During Time of Covid

The Passover Village Community has continued to meet online. In the early months of the pandemic, we meet weekly via teleconference to provide support to each other. Our meetings have gradually returned to monthly online gatherings to study Torah and be in Council.

We have also gathered for holiday observances; most recently for hanukah. Each household shared the light of its menorah to dispel the darkness and unite us.

We have also gathered online to hold shiva for a dear member of the Village. This week, we also conducted a virtual taharah (purification) ritual for the father of community members. The father's death from Covid made it unsafe for us to gather in person for taharah, so we drew upon our traditions to symbolically bath and dress the body for burial. This is what community does for its members.

Wisdom from the Council

The Village had been looking forward to a post-Passover retreat into the desert. When it was canceled due to quarantine concerns, many of us gathered via the internet for a day of council, meditation, and prayer.

In the afternoon, each of us went into nature to ask for guidance on what was required of us at this time.  Here are some of the things we learned.

Wisdom from the Council

Breathe with me, and you will have air, Eat with me and you will have food, Live with me and you will have life.

Discover stinging nettles and how we can be with them.

This is the time to rest and shore up your strength for when it’s time to act.

You will need your will to transform inspiration into action; don’t move too fast

Nothing to do besides being me, fully, all of me

Hear me, see me, feel me, touch me

Playfulness, childlike innocence, humility

Tune into what is all around us

Work with the seeds

Felt connected to the water; I live in a community

Be kind to ourselves; From the spirits: we love you, always have, always will

I am humbled

Use and activate your out-of-the-box gene

We affect everything and everything affects us

We are all connected

Rest

Give and receive love

Get clear on your commitments, be grateful, and be still to receive the heart’s heartbeat

Be the container for new life.

Ken yehi ratzon

כן יהי רצון 

Let it be so.

In the Covid-19 Desert

The Hagadah came alive in unexpected ways as the Village's seder was moved online. Drawing upon the traditions and relationships forged in the Village over the decades, we gathered online to celebrate together and inquire how our heritage can help us navigate the current time and create a vision for "Next Year in ......."

Here is one vision we all agreed upon:

Image from OneTable.org, Artwork by Rebekah Lowin [@madebyrebekah_]
https://issuu.com/onetableshabbat/docs/onetablexpassover_2020_guide?fr=sODU1YjEwNzgzMzQ