Sometime during the Middle Ages, a Jew in Cairo acknowledged the fact that joy usually comes with a dose of pain, and pain with joy, so they took a bite of that seder concoction, and left its dribblings for me to see in New York.

The fact that in every generation some individuals and groups rise to try and destroy us, as we sing, does not give us carte blanche permission and justification to act brutally ourselves – as every Israeli soldier knows.

Reform leaders from North America and the UK share videos to accompany your Passover festivities. Each video is 2-6 minutes long and contains blessings, songs, and insights that perfectly supplement any seder and add a unique element to your celebration.

As we enjoy this year’s sweet charoset, let us cherish and express our gratitude for the essential workers, medical professionals, everyday heroes, and others who provided the sweetness that helped temper the bitters we tasted this year.

Last Passover began the urgent quest to reinvent much of Jewish life, highlighting that some of the ways we “do” Judaism needed to be updated. This year has been a powerful catalyst to shifts in how we perform our holy work.

The Central Conference for American Rabbis (CCAR) has published a brand new Haggadah. Mishkan HaSeder combines traditional liturgy with an array of contemporary poetry, as well as abstract illustrations that provide readers with something unique to glean from its pages.

Is this happening because the future is now so uncertain? Am I more aware that every day might be my last? Such questions give us pause and make us take serious stock of our lives.

The Book of Proverbs instructs us to “speak up for those who cannot speak...to raise our voices on behalf of the vulnerable and downtrodden.” (Proverbs 31:8-9). The individuals who make up America’s prison population are isolated, vulnerable, and voiceless.

Instead of longing for traditions of years past, we reveled in the joy that comes with stepping away from convention and creating new rituals that hold deep symbolic meaning –  just like the Jews who fled Egypt so many years ago.