the larger human species. We suffer loss, we grieve; we feel pain, we need time to recuperate; and then, if we can, we move forward.
The Passover Haggadah is our people's nimble template: it charts the plagues of the past, both literal/medical and metaphorical/spiritual; our history is forged and illuminated by our culture, our culture is shaped and deepend by our history.
This year, we add new selections to the template, new pages to the Haggadah, new perspectives through our contemporary lens. We look to history and culture for coping mechanisms. For me, pop culture is a port in a storm, a lens through which to examine history and deepen my understanding of others.
In this Haggadah in progress, I'm starting with a liberal Haggadah base, and adding pop culture infused pieces as well as other observations on the Jewish themes of the holiday. I hope that these selections bring a smile, spark discussion, or provide additional meaning at your seder tables.
May this Passover be the last we spend in such upheaval, and may we soon be able to say, "next year in a world, once fragmented, again made whole."
Korech כּוֹרֵךְ
זֵכֶר לְמִקְדָּשׁ כְּהִלֵּל. כֵּן עָשָׂה הִלֵּל בִּזְמַן שבֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ הָיָה קַיָים: הָיָה כּוֹרֵךְ מַצָּה וּמָרוֹר וְאוֹכֵל בְּיַחַד, לְקַיֵים מַה שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: עַל מַצּוֹת וּמְרֹרִים יֹאכְלֻהוּ.
Zeicher l'mikdash k'hileil. Kein asah hileil bizman shebeit hamikdash hayah kayam. Hayah koreich pesach, matzah, u-maror v'ocheil b'yachad. L'kayeim mah shene-emar. “Al matzot um'rorim yochlu-hu.”
Eating matzah, maror and haroset this way reminds us of how, in the days of the Temple, Hillel would do so, making a sandwich of the Pashal lamb, matzah and maror, in order to observe the law “You shall eat it (the Pesach sacrifice) on matzah and maror.”
"Am I a hero?"
Michael Scott is the regional manager of Dunder-Mifflin paper company. He's bumbling, awkward, self-centered and overly concerned with how other people view him. Even though some of his intentions are good, his implementation is usually disproportionally bad. He wants to fund the future, but makes promises to "Scott's Tots" that he can't keep. He hits a co-worker with his car, outs another, makes inappropriate comments in the office on the regular. He is not the kind of person who will put others first. He does not seem like "hero material."
But here's the thing about Michael Scott. As many times as he puts his foot in his mouth or in a George Foreman grill, he keeps trying. He comes from a background that didn't properly teach him about love and interacting with others. And over the course of his years at Dunder-Mifflin, he changes. The work family that he always wanted to love him eventually does (even if he still makes them uncomfortable). His intentions overtake (or at least catch up to and balance out) his awkwardness. He is able to put other people and their needs first; he makes room for others to succeed him and excel in their work. He opens himself up to love and to vulnerability.
So is Michael Scott a hero? I really can't say. But yes.
And what does this have to do with the seder, the Haggadah or Passover? Great question.
While the temptation is to say that a hero is someone who is in a DC or Marvel movie, or whose entire profession situates them in an environment where they engage in daily acts of heroism, those are only the most visible examples of heroism. Even Michael Scott, as flawed as he is, has his moments. And for many of us, who are not working in field hospitals or defeating Thanos, this kind of heroism is one we can aspire to and attain. If Michael Scott can find heroic moments within himself, so can we.
[Image source: GIPHY]
Tyrion Lannister Raises A Glass
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Why is this seder night different from all others? This year, no one will have to ask.
Our Passover plans have been totally upended. We're all in different places. Travel itineraries were disrupted, then totally canceled.
We’re worried about our own health and how we can avoid making anyone else sick. We worry about family members near and far. We worry about the education of our children.
Our professional lives have been rocked and our income may be compromised. We are seeing shortages of household items we took for granted in our 21st-century lives; and we still have our regular concerns about the state of the nation and the world.
On top of that, making a Passover seder while social distancing? Is it even possible?
There’s no template for this. Or is there?
In every generation, we have confronted challenge, as Jews or as members of the larger human species. We suffer loss, we grieve; we feel pain, we need time to recuperate; and then, if we can, we move forward.
The Passover Haggadah is our people's nimble template: it charts the plagues of the past, both literal/medical and metaphorical/spiritual; our history is forged and illuminated by our culture, our culture is shaped and deepend by our history.
This year, we add new selections to the template, new pages to the Haggadah, new perspectives through our contemporary lens. We look to history and culture for coping mechanisms. For me, pop culture is a port in a storm, a lens through which to examine history and deepen my understanding of others.
In this Haggadah in progress, I'm starting with a liberal Haggadah base, and adding pop culture infused pieces as well as other observations on the Jewish themes of the holiday. I hope that these selections bring a smile, spark discussion, or provide additional meaning at your seder tables.
May this Passover be the last we spend in such upheaval, and may we soon be able to say, "next year in a world, once fragmented, again made whole."
Korech כּוֹרֵךְ
זֵכֶר לְמִקְדָּשׁ כְּהִלֵּל. כֵּן עָשָׂה הִלֵּל בִּזְמַן שבֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ הָיָה קַיָים: הָיָה כּוֹרֵךְ מַצָּה וּמָרוֹר וְאוֹכֵל בְּיַחַד, לְקַיֵים מַה שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: עַל מַצּוֹת וּמְרֹרִים יֹאכְלֻהוּ.
Zeicher l'mikdash k'hileil. Kein asah hileil bizman shebeit hamikdash hayah kayam. Hayah koreich pesach, matzah, u-maror v'ocheil b'yachad. L'kayeim mah shene-emar. “Al matzot um'rorim yochlu-hu.”
Eating matzah, maror and haroset this way reminds us of how, in the days of the Temple, Hillel would do so, making a sandwich of the Pashal lamb, matzah and maror, in order to observe the law “You shall eat it (the Pesach sacrifice) on matzah and maror.”
"Am I a hero?"
Michael Scott is the regional manager of Dunder-Mifflin paper company. He's bumbling, awkward, self-centered and overly concerned with how other people view him. Even though some of his intentions are good, his implementation is usually disproportionally bad. He wants to fund the future, but makes promises to "Scott's Tots" that he can't keep. He hits a co-worker with his car, outs another, makes inappropriate comments in the office on the regular. He is not the kind of person who will put others first. He does not seem like "hero material."
But here's the thing about Michael Scott. As many times as he puts his foot in his mouth or in a George Foreman grill, he keeps trying. He comes from a background that didn't properly teach him about love and interacting with others. And over the course of his years at Dunder-Mifflin, he changes. The work family that he always wanted to love him eventually does (even if he still makes them uncomfortable). His intentions overtake (or at least catch up to and balance out) his awkwardness. He is able to put other people and their needs first; he makes room for others to succeed him and excel in their work. He opens himself up to love and to vulnerability.
So is Michael Scott a hero? I really can't say. But yes.
And what does this have to do with the seder, the Haggadah or Passover? Great question.
While the temptation is to say that a hero is someone who is in a DC or Marvel movie, or whose entire profession situates them in an environment where they engage in daily acts of heroism, those are only the most visible examples of heroism. Even Michael Scott, as flawed as he is, has his moments. And for many of us, who are not working in field hospitals or defeating Thanos, this kind of heroism is one we can aspire to and attain. If Michael Scott can find heroic moments within himself, so can we.
[Image source: GIPHY]
Tyrion Lannister Raises A Glass
Preview
More
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