Passover in the Time of Corona

By Rabbi Joyce Reinitz 

Sit up comfortably in a chair with your hands in your lap or in the arms of the chair. Gently close your eyes and exhale a nice long exhale through your mouth (like a sigh). Then breathe in through your nose, and then exhale another long slow exhale through your mouth…. Now breathe evenly and regularly. 

• Know that Passover celebrates our freedom from slavery and oppression.
• See, sense, feel, and know that like our forefathers and foremothers who suffered in Egypt, we too can move from despondency and despair to liberation and redemption.
• Breathe out and feel how this Passover, our suffering has a different form. Fear engulfs us from a new source. Sense and feel how this fear resides in you.
• Breathe out. Remember that God remembers us, hearing our cries to take us out of bondage. Sense how faith is the antidote to fear.
• See, sense, feel, and know that Passover rekindles the possibility of HOPE. Sense this hope spreading within from within you and then to those around you, till the earth is filled with hope.
• Breathe out and take a piece of matzah, chew this bread of affliction slowly knowing that you are not alone. Feel the support and LOVE of the Divine Presence protecting you both day and night. Swallow the matzah and sense how this bread of affliction now becomes the bread of liberation.
• At midnight under the full moon, watch as the Red Sea splits before you. NOW, see yourself and your loved ones walking calmly through and arriving safely on the other side.
• When you are ready, breath out and slowly, slowly open your eyes.