Post-Pesach musings: Focusing on the gifts we receive on Passover

Jerusalem Post - 22/04
After a difficult Passover, a single woman, a bereaved mother, a freed hostage, and Shabbat-observant teens all deliver stirring lessons in resilience, faith, and Jewish identity.

A not-so-young single woman sent me the following note after Passover. Her powerful message can give strength to anyone, regardless of their situation: 

“Shalom, Sivan. I had a pretty lousy holiday, but on the seventh day of Passover I remembered an idea I once heard that on every holiday we receive a gift–we are replenished with faith and holiness. We receive this gift without even realizing it. If we participated in a Seder, drank four cups of wine, read the Haggadah and ate matzah, this gift is ours. 

“While it’s true that the more we invested in the Seder, the more obvious the gift, even if we were anxious, sad, bitter, ashamed, and envious of our married sister sitting there surrounded by her children, and the last thing we want...
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