Will Coronavirus Make Pesach More Meaningful?

amother

Babypink

Mon, Mar 30 2020, 1:40 am

Well we will feel more for what it may have been like during each of the 10 makos, it might seem like reliving part of the story and we might not feel that חירות that we usually do. For those not all family under the same roof (most of us) for us in חוץ לארץ, the 3 day may either make us thankful to turn off the world or be anxious or both. Not sure. We will feel its all in G-d's hands though just like then.

FranticFrummie

Mon, Mar 30 2020, 5:18 am

What makes anything meaningful, is what you bring to it, and what attitude you have.

Every single year, right around Purim I find myself in tears over something that seems impossible to deal with. Only Hashem can save me.

By Pesach, I have my answer in a clear and revealed way.

Every year, I have my own personal Mitzrayim, and my own Exodus from my suffering. I have much to give thanks for.

I've even been to seders where people go around the table and talk about what they struggled with that year, and how Hashem helped them get through it to the other side.

Mitzrayim is "a narrow place, where you feel squeezed". A place where you can barely even breathe. When we are in it, it's hard to see any possible outcome. That is the point where we have to realize that we do not have control over the situation, and that surrender to G-d's will is our only salvation.

imasinger

Mon, Mar 30 2020, 6:44 am

It's really all in how you choose to see it.

Did you see the article about Natan Sharansky, and how he made a meaningful Pesach while imprisoned in Russia?

Some of the questions I've been thinking about for family discussion:

- Think about the Navi's experience with a kol d'mama daka. We are living in turbulent times. Where is your quiet place to "hear" Hashem?

- How do you think the generation leaving Mitzrayim "heard" Hashem? Would you want to switch places with them? Why or why not?

- We know there was a lot of squabbling as bnei Yisrael traveled. And that there were plagues of sickness in the midbar. How was that similar or different to our experiences?

- This holiday has four names. Give an example of how each name is applicable for us personally today.

- There's a saying, "it's always darkest just before the dawn." What is dark right now? What gives us hope?

- List some other times and situations you know from history that Pesach was hard. How did people deal with it?

- We know of people who are very sick, and sadly, those who were niftar before we would have expected. What would they tell us to be doing and thinking about at our Seder?

Add yours!