A #Pandemic #Passover Without Family? Not Necessarily

Staff members of the Metropolitan Council's program assisting victims of domestic abuse are seen organizing a Passover food distribution in New York City. Photo: Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty.

Attending a Passover seder was the most commonly practiced form of Jewish observance — 70% of those who were polled said they attended a seder in the previous year. 

A Pandemic Passover Without Family? Not Necessarily

JNS.org – Every year on Passover, Jews ask the same question that is at the heart of the recitation of the Haggadah during the seder: Why is this night different from all other nights? But this year, we'll also be asking ourselves, why is this Passover different from any other we've ever experienced?

The answer is that, sadly, most of us will be celebrating alone or only with those who live with us. The normal experience of gathering with extended families and friends to commemorate the Exodus from Egypt is out of the question. As a result of the spread of the coronavirus, almost all of us are in one form of quarantine or another, practicing social distancing, staying at home or in a complete lockdown, as is the case with Israelis. 

This has set up a conflict between religious authorities about how much leeway to give people to create virtual seders via Internet apps like Zoom. But while this has created an interesting debate, it misses the point about the impact that the pandemic will have on non-Orthodox Jewry, which makes up almost 90% of the Jewish population in the United States.

The Pew Research Center's definitive 2013 study "A Portrait of Jewish Americans" detailed the importance of Passover to a population that is increasingly made of non-affiliated persons it labeled "Jews of no religion." The study found that attending a Passover seder was the most commonly practiced form of Jewish observance — 70% of those who were polled said they attended a seder in the previous year. That compares to 53% who fasted for even part of Yom Kippur, and 23% who attended a religious service once a month or lived in a household where Sabbath candles were lit. Indeed, even 42% of those who said they did not consider their Jewish identity or ties to be a function of religion said they took part in a seder.

As such, Passover seders represent a singular opportunity for Jews to connect with their heritage. Even if some of them are highly abridged and more about a festive family meal than observing the obligation to remember the passage of the Jewish people from slavery to freedom, they perform a vital function. The exercise of taking part in the holiday is a reminder not merely of our past, but of the interconnected nature of Jewish historical memory.

Read the rest of the story here: https://www.algemeiner.com/2020/04/01/a-pandemic-passover-without-family-not-necessarily/