{"id":2369,"date":"2020-04-02T10:31:07","date_gmt":"2020-04-02T14:31:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/utj.org\/viewpoints\/?p=2369"},"modified":"2020-05-27T10:15:51","modified_gmt":"2020-05-27T14:15:51","slug":"dayeinu-covid-19-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/utj.org\/viewpoints\/2020\/04\/dayeinu-covid-19-edition\/","title":{"rendered":"Dayeinu (Covid-19 Edition)"},"content":{"rendered":"

I wasn\u2019t feeling well yesterday afternoon. It was not that pre-flu feeling; it was more like that 2:00 pm Yom Kippur day headache. \u00a0When I told Enid that I was coming home early, she asked that I stop at\u00a0Gourmet Glatt<\/em>\u00a0to pick up another dozen eggs. \u00a0And to have my temperature taken. It is, after all, one week until Passover.<\/p>\n

The guy at the door with the made-in-China scanner let me in, leading me to conclude that I did not have the made-in-China virus. \u00a0I do not know what was more frightening about\u00a0Gourmet Glatt\u00a0<\/em>(Hewlett): That the checkout line, now adorned with clear protective shielding, looked like Chase Bank, or that with one week until Pesach, they have not set up a dedicated Passover aisle. \u00a0No cake meal or kosher-for-Passover Cheerios to be found. \u00a0I came home with the eggs and a large horseradish root. \u00a0It is, after all, one week until Passover.<\/p>\n

Speaking of Passover, my son reminded me of a halacha\u00a0<\/em>
\n[S”A O”H 473:7]:<\/p>\n

We pour for him the second cup, so that the children will ask why we drink the second cup before the meal. \u00a0If the son has no wisdom, the father teaches him. If he has no son, his wife should ask him. If he does not even have a wife, he should ask himself.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What was once almost purely hypothetical now seems prophetic. \u00a0Having a Seder without children is almost heretical. \u00a0After all, much of the choreography of the evening is intended to engage young minds. \u00a0Just look again at the\u00a0Shulchan Aruch’s<\/em>\u00a0opening line. \u00a0We pour the second cup when we do so that the children\u00a0will find it odd and inquire! \u00a0We play games with the Afikomen to encourage children to remain engaged and excited.<\/p>\n

Yet the Sages of the Talmud anticipated the remote possibility we face today, and the codifiers of Jewish law addressed this Doomsday scenario squarely. \u00a0The show must go on, even with no audience or starring actors.<\/p>\n

Ma Nishtana Ha-Laila Ha-Ze?<\/em><\/p>\n

How is this year’s Seder different? \u00a0That\u2019s too easy a question.<\/p>\n

Many Jews around the World – and in our small corner of it – will not hear little voices sing\u00a0Ma Nishtana!\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0We will not have our grown sons and daughters, with their sons and daughters, sharing the most important home meal and ritual of the Jewish year. \u00a0The Seder will no doubt feel strange and familiar at the same time.<\/p>\n

The more important question \u2013 not just this year but every year \u2013 is: How is this Night Similar to All other Pesach Nights? \u00a0Says the\u00a0Shulchan Aruch<\/em>: Do it anyway! \u00a0The Seder is so much more than entertaining children. \u00a0After all, for all the kid-friendly aspects of the Seder, Passover is a serious, adult, festival, and the Haggadah is worth reading aloud even in the company of one or \u2026 no one.<\/p>\n

After all, if I can yell at my TV when Carlos Beltran takes a third strike (with the bases loaded) to end the season, I can certainly sing\u00a0Dayeinu<\/em>, a poem that reminds me to be grateful for what he have and not sad for what I am lacking.<\/p>\n\n

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I wasn\u2019t feeling well yesterday afternoon. It was not that pre-flu feeling; it was more like that 2:00 pm Yom Kippur day headache. \u00a0When I told Enid that I was coming home early, she asked that I stop at\u00a0Gourmet Glatt\u00a0to pick up another dozen eggs. \u00a0And to have my temperature taken. It is, after all, one week until Passover.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":2370,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[151,113,134,78,138],"tags":[],"coauthors":[122],"class_list":["post-2369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-coronavirus","category-holidays","category-holidays-2","category-modern-judaism","category-passover"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/utj.org\/viewpoints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/utj.org\/viewpoints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/utj.org\/viewpoints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utj.org\/viewpoints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utj.org\/viewpoints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2369"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/utj.org\/viewpoints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2369\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2372,"href":"https:\/\/utj.org\/viewpoints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2369\/revisions\/2372"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utj.org\/viewpoints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/utj.org\/viewpoints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utj.org\/viewpoints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utj.org\/viewpoints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2369"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utj.org\/viewpoints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=2369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}