Rabbi Alexandria Shuval-Weiner

“Every year we begin our seders by declaring “Ha Lachma Anya, all who are hungry, come and eat. Whomever is in need, come and celebrate Passover!” What can this mean for us this year, in this unprecedented moment in history?

Though we are commanded to see ourselves as the redeemed, often it’s not so easy. For many, the narrative is read through the lens of other. Not us, but “our Israelite ancestors” were the ones freed from strife, from the narrow spaces. But this year is different. It is “us” in the narrow place. Each and every human on earth is experiencing mitzrayim. We find ourselves sheltering in place, far away from family and friends, perhaps completely isolated and alone. Lacking any control over the forces swirling around us and praying that the pestilence will Pass-over our homes. We are the constricted, the hungry, the needy, the vulnerable.

Desperate for assurances that when this passes we will feel safe and secure.

Ha Lachma Anya! Whomever is in need, come and celebrate Passover!

We are being called, invited to lean into the uncertainty, and use our vulnerability to discover the preciousness and sanctity of each moment of life, of each holy breath. Inspired by the ageless wisdom of the haggadah, “all who are hungry, come and eat,” we are able to journey through its pages cultivating bitachon (trust) and emunah (faith), releasing us from the chains of fear and raising us upward toward freedom and hope.

Hag Sameach and Zissen Pesach.

Rabbi Alexandria Shuval-Weiner is senior rabbi at Temple Beth Tikvah in Roswell.