The reality forced upon us by the coronavirus crisis is giving rise to many insights and thought-provoking insights. From the nothingness of man in the face of a tiny, invisible virus, to our inability to know what a day will bring, to the ability of one person to influence the entire world.
But perhaps the most significant thing is the gathering in the homes.
We all barricade ourselves inside our homes and feel that they are our protection from the external threat. We return to eating at home, studying at home, spending time at home. We find our loved ones around us, who do not go out individually to do their own things, but stay with us.
Not citizens of the world
And just as these things are true on a personal level, so too on a national level.
Suddenly, all the people of the land, who have traveled, wandered, or worked in many countries, are looking for the plane that will bring them home. Everyone feels that the Land of Israel is their home, and it is the safest and most protected place in the storm that is shaking the entire globe.
Home is an essential element of our very being. Our sages say that he who does not have a home is not a human being. Animals can live in a field or a forest. A human being needs his four walls, the place that gives him a sense of belonging and security, where he returns at the end of the day and where he lives with his family.
The gathering within the physical house is a kind of image of the need to gather within our spiritual house. To know who we are, what our true identity is, where we belong and where our roots are. Some have tried to drag us into cosmopolitan realms, as if we were citizens of the greater world. They have flooded us with foreign cultures and a variety of worldviews.
But the time comes when you have to go home.
We have a home. A solid home that has withstood the upheavals of thousands of years. We have roots that have held the tree of the Jewish people even through the most difficult storms. We have a family that, for generations, has had mutual trust and care; where each individual felt that an entire people stood behind them.
And we have a faith that was ignited during the days of the Egyptian exile, and then deepened at Mount Sinai. Ultimately, we are all believers, sons of believers. Sometimes the faith within us becomes covered in dust, but then some kind of shake-up comes and it bursts forth in full force.
Passover at home
This sense of belonging to the people of Israel, to the Land of Israel, to the Torah of Israel, is our home. It is the source of our strength. At this time, when we are all locked in our homes, we must also return to our spiritual and conscious home. To think about the meaning of being Jews, and about the way to pass on our wonderful heritage to the younger generation.
And that's basically the whole point of the upcoming Passover holiday. In years past, we thought about large-scale meals, gifts, and extravagant recipes.
Some flew to celebrate the holiday in foreign places. This year, we will probably all celebrate in our own homes, with the nuclear family. We will forgo the noise and bells and think about the true meaning of this night, which passes on Jewish tradition from generation to generation.
Let us return home, and our Father in Heaven will also return to His home, to the Third Temple, in true and complete redemption.
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