Megillah, March - April 2004

Editorial

Even though the weather outside says winter, the calendar says March, and that means Spring. Spring means that it's time to get ready for Passover. Oy!

Now, don't get me wrong. I love Passover. Some of the fondest memories of my childhood revolve around Passover and the seders and the company and the food.

But, as an adult, this holiday took on a different meaning. All of us who "keep" Passover know what that meaning is. Cleaning, shopping, cooking, cleaning some more. Who is going to have the first seder? More cooking. There is an aunt from Philadelphia who is making the trip down to be with your family for the seders. You have to make sure that the guest bedroom is spotless. Maybe you need to make another apple kugel. Do you have enough chopped meat for the sweet and sour meatballs? Better make another trip to the kosher butcher. How about the children? Who will get to recite the Four Questions? And what will the children get for finding the afikoman? Worry and work. Work and worry. That is the story of Passover preparation.

Wait. Slow down a minute. Passover is the story of one of the most glorious events in our whole history. It tells of a people who manage to go from a sordid life of slavery and hardship to freedom. The statistics are staggering. What these people went through: the hardships, their transformation from a downtrodden lot of slaves to a proud nation of free people who worshipped the one true G-d. What a wondrous story. Do you think that, maybe, just maybe, we get so bogged down in the details, that we lose sight of the big picture? Maybe we can let one or two of the details slide so that we can rejoice in the story of how one man, Moses, following the directions of G-d, changed the whole history of our people. As it is instructed in the Haggadah, we should read the story as we, ourselves, are living it - as through we, ourselves, are being led from slavery to freedom! Enjoy and be proud of our people. Have a wonderful Passover.

~Bernice Cohen