Tomáš Malík; Unsplash
This past fall, I was in an accident and got hurt pretty badly. I’m doing well now—I’ve had great care in every way. Even as the experience fades, the lessons and sense-memories linger. There were so many deep discomforts in those months of recovery, whether managing the pain, understanding new limitations, or asking for and accepting help. And a powerful ongoing yearning: I wanted so badly just to be comfortable again.
I recognize that desire and I feel very ambivalent about it. It’s understandable. And yet, there are so many horrific harms around us that are so far from manageable, so far beyond uncomfortable. I see so many people with a deep desire to be comfortable again, so much so that they’re willing to compartmentalize out a whole lot. And I also see people turning inward rather than turning towards the communities and relationships that can be with us in struggle, whose support comes partly through respectfully challenging us.
I get it. I know that I’ve withdrawn and turned away during some tough moments in my life. And I also know that it’s never helped. That, rather, the only thing that’s ever helped is opening up to the full scope of the challenge and the pain, and turning deeply into the relationships and partnerships that can help me work through it.
Passover is designed to keep us at least a little bit uncomfortable. We are meant to re-experience the story of the Exodus and none of that (even the joyful parts) were easy or uncomplicated. In the Passover story, the Israelites are emerging from Mitzrayim, literally meaning “a narrow place.” Emergence is not comfortable. Finding a new pathway forward can feel impossible and takes enormous effort. Opening up to healing is often hard and we can’t possibly do it alone.
As has become my custom in the pre-Pesach edition of The Gathering, I want to offer you a new additional four-question set for your seder this year:
• What discomforts am I turning away from?
• What support would I need to face them and work through them?
• What could (or what does) healing feel like?
• What is an action I could take that would bring more healing to more people?
Wishing you all a powerful seder, and wishing for everyone more peace, healing and support.
— Sarra Alpert, Director, Avodah Institute for Social Change
Recommendations
Resource Guide
Avodah Passover Resources
Enjoy Avodah’s annual collection of haggadot on a variety of justice topics: from Jewish history and culture, to LGTBQ+ and racial justice oriented rituals, our curation features haggadot and supplements from a range of organizations and individuals.
Recipe
Got Kubbah? Add this Iraqi dish to your Passover Menu
This recipe and accompanying video show us how to make a Passover friendly version of Kubbah, a traditional Iraqi dish, with potatoes.
Drash
The Acorn and the Matzah
Rabbi Dev Noily reflects on the practice of adding an acorn to the seder plate as a commitment to Indigenous rights and a reminder of how our liberation is connected to rematriating the land upon which we live.
Podcast
Seders in the Streets
Organizers from the Exodus Alliance discuss using the Passover story as inspiration for protesting fossil fuel investors on the Judaism Unbound podcast.
Song
Dayenu
Galeet Dardashti and Divahn, an all-women Mizrahi/Sephardi ensemble, perform their rendition of the traditional Passover song Dayenu and share about the Persian Jewish tradition of scallion-whipping during this portion of the seder.
