Why is…?
Every year at Passover, as the youngest in my family, I always got to ask the question, “Why is this night different from all other nights?” Throughout the Sedar dinner, that question would be answered by multiple people doing readings from the Haggadah. For my family, that night was different from all other nights.
Then again, that question could also be asked periodically throughout the year for other nights, which, too, were different. Answers might include, “Your father’s working late tonight; we’re waiting up for him.” or “We’re going out to eat tonight.” or “I’ve had a busy day, chose a TV dinner and put it in the oven for yourself.” or if it was a Sunday night, “We had dinner at lunch today, go make yourself a sandwich.” or, “You don’t want to know, just eat.”
This pretty much continued through adulthood. That was until a little over two and a half years ago. Now, we celebrate the never-ending holiday of COVID-19 every night.
The question to be asked is, “Why is this night like so many other nights?”
“Can’t we go out to eat?” you might ask. And the answer is, “No, there are too many people that are not wearing masks.”
Another question asked, “How about after dinner, we go to the movies?” And the answer is, “You don’t want to sit in a large theater group where people may not have been vaccinated and are coughing on you, do you?”
Yes, these nights tend to be all the same. Stay home, have dinner, then read, play board games, or watch TV.
Even Passover celebrations and other holidays, where families usually got together, have become stay-at-home, and we can Zoom together virtually, then read, play games, and watch TV.
This is, of course, not the same for everyone. Just go shopping in a supermarket for food, or go to a mall and count how many people you see wearing masks. You can probably count them all on one or two hands. Obviously, the non-mask-wearing people clearly feel that this night and day can be different each time they go out. And go out they do. Unfortunately, I’m not one of them. Call me a pessimist, but I like to play it safe.
So I have a plan for tonight; when I’m asked the question, “Why is this night like every other night?” my answer will be, “It’s not!”
“For tonight, we are going on a trip. I’ve packed a picnic supper that we can eat in another room on a blanket. I’m planning on playing a multi-hour meditation YouTube video of an ocean scene as if we are at the beach. And I might even stream the live Aurora Borealis from my phone on the Explore.org App.
Why not make this night different from all other nights?
