Questions

After my last post I received this from a friend:

Your essay reminded me of this excerpt from my Haggadah:

The symbols on the table represent the various elements of the Exodus. The word seder itself means "order." We consider each symbol in its time-honored order, and learn what the symbol means after asking a question. Indeed, the Haggadah is marked by questions. As the Yiddish writer, Sholem Aleichem said, "Even though Pesach comes but once a year, Jews insist on asking questions all year long."

As over a year of COVID restrictions come to an end, we are asking questions about what we have lived through and what we can expect as “the new normal.” Those of us who did not have to work at essential jobs or home-school children had the luxury of time this past year to reflect on what matters most to us. How do we choose to live our lives and spend our energy? What are our obligations to seek racial justice and gender equity? We were able to ask questions and probe moral dilemmas as we gathered on Zoom and wrote in our journals.

But perhaps the biggest question of all is “will we remember?” The Haggadah tells us that we are obligated every year to tell our children the story of Passover. Once we are busy again, will we forget the fragility of our lives? The exacerbated divide among the haves and have nots, here and abroad? The unequal burdens placed on women? The political forces that shaped policy at the expense of science? This may not be the last pandemic in my lifetime. As I go back, joyfully, to getting together with family and friends, to the theater and concerts and museums and in-person classes, I cannot let the lessons learned from this year be forgotten. There must always be questions.