Passover 5780

Passover this year will go down as one of the strangest since... Moses and the Israelites left Egypt. The comparisons I've seen are to people in hiding from the Nazis trying to create some semblance of a holiday, or concentration camp inmates eating forbidden bread or fasting on Passover. We are locked in. Not completely here in West Virginia, where we can go out to get some exercise and fresh air, and can run to the grocery store as long as we stay apart. But we can't gather in large groups for a seder, can't get together with friends and family, can't have a caterer do all the cooking and serving.

We're privileged that we can still have a seder at all. At Tree of Life here in Morgantown, Rabbi Joe will do a short seder on social media. He and I will have a simple Passover meal after the formal seder. Our cleaning woman offered to come this coming week, and the house could use a pre-Passover cleanse. I plan to tell her not to come, and we will do what we can to get the bread crumbs out before the holiday.

Joe and I are not suffering materially. Our income and health insurance are not threatened, we don't owe money except the mortgage, which is less than most people here pay for rent. Joe did say something about having to put up with me all the time. I could say that about him, too.

There is the strangeness of it all. We both went to the grocery store Sunday, early "before the crowds." Yet the store was crowded. Half of the people there were wearing masks and gloves. People looked away or frowned if they thought I was getting too close. The cashiers had a glass wall up between them and us, and after years of bringing reusable bags, we are being told not to.

In our state, it seems like overreaction. Almost all of the thirty-five cases here in Monongalia County were in one nursing home. Only one person has died. Berkeley and Kanawha counties, both with larger population than our county, now have more cases. Testing in West Virginia is limited, and results can take eleven days, so who knows? The news from larger cities is so grim that it strikes fear into my heart. Most of the cases are mild unless one is over seventy or has underlying heart, lung or immune system problems. Check, check, check and check.

I've been running and walking about twenty minutes every day lately. I take the same route, running until it hurts, then walking the uphill parts. Given a choice, I would rather drop instantly from a heart attack while running then die with a tube down my throat, in a hospital, unable to breathe.

The point of Passover is staying alive and being careful. Moses' sister puts him in a basket, the Israelites are saved from death over and over. We celebrate being alive. We have to be grateful at this season for what we have, create new memories of a very different Passover, and take the precautions we can.

I wish my Jewish readers a memorable Passover, and my Christian readers, a meaningful holiday season this week.