Almost Pesach

 

I celebrated my first Pesach Seder the year before lockdown. It was wonderful. There were a whole bunch of us who gathered at the home of one of our members. The lady of the house went all-out to make it a beautiful experience for everyone.

    Then, the next year, I found myself all alone at home, without much of a clue of what to do. I set the table to the best of my ability and means, set up the laptop in the corner and did the Seder with my elements, going along with the video of one of our teachers at the time. I hoped it was going to be acceptable to God. I was overjoyed when, at the end of the session, I stood in front of the table and looked out the window and then suddenly felt myself pushed down and plastered to the floor - the appearance of God's glory! It assured me I had managed to please Him! So grateful was I!

    I had one year where a friend in France and I did our Seder together online. It was an impromptu affair, but completely delightful.

    Since then, I have been joining my online community based in the UK with members all over the world, which I will do again this year. I am so grateful for them.

    I have learned a lot since that first year. I am trying to get some friends together to read some Psalms together (online, of course) after the Seder ends, but so far there has only been one inquiry and no firm committment! We have read Psalms together until almost dawn several times in the past - we're all yawning by then! I think the lady who enquired was thinking of being so tired!

    I was happily going to put together my Seder plate with what I have in the house, but tonight HaShem provided the means to get the proper and correct elements. I'm so grateful. He always meets my needs way beyond anything I could ask or imagine, as Yeshua says.

    Tomorrow, after my two morning classes, I will read my Zera Shimson books on the parashah. Wow! Are they ever proving to be a blessing beyond my wildest expectations!

    Our Shacharit prayers have moved back an hour for me since the clocks changed in Europe and the UK, and this morning I only woke up an hour before the set time, so I had to hustle. I find I get more done if I have to do it quickly, as opposed to having hours to accomplish it! This morning, I read the daily aliyah in less than 15 minutes!

    My house is Pesach cleaned to the best of my ability. The only thing left is for me to clean my little Salton Mini Kitchen, which I will do tomorrow. Then I must remember to draw and cut out a feather so I can do the search for Chametz tomorrow night. I'm notoriously bad at starting even the smallest fire, so I wish myself luck burning it!

    So much has happened in the last few weeks that it's hard to keep track. I have taken to going to sleep quite early, which causes me to wake anytime between 2 and 4 in the morning, at which time I am not ready to wake up! Especially now with the skies staying dark until later! So I pray for my family, read a Psalm or two and try to go back to sleep for another cycle of ReM. Sometimes I'm able to, sometimes not.

    Looking at my diary for today, I hit the ground running this morning. I did my morning blessings and had my coffee, read the daily aliyah and then it was time for prayer. I managed to eat something before teaching a Hebrew class - for the first time based on the Haftarah, Ezekiel - and then it was time for Mincha, followed by my second meal of the day and another Hebrew class with a very special student - all my students are special, of course.

    Then I spoke to my beloved grandson and I was joined by one lady for a reading of Shulkhan Arukh as it relates to the keeping of Shabbat. It's very interesting. Tonight we read about different kinds of ovens and how they should be handled for Shabbat cooking. I have no idea of what these ancient ovens even look like, and I certainly don't think we have anything similar today. Nevertheless, fascinating reading. The thing we noticed is that even though the rules were quite stringent, the communal practice most of the time was "to follow leniency" - because the Sages knew that life sometimes happens at breakneck speed and there's often nothing we can do to stop it or even slow it down!

    Since I've only been awake for approximately 12 hours, I will fit some learning in now - I will start with Pesach and end with the Omer.

Hag Pesach Sameach!