Zoom Seder
Seder 2020
Who’s that outside the door?
The story’s what matters
only and always and tonight
all together
we see him appearing, everywhere
Beautiful Stranger, prophet Elijah
As we tell the story, over and over, in every language
of the 10 plagues
while this 11th plague hovers over every seder in the world.
Beautiful stranger
who has such power to change the world
so
Go ahead and smear your doorposts with blood
or chocolate or purell
And we Jews mark our homes against the other stranger
Angel of Death sent to kill Egyptian children
we pray for mercy, but
what i never got was how come you gotta beg an angel
not to kill your family?
i mean, if this fucking angel
is such a bigshot that they know God
how come they don't know us?
Up on my mountain
no pharoh and no god
just the thaw of springtime
small tears of green, and mercy everywhere
remembering how as a child i loved Elijah
powerful thought form, thrilling as the dizzying wine
I could feel his presence slipping past us all
through that open door to sit in that empty chair
and drink his wine
Tonight, that chairs' a keyboard that isn't there
the power of Story in a time of plague
the symbol of perseverance that is Passover
where we dare to sit across from whatever is entering us
as air coming in, coming through
(no disruption of the thought-form
this is a Zoom seder)
We sit across from what we dare not name
and cannot control
invite our collective fear to meet us here
and maybe that's freedom from slavery
I've had a day full of springtime
and now, an evening reciting the strange, familiar story
of our rescue, through a screen
while so many need rescue
will need rescue
All plagues aside
we gather together to accept this Truth
that scary things still need
to be granted
a seat at the table of Life.
Open the door.
back to list