Passover and all
Passover is the holiday for asking questions, and you probably have some like what about that Zoom party those ALTE folks were talking about? Question no longer. Join us on Thursday, April 1, 2021 at 6 p.m. for a 6th night of Passover whatever you want to call it, and remember, you don’t have to be Jewish to love Passover. Bring your matzoh, your gefilte fish, your 4 glasses of wine, and bring your questions. We’ll be asking everyone to share a question, and an answer if you choose. If you would like the Zoom link, email altetogether@gmail.com, and we will send it out a day or two ahead of the event. Please come. Please come. Please come.
You may also be asking yourself, “I know there’s an event this time of year to commemorate the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. When is that?” We have the answer. Thursday, March 25, 6 p.m. Here’s a link for more info. http://rememberthetrianglefire.org/commemorative2021/
Last Passover was gloomy. I celebrated alone at home with a box of matzoh donated by a friend who had thought to stock up early. But sometimes I can turn lemons into lemonade. The experience became a poem that was a winner in the Writer’s Almanac Pandemic Poetry Contest. If you’re looking to waste some time watching YouTube videos, you can watch Garrison Keillor interview me and read the poem. If you have other things to do, I won’t be offended.
I wrote a second poem after the seder as I thought about the future. Here it is:
The Real Story
It wasn’t awful our seder
on the screen ,me at one table,
the others small squares elsewhere.
Almost felt like when we are together.
Someone hung up early.
Somebody’s picture froze.
So grateful for each other
we avoided arguments.
After dozens of years I began
to understand. Passover is not
about liberation, salvation or God.
Passover concerns patience.
I had not paid sufficient attention
to the Haggadah, though we read it
every year. Its words do not
promise a happy ever after.
The book says wait,
wait until next year,
next year in Jerusalem.
We thank you for your submissions to ALTE, and we are going through all of them. You will be hearing from us. We will announcing the topic for the next issue sometime soon. Please remember it is a very small publication. This means we cannot publish everything, even when we love what you send.
Enjoy the warm weather. See you at the party.
Jessica, for Larry and Esther