That's the way the pan flashes, that's the way the market crashes

[sovay]

It had previously occurred to me to wonder about the interaction of seders and sheltering in place, but somehow it had not quite clicked with me until tonight that however we celebrate Pesach this year, it will be in a time of plague that is rather more concrete than a drop of wine on the rim of a plate. By now I am accustomed to light my Hanukkah candles against fascism: the lights of who we are that cannot be snuffed out. I never did paint אמת on the forehead of the bronze statue of Justice Louis Brandeis. I know that almost all of the sacrificial components of Judaism dropped out with the destruction of the Second Temple, but I really feel I should be putting blood on my doorposts this year.

Comments

[rosefox]

You're in good company with that thought:

"In the meantime, we are about to enter the season of our liberation, when in a normal year observant Jews feel separated from everyone else, because we don’t eat out or share bread or any kind of food with friends who don’t observe Passover. But even though Passover creates separation, it also creates intensive togetherness, along with a tremendous urge to invite new people to our tables. This year, coronavirus will make Passover into exactly the opposite experience. But in a way, it will be close to the original Passover, when each household had to eat its own lamb by itself or in combination with another household, in a single house, and where no one could leave the whole night, lest the angel of death touch and smite their lives."

—David Seidenberg

[sovay]

"But in a way, it will be close to the original Passover, when each household had to eat its own lamb by itself or in combination with another household, in a single house, and where no one could leave the whole night, lest the angel of death touch and smite their lives."

Thank you for that.

[rosefox]

The ritual technology of the Seder is meant to make us feel like we were there, right? It's just getting a boost from reality this year.

[reconditarmonia]

That's true. Thank you.

[rachelmanija]

We're doing it over Zoom. I honestly think it will be the most powerful and relevant Passover we'll ever have. We're in Egypt now with the Plagues, waiting in our houses to leave for the Promised Land.

[cynthia1960]

Really good observation. Technopagan buddhist catholic here, but honor insights from all traditions.

[sovay]

We're in Egypt now with the Plagues, waiting in our houses to leave for the Promised Land.

And if we all come safe through it, dayenu.

[selkie]

We are still here.

I sure as fuck didn't think my contribution to the resistance would be sewing ponytail elastics to surgical masks made of flannel sheeting and quilting cotton, or keeping the dishes sanitized, but there the fuck we are. I went to college to be a delicate, pampered intellectual flower, not figure out how long the oats can hold out. The fuck.

*hugs*

[sovay]

We are still here.

We are.

I went to college to be a delicate, pampered intellectual flower, not figure out how long the oats can hold out. The fuck.

If only you hadn't done all of that research into the logistics of nineteenth- and twentieth-century households!

*hugs*

[selkie]

I can make cheese and do a whole lot of tinctures and infusions, and I can butcher if the animal is smaller than me or broken into its primals, but I can't spin and I can barely weave -- someone has to hang the loom for me. Does this reduce my value in dowry goats?

[reconditarmonia]

Oy, yeah.

[sovay]

Oy, yeah.

*hugs*

[asakiyume]

Any and all warding is to be used, I'd say.

[sovay]

Any and all warding is to be used, I'd say.

It just seems sensible.

[negothick]

I've been worrying about finding the basic ingredients for the Seder. Bread has already disappeared from my life. I have a box of Matzoh and a bottle of grape juice, and I can use a potato for the Karpas (no green vegetables around here, either).

[sovay]

I have a box of Matzoh and a bottle of grape juice, and I can use a potato for the Karpas (no green vegetables around here, either).

For us, the core ingredients have always been the matzah, the wine (or the grape juice), and the opening the door to the stranger, but I hope you can get whatever you need to make a seder that feels real.