Now we are enslaved. Next year we will be free.

I am in the throes of getting ready for Pesach. This is the ultimate punishment for that little incident in Gan Eden involving a tree and a piece fruit. I don't want to talk about why 5 chickens are defrosting in various plastic bags in my still chametz fridge which will be completely pulled apart and scrubbed into insensibility tomorrow morning when the cleaning service comes in for the assist.

The cabinets to be used are already empty. The counters are almost clear....the toaster will go away tomorrow morning after I have my requisite crumpet  for breakfast. Knife, dish, and  coffee mug will also do a disappearing act before we start the BIG SCRUB. Yes, there is boiling water involved. See, I have this plan. 

I work on the action/reward system of motivation. IF I get the whole change thing done by Wednesday morning, I get to play canasta in the afternoon. IF I get the soup started and the matzah balls prepped Wednesday night, I get to have a long overdue manicure (my hands look like chicken feet) on Thursday. That means on Friday, I can stroll through Byerly's for fresh produce and the last of the dairy stuff that has to be bought ahead before I start final preparation for the first seder. 

The TempTee Cream Cheese debacle reached epic proportions last week, but then a fresh supply was spotted at Cub in Knollwood. I alerted my most dear Mrs. Junior  Son who immediately ran over and scored cream cheese for all. Now,  if only I could find  egg matzah which appears to be a casualty of the supply chain. And  I explored large swaths of St. Louis Park this morning armed with a list. I successfully completed the mission...except I forgot to buy new rubber gloves. Thank goodness there's still time for that if there isn't a spare pair in the Pesadik boxes. 

And if that is not enough, second seder has moved from my house to the kids. I am ecstatic! Joyful! And, she's making brisket. This means I shall not be forcing people to eat my terrible brisket. Seriously. I make terrible brisket. There. I've admitted it. Even my mother, who could not cook, made better brisket than I do. 

Read all of the above with the grain of salt I am tossing on it. 

There is plenty of food on the shelves at the grocery store, even if I can't get egg matzah this year. There are still lots of fruits and vegetables to be had, kosher for Passover Coke if you want, and Temp Tee whipped cream cheese. 

The Passover seder begins with Maggid, the telling of the exodus from Egypt, and it begins with this introduction:

This is the bread of our affliction, which our ancestors ate in the land of Mitzrayim [Egypt.]

All who are hungry, let them come in and eat

All who are in need, let them come celebrate Pesach

Now we are here. Next year in the land of Israel.

Now we are enslaved. Next year we will be free. 

The purpose of Maggid is to tell the story in a language everyone can understand. The exodus is meant to be dissected and discussed by all at the table. Questions are to be asked. Children are encouraged to answer as well as ask. Maggid is the transmission of the root story of our very existence. Although we often joke that a distillation of Jewish holidays is "they tried to kills us; we won; let's eat," the  seder provides a prescribed methodology to the tale, asking that as we retell the story in ways everyone can understand, we still manage to transmit the values of Jewish life as we do it.  

"Let them come in and eat," may be the first pointer, but it isn't the last. There are the famous Four questions asked by the youngest at the seder. This teaches us everyone is involved with the telling of the departure from Mitzrayim. Ever wonder about the 10 drops of wine removed from the glass to represent the 10 plagues? That's because our joy at being free comes at a cost to others, therefore our joy is diminished. I can go on forever. 

But I won't. 

Across the globe people are suffering at the hands of others. Right now, much attention is focused on Ukraine...but they kinda look like us. It's easy to sympathize with their plight. Not much attention is focused on Yemen and over 100,000 people who have died in that civil war. Or the Uyghurs in China who are being systematically imprisoned for being Uyghurs. Or the Yanomami of the Amazon who are being beaten off their lands. And, just for good measure, I'll add the Palestinians who are being systematically denied a nation NOT because of Israel, but because their own government will not invest in building an economy and a functional state. Simplifications all, I am certain, but you get the point. 

Every one of those groups wages a war for freedom to be who they are in peace and security, unafraid of what the night will bring. 

Jews make up less than 0.19% of the 7.89 billion worldwide population. Translated, that means out of 7.89 billion people on the planet, approximately 15.2 million people. That's less than the population of Metropolitan New York City (18.9 million people.) We are less than one percent of the total population of the world, yet there is a significant number of people who would like to see that number shrink even more.

That's why, as we come together for Passover this year, we cannot be a silent minority. President Zelensky, a Jew, is standing up to a heinous taskmaster. Jews have not had it easy in Ukraine, yet he is their president and he is doing what nobody believed Ukrainians could do. Would that we could open our doors to all Ukraine to say, "Come in and eat." The total population of Ukraine is around 41.2 million people, and I am certain that number is not adjusted to reflect the refugee departure. The estimated realistic population of Jews in Ukraine is thought to be about 90,000 yet they managed to elect the right guy for this job and he just happens to be Jewish. When we tell the story of our quest for freedom, take a moment to think of those who are not where the grocery stores have food on the shelves because bombs are falling all around them. 

This Passover, the world is looking to him to continue to be the leader Ukraine needs. That he's a Jew shouldn't matter. But to us, it does. 

Next year, may we all be free. 

**Note: population numbers and percentages are from various governmental sources and Wikipedia**

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

If you know someone who is without a seder.

invite him or her to yours.

It's what a community does.