Now I Remember

#passover #pesach #remember #rememberpassover #Zachor #parshatbo #bo

Hello!

Acknowledging that both Parshat Vaera and Parshat Bo are strong reminders of Passover in the dead of winter, we enter the dawn of thinking about the upcoming holiday of Passover. Thinking and pushing it off, thinking and pushing it off.

Please accept this little sketch of Passover in our home as a jovial way to look at a very serious parsha, when we are commanded to remember the exodus from Eygpt on that night that the Hebrews left Egypt proudly, with heads held high. The command to remember came so long ago and foretold a future where people generations later would still remember and commemorate.

Wishing you all well as the month of Sh'vat approaches (spring is coming!) and hoping for the swift return of the hostages and peace.

Leann

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Now I Remember

וַיֹּ֨אמֶר מֹשֶׁ֜ה אֶל־הָעָ֗ם זָכ֞וֹר אֶת־הַיּ֤וֹם הַזֶּה֙ אֲשֶׁ֨ר יְצָאתֶ֤ם מִמִּצְרַ֙יִם֙ מִבֵּ֣ית עֲבָדִ֔ים כִּ֚י בְּחֹ֣זֶק יָ֔ד הוֹצִ֧יא יְהֹוָ֛ה אֶתְכֶ֖ם מִזֶּ֑ה וְלֹ֥א יֵאָכֵ֖ל חָמֵֽץ׃

And Moses said to the people,

“Remember this day, on which you went free from Egypt, the house of bondage, how the LORD freed you from it with a mighty hand: no leavened bread shall be eaten.

Exodus 3:3

Remember this day! Really? How could I forget?

Remembering Passover starts for me on Erev Purim when I am on my home from megilla reading and the first twinges of guilty thoughts start their annual pre-Passover murmur, "Passover is coming. Passover is coming. Why aren't you getting ready?" Perhaps for others this first "Remember" comes on Tu B'Shevat, or for some, maybe it whispers the week before the holiday, or for some hearty souls, maybe it is a loud REMEMBER the day before, but the injunction to remember still rings loud, millenia after the first command to remember was issued.

Well, after that first whisper in my ears on Purim, I endure about two weeks of Passover guilt because, yes, I remember, but as of yet, there is no action associated with this call. In other words, I have not arrived at that Hineni moment, and the whisper gets louder and louder until I can't ignore it any longer. "REMEMBER, REMEMBER!"

It is then that I wake up. It is my semi-Hineni moment. I open a drawer … and rummage through it for a minute, stare at the bottle caps, the rubber bands and maybe a few crumbs. I spend one minute looking at the contents and casually rearranging. "Look, I‘m cleaning", I say to no one in particular as I close the drawer, but this is the big turning point. I can procrastinate no longer and it is this pivotal point that I begin to see our home through the lens of Passover prep and I begin to notice crumbs, yes CRUMBS, everywhere.... on the stove, in the fridge, in dark corners on countertops, in the weave of carpets and, yes, on very this desk where I write this post. The crumbs stare at me accusingly as if to say, "Don't you come too close," but I know that they will soon be vanquished as I approachPassover warrior mode.

Finally, about ten days before Passover, after walking on eggshells for days, (later I will cook with them) the real fun begins and I begin "Ridding our home of all Chametz." It is the laser focused, pre-Passover energy that builds and builds until I become Super Rememberer, transformed to Passover Warrior!!

And then..and then...

Passover embeds itself under my fingernails as I brush and scrape the remote corners of the the kitchen and secret places where that sneaky chametz may reside. Remember! In Passover Warrior Mode, I find yourself humming Paul Zim's Dayeinu as I scrub. There is the joyous (?) ache in my back as I change dishes, lug boxes and rearrange the entire kitchen, all the while saying, "Oh yes, now I remember!"

Active remembering includes the scratches and the the little burns one gets when cleaning the burners. It's that hard little callous that develops on the outside of my index finger every year from being overly vigorous with scrubbing tools.

It's the sound of the kettle whistling as I am poised to kasher the counters.

And somehow, the voice in my head calling me to remember is replaced by shopping lists, cooking, Costco trips and a fair amount of modern day hunting in various supermarkets for kosher yogurt, all of this plus one hundred other things.

And then the voice stops, there is no need for reminders. The Passover Warrior can rest. Passover is here. We sit down and begin to recite words written for us to help us with remembering. We eat foods that make our eyes water and drink four cups of wine and yes, that helps some of us remember, but as I look down at my roughened hands on the table I see that little Passover callous on my index finger, I appreciate the meaning of that command to remember and I know that I have lived it once again and, yes, until next Purim, the voice can be stilled. I remember.

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Other posts from Words Have Wings on Parshat Bo

https://www.wordshavewings.net/post/lift-up-your-arms. LIFT UP YOUR ARMS

https://www.wordshavewings.net/post/we-are-the-players-of-parshat-bo. WE ARE THE PLAYERS OF PARSHAT BO

https://www.wordshavewings.net/post/passover-polaroids-in-two-parts. PASSOVER POLAROIDS IN TWO PARTS

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A little music is always fun when in Passover Warrior mode.

 זָכ֞וֹר