We Sing as a Community

Friends,

We have made it through the sea and back onto dry land, leavened bread in hand! Thank you for a wonderful community seder on Thursday night. Seeing so many smiling faces gathered around your seder tables filled me and Cantor Giglio with joy. While many of us felt the pain of not sitting at large tables with friends and family, this unique Passover allowed us to find joy through our rituals. Reciting the Exodus story, saying the blessings (including the ever-important hand-washing blessing) and eating the Matza reminded us that Jews have been through difficult times and that we have endured.

We have endured because for millennia we have learned to adapt to change in the best and most challenging times. Many people made their own matza for the first time and declared it such a success that a new ritual was born. Instead of fretting that we could not get to the store, we took a small amount of flour and water and created our own bread of affliction. From these simple ingredients we created not only matza, but also joy and hope. While we might not make more matza in the days to come, we can continue to find inspiration in our new and ancient rituals. We can try making challah for Shabbat, find time for a board game or puzzle on a rainy Sunday afternoon, join Torah Study, or host a trivia night with friends over Zoom. Through rituals, new and old, we can find hope and light in the darkness.

Tomorrow night when we recite the motzi and eat some challah, or any other leavened bread we have in our homes, the sweet taste will feel new and fresh. It reminds us that we are no longer slaves in Egypt and that liberation will come for us as well. Even though we are still physically separated, we are spiritually united. May we all experience renewal and hope in the days to come.

We continue to pray for those afflicted by Covid-19, and please know that if you are in need of any kind of support please do not hesitate to reach out.

I wish you all blessings of hope, strength, courage and health,

Rabbi Immerman