Ripple in Still Water

          Normally, I don't enjoy the Chol HaMoed, the intermediate days of a holiday, Pesach and Sukkot.  Usually, my wife will usually want us to go out on a family outing, to participate in a "family activity", to "explore" another neighborhood in Toronto. I usually want to do nothing, take care of whatever food shopping that we need to do as we head in towards the final days of the Chag. When our children were younger,  I had few allies since they welcomed my wife's idea and request with great enthusiasm. As our children grew older, I had more allies in my desire to do nothing. Our kids greeted their mother's request with an eye roll and a desire to hang out with friends. Well, this year is different.  Our family activity was to watch a movie. The other family activity was encouraging our teenagers to get some fresh air.  The other family activity has been to watch our children stand 6 feet apart on our driveway and sidewalk with their fr...

As Pesach preparations wind down, I am reminded just how different this night is from all other first night of Pesach. On all other Sedarim, children, grandchildren parents and friends sit together and ask questions, tell the story of Yetziat Mitzrayim, sing and eat too much. This year borders are closed, families who are concerned for the welfare of those at risk remain physically apart. This year, when we say the Eser Makot - the 10 plagues, we now can empathize with what a plague means. This year, we can understand the commandments relating to the last plague. They were told to mark their doorposts and remain inside their homes until the plague passed over. So we will remain sheltered in place, and hopefully, remain safe.  This year when we say: "Next Year in Jerusalem", we can now appreciate the sense of looking forward to a future Pesach that is more complete and I suppose, just "more". So my Bracha for all who are celebrating Pesach and participating in a Se...

          Our living room windows face the street and so we can see cars go by and people walk along the sidewalk as well as people walking up to our driveway.  Yesterday, while reading my book, I saw people. It was so exciting. A family of four walked up our driveway and they knocked. We all heard the door and collectively, we were so excited to have guests. No, we did not invite the family inside. The visiting family walked to the end of our driveway and we all came outside and stay 6 ft/ 2 meters apart.  There we were, two families, friends for many years purposefully standing apart. Yet there we were, despite standing 6 feet apart, we were talking about our children, our lives, our parents and how we are all dealing with this pandemic. We stood outside like this for little more than an hour. For a brief moment, something had lifted. We were talking to people, not through phone, nor through a computer application. Instead, we were speaking with live...