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Dear Friends,

 Pesach is just around the corner and we are all focused on getting ready to welcome this important Festival of Freedom. Pesach is an amazing holiday. On the one hand, it is the most restrictive and legislated holiday on the Jewish calendar. On the other hand, it remains one of the most widely observed. Next to lighting the chanukiah on Chanukah, the Pesach seder is the second most practiced Jewish ritual. This is a testimony to a deep-in-the-kishkes faithfulness and commitment to Judaism and Jewishness.

We all know that this Pesach will be very similar to last year’s. Our ability to freely gather in one another’s homes to celebrate as we normally would is once again circumscribed by safety concerns and protocols. We are tired of all of this. Pesach is hard enough and another COVID Pesach does not sound attractive. Is anyone tempted to throw in the towel and forget about it all, though? We are a resourceful people. We will find ways to be ready. We will find ways to reach out to family and friends. We will find ways to share the delicious foods as well as the eternal story of Pesach with those nearest and dearest to us. Because Pesach begins on Saturday evening – and we cannot prepare for Pesach on Shabbat itself – our homes will be Pesach-ready one day early, on Friday. That might be daunting but it means we can come to the first Seder on Saturday night more relaxed and rested than usual.

In doing this, Pesach 2021 will certainly live up to its designation in the Torah as a MOED. The word, usually translated as season, contains the letters of the Hebrew word ED, pronounce aid. It means witness. Pesach is a testimonial event. The story testifies to God’s role in our history. Our observance of the festival also testifies our personal role in that never ending story. By “making Pesach” – especially this year – we are voting for the continuity of our holy and beautiful People.

Best wishes to all of you for a wonderful and joyful Pesach.

Rabbi Chaitovsky