I want to wish you and your loved ones a Chag Sameach.

May this Pesach usher in a new spirit of liberty and liberation for the world. May this Pesach prompt a new spring season of joy for your family and those you love.

Here is a poem you may wish to share at your seder tables. It was written on April 9, 1982 by Primo Levi. A chemist, a writer, and a survivor of Auschwitz, Levi is best known for his collection of short stories, entitled The Periodic Table. This Pesach poem is translated from the original Italian.

“Passover”

Tell me, how is this night
Different from all other nights?
How, tell me, is this Passover
Different from all other Passovers?
Light the lamp, open the door wide
So that the pilgrim may enter,
Be he Gentile or Jew;
Perhaps the prophet is concealed under his rags.
Let him enter and sit down with us;
Let him listen, drink, sing and celebrate;
Let him consume the bread of affliction,
The Paschal Lamb, sweet mortar and bitter herbs.

This is the night of differences.
The night we eat the bread of affliction,
The night we lean our elbows on the table,
Since the forbidden is prescribed,
And evil is translated into good.
We will spend the night recounting
Far-off events full of wonder,
And because of all the wine
The hills will prance like rams.

Tonight they exchange questions:
The wise, the wicked, the simple-minded and the child.
And time reverses its course,
Today flowing back into yesterday,
Like a river enclosed at its mouth.
Each of us has been a slave in Egypt,
Has soaked straw and clay with sweat,
And crossed the sea dry-footed.

You, too, stranger.
This year in fear and shame,
Next year in strength and justice.

In this spirit of hope and courage, I pray the Pesach holyday will bring meaning and uplift. I’ll look for you at Holy Blossom over the coming days of celebration and commemoration.
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Chag Sameach,
Rabbi Yael Splansky