Returning from a trip to Israel in eleventh grade, I had an intense feeling that saving the Jewish people was up to me, and me alone. A generation after the Holocaust, with the American Jewish community enduring a crisis of what was called at the time “continuity,” I saw young people like myself as the only antidote to the destruction of a four-thousand year old civilization. What a heavy and unnecessary burden for a sixteen-year-old to take on, because Judaism is not and has never been a do-it-alone activity.
As I read through this week’s Torah portion, Tzav, the second in the book of Leviticus, I had a similar feeling about Aaron and his sons. From the same Hebrew root as the word Mitzvah, meaning commandment, Tzav dictates the daily activities of the High Priest and his family from dawn to dusk, and sometimes all the way through the night. Fires must be kept burning, animals sacrificed, the proper attire worn, not for one day, but for an entire lifetime. It is overwhelming to even think about what they must have had to endure. The good news is, just as I found out as I got older, they never had to do it alone.
Passover is like this. Just try to do it on your own! The cleaning, cooking, and vast preparation makes me queasy just thinking about it. But, it is almost never just you. Your family, your synagogue community, and extended community are there to help you along the way.
This year, knowing how hard Passover in the pandemic can be, we have tried to find the ways we could be most helpful, creating a Zoom-Gaddah (a powerpoint slide show to be used in any virtual gathering), as well as a mini-first night Seder, and communal Zoom second night gathering together with our friends from Congregation Havurah, Temple Beth Tzedek, and Temple Beth Zion. And, this only the tip of our “Passover-helper” iceberg. Other activities include chocolate covered matzah and macaroon we distributed earlier in the week, as well as a streamed Yizkor service and Noah Budin virtual concert on April 3rd. No, you do not have to do this alone. You will have your community by your side.
Shabbat Shalom and Happy early Passover,
Rabbi Alex