APRIL 9 • 2020 | 27
A
s many of us are now
weeks into hunkering
down into our houses,
we have all experienced a sense
of Egypt, having been
displaced from our daily
routines. We are all long-
ing for redemption for
better days.
When thinking about
Pesach and the virus, I
was drawn to the scene in
the Torah right after the
Jewish people make the
Pesach offering in Egypt.
The Torah continues as
the Jewish people are
hunkered down in their
houses saying (Shemot
12:12-13), “For that night
I will go through the land
of Egypt and strike down
every firstborn in the land of
Egypt, both man and beast; and
I will mete out punishments to
all the gods of Egypt, I the Lord.
And the blood on the houses
where you are staying shall be a
sign for you: when I see blood
I will pass over you, so that no
plague will destroy you when I
strike the land of Egypt.
”
In some ways with the corno-
virus outside and the orders to
stay home, we are like the Jews
the night before the exodus,
hunkered down.
I imagine for the Jews that
night there was fear, anxiety and
uncertainty. There was also the
unknown: What would be the
next day? Where would the new
journey take them? Many of us
have probably been feeling the
same the past several weeks.
There is growing anxiety and
fear across our country. There
is also anticipation and excite-
ment with the hope that social
distancing and medical research
will soon bring about a solution.
However, there is one
significant difference between
the Jews in their houses in
Egypt and us today. In
the verses above, the sal-
vation only comes from
God. The Jewish people
are passively involved. In
the verses, God takes all
of the action and brings
about the redemption.
Notice how many times
in these verses alone I
(God) is mentioned.
The biblical commen-
tator Rashi says the Jews
were not totally passive in
their redemption. Rashi
asks why it was necessary
for the blood to be on the
doorposts. He answers
that it was a sign to God that
the Jews were involved in doing
God’
s commandments.
When there was a plague
outside, the Jews needed to take
some action.
People across Detroit
have started to put sayings of
encouragement and community
in their windows to encourage
everyone to keep going.
Our Pesach celebration is a
reminder of the call to action,
even small actions. We can all
do our parts by connecting with
each other through phone calls
and Zoom, by supporting those
working tirelessly in the medical
field and by praying.
Although we may feel now
more than ever as if we are in
Egypt and a plague is on our
doorstep, redemption is just
around the corner, and we all
have a part in ushering it in.
Rabbi David Fain is rabbi at Hillel Day
School of Metropolitan Detroit.
Parshat
Pesah Chol
HaMoed:
Exodus
33:12-24:26;
Numbers
28:19-25;
Ezekiel
37:1-14.
Rabbi David
Fain
Bring About The
Redemption
Spirit
torah portion
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