By Shuli Karkowsky, Moving Traditions CEO
Just as Passover is different from all other nights, this year feels different from all other years.
Almost everyone I know has become accustomed to giving a two-layer answer to questions as simple as, “how are you?” For those of us privileged enough to feel (mostly) safe and healthy right now, there is an awkwardness to acknowledging that privilege, even as we fret for the rest of the Jewish people.
We feel caught in the place between our individual wellbeing and the state of our broader people.
Passover, more than almost any holiday, is a moment to embrace that duality. The seder is a ritual that lends itself beautifully to individualization, wacky family rituals, the creation of core memories that are specific to the friends and family you gather within that particular year.
And yet, it is also a holiday that urges us to feel our connection to other Jews, both contemporary Jews, and Jews throughout history. “Avadim hayinu” – “We were slaves” – we may not remember what happened in the past; so, we push ourselves to connect and empathize with an experience that was not our own.
This is also a great metaphor for Moving Traditions programs writ large. Whether it’s a B-mitzvah education session, a Rosh Hodesh teen group meeting, or Kol Koleinu retreat, we create curriculum that allows teens to develop a personal relationship with their Jewish identity, even as we ground that relationship in shared ancient rituals, texts, and thought. Teens are empowered to understand themselves more deeply in ways that also connect them to the broader Jewish community and the vibrant traditions of Jewish life.
This year, we invite you to comb through our treasury of Passover resources, which all, in some way or another, navigate the space between personal meaning and communal narratives; the past and the present; embracing ancient traditions and moving them forward to contemporary times. We hope you will select one this year that speaks to you and your family in this moment, but also draws you closer to the entire Jewish community, past and present, in this moment of uncertainty.
May you and your family have a sweet Passover.