This Passover: Unknown Territory

I write this as a gigantic moon rises overhead, paling the night sky and all her shimmering stars. Maybe this is what our ancestors felt as they stepped out of their homes, children strapped on their backs, plodding under starless skies into the Sea of Reeds uncertain if the waters would part. Maybe this is what our ancestors felt as they journeyed over the Carpathian Mountains, onto Danish fishing boats, and over the Pakistani border seeking freedom.

As life today in our COVID-19 era becomes increasingly unmoored, we walk in our ancestors’ footsteps into the unknown. Our trials whisper to us of what they faced in their times of terror and scarcity. Their prayers, for the requisite energy to journey to new lands, sing their way through us now. Only ours is not a geographical journey. It is one that must take us to a new worldview.

Passover is upon us. Easter (April 12) and Ramadan (April 23) follow closely behind. All of us are on a pilgrimage into the unknown this year. We have no maps, and we cannot draw on the joy of gathering together in person. Yet all over the world we are united in our ingenuity, as in our peril.

Let's draw strength from our ancestors’ courage, audacity, and resilience! Our crisis may be unprecedented, but so too were theirs. You're invited to print this sign below or make it your screensaver, as a gesture of protection, healing and wellbeing for all. You might also offer this prayer as you post it. This image was included in this Preparing for Passover During a Plague ritual guide compiled by Jewish clergy and artists. As Kohenet Dori Midnight writes in the ritual guide, “The hamsa is a symbol that is sacred to both Jews and Muslims, with origins in ancient Egypt. The hamsa honors Miriam, the prophetess, who danced in circles of collective liberation as the sea parted to clear the way for the Jews to flee slavery in Egypt.”

This image below was created by Wendy Somerson.