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Breathing in Pesach


(Illustration by Sarah Quinter)

Tomorrow, when Pesach begins, we will tell the exodus story. To be sure, there are many reasons we engage in this ritual. It is one that is rich with drama, curiosity, family interaction and revelry. It is also fraught with myths about how it got started and the many traditions that have  developed over the years.

However, we are commanded to take our time, lean back in our chairs, eat and drink heartily, yet, there is so much pain, sadness and death all around us. It seems increasingly harder each year to step away from what is happening and breathe a little. But that is what we are supposed to do --- breathe.

Breathe.

BREATHE.

Breathe into the notion that there is freedom on the other side of this reality we are living in right now.

Breathe knowing that as we move away from oppression, towards liberation, we leave as an erev rav, leaving no one behind.

Breathe knowing liberation is our default, our birthright.

Full Stop.

We lean into this truth the next time the oppressor creates urgency in our lives.

We raise our glasses honoring our matriarchs ---

Sarah, Hagar, Bilhah and Zilpah.

Harriet, Audre, Octavia and Assata.

Like Momma Harriet, we believe more in our freedom than any systems or structures that are incompatible with our freedom. And when this night is over, we build passageways to the freedom we know is ours. 

These passageways become clearer as we count 49 days to the revelation that with freedom comes responsibility for each other in new ways ---  some we could not have conceived of before. Sometimes we will struggle to get things right: 
  • We will wonder aloud if we would have wanted to hang with each other if we hadn't met at the freedom rally.  
  • We will say problematic things and have think pieces written about it.
  • We will try to create supremacy and oppression with us on top and hope no one notices.
  • We will find love, make love and create spaces for more love in this world.
  • We will pay attention to how the natural world deals with change and finds ways to adapt, innovate and thrive.
  • We will listen and grow and learn and live as humans in our full dignity. 
And at the end of the struggle, as we say on the street, I know that we will win.  The good news is that we took time to envision what liberation looks like, smells like, tastes like and feels like so we know when we've won.

So let's lean into our liberation. Hold tight to our fam. Breathe into new ways of being that will sustain our freedom. Love each other to life.

Chag Pesach Sameach ya'll!

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