A Word from Rabbi Schulman - 4/10/2020

In each generation, we are commanded to make the Passover story relevant to our own lives. During this time when all of us are coping with the impact of Covid-19, it has been remarkable to see the outpouring of prayers that link elements of Pesach to the pandemic.

Here is one prayer, written by Dr. Erica Brown, that we can offer throughout our observance of Passover:

God, who brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, shower us today with Your wonder. Bring a swift and steady end to the plague blowing through the world like pestilence. Free and deliver us. Redeem and liberate us. Lift and carry us through this crisis.

Shine Your enduring love on those performing daily miracles: medical personnel and teachers, grocery and delivery workers, sanitations crews and volunteers, and all of our healers and helpers. Reward their kindness with good health and a thousand blessings. We thank them for lifting and carrying us through this crisis.

Endow us with abundant love, compassion, strength and extraordinary patience to remain kind in these trying times and find true shelter in each another. Let us lift and carry one another through this crisis.

Bring solace and consolation to those who are grieving and to those who are alone and grant a complete healing of body and soul to those who are suffering, in the spirit of Isaiah’s wisdom, “For the Lord comforts his people, and will have compassion on his afflicted ones” (49:13).

Hear us, O Lord, and answer us, lift us and carry us, and let us say, Amen.