BEACHWOOD — This weekend marks the annual observance of the Jewish holiday of Passover, the annual spring festival that commemorates the exodus from slavery in Egypt more than 3,000 years ago.
“It is the retelling or the recounting of, essentially, the Exodus story of the Israelites escaping slavery, wandering through the desert for 40 years, trying to make it to their promised land, to Jerusalem,” said Rabbi Yael Dadoun of Beachwood’s Congregation Mishkan Or.
“What is so significant, and I think so special about Passover, is our ability to ritualize it. We're not just supposed to tell the story; we’re actually supposed to reenact the story. And this is physicality, this is sharing, and this is songs. It's storytelling,” she said. “What is so wonderful about Passover is it is something that we bring to life in each generation, and we end our Passover Seder saying ‘next year in Jerusalem.’ There's this idea that the Exodus story isn't something that we just talk about, but it is something that we do. There's a redemptive quality about it.”
The week-long observance begins at sundown Saturday, April 1,2 and ends at sunset April 19.
While it is a special time for the Jewish community of Northeast Ohio, it carries a little extra significance for Congregation Mishkan Or as it is their very first Passover since being created last year following the decision of two of Northeast Ohio’s longest-serving congregations to merge.
Temple-Tiferth Israel and Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple brought about 2,000 families together.
“Passover is a holiday that's actually a home holiday,” said Dadoun. “It's something we don't celebrate, interestingly enough, as a community but one that we each prepare in our own homes. It's part of the reenactment storytelling, and that we have to recreate it in our very own homes or in small groups. So we don't actually do a communal Seder here at the temple, but we do come together for a very special Passover service on the second day, where we get to have our opportunity to pray together and sing together in community.”
As they gather with their families, she said there is still a common thought among all for the families that aren’t together this holiday, the Israeli hostages still being held by Hamas.
“The story of Exodus is all about redemption, and we know that for many people in our community, redemption is still far away,” she said. “And we think very deeply and take into our hearts our hostages that are unfortunately still being held by Hamas. We not only hope for their freedom, but we also just hope for peace in the region and peace in the world.”
