חג פשח שמח/Happy Passover!

Hi all,
Jerusalem, and much of Israel, is cleaning up her act, emptying a winter's worth of all sorts of collections that simply have to go. Her recycling bins are filling, and apparently being emptied by the city on a supplemental pre-Pesach schedule (a lovely surprise of initiative from the Municipality).

The delightful scents of those blooming spring flowers (the fragrant honeysuckle is particularly heavenly these days) are replaced the day before Pesach starts with another smell...
Much to my respiratory system's dismay, I have planned poorly and timed errand runs each of the last two years during the peak time of sreifat chametz: burning of leavened goods, as a funky cloud rises over town. The problem, as I've mentioned before, is that plastic ends up sneaking into the mini-bonfires of sorts.

I see the idea of cleaning like a madman and getting rid of leavened products as a great opportunity to also remove the "chametz" of sorts from my life. Keeping that in mind helps me to clarify my priorities, and check the right things off the to-do list, while letting the unimportant go.

On the way back home from delivering the beautiful flowers to my seder hosts (including tziporei gan eden/birds of paradise: an amazing exotic flower), I heard a high-pitched scream from across the street. I discerned that it was a foreign caretaker for an elderly man, yelling, "Saba/grandpa." Turns out the foreign worker wasn't the foreign one here, but rather our odd tradition of burning bread, etc. I helped the men out a bit and got a bit of pita burning for them.

Sadly, chag/holiday isn't chag without the pre-chag visit to Miriam's. Miriam, zichrona livracha and I became very close when I helped her get to Beit Frankforter Elderly Day Center while volunteering on OTZMA five years ago. I got the horrible news from her daughter that she passed away ten days ago. She gave me a great deal of joy--always crocheting scarves for my parents and proud of my life as an oleh chadash.

As dear friend and loyal blog reader Caroline Musin just wished me: "I hope your Pesach is lovely and that any maror (bitterness) that comes your way is matched by plenty of charoset (sweetness, not a direct translation but you'll just have to google it as I must run)." The great news about Dad's recovery of course qualifies and then some! I'll be celebrating at friends' tonight (sadly missing all the family in Dallas), and then at a colleague's tomorrow in the Old City, with a planned visit for morning prayers to the rebuilt Hurva synagogue.

Here's a wonderful Israel version of the Haggada's Dayenu, by Rabbis Steven Greenberg and David Nelson:
"Dayenu/It would have been enough..."
Had G-d upheld us throughout two thousand years of Dispersion
But not preserved our hope for return
-Dayenu!

Had G-d preserved our hope for return
But not sent us leaders to make the dream a reality
-Dayenu!

Had G-d sent us leaders to make the dream a reality
But not given us success in the U.N. vote
-Dayenu!

Had G-d given us success in the U.N. vote
But not defeated our attackers in 1948
-Dayenu!

Had G-d defeated our attackers in 1948
But not unified Jerusalem
-Dayenu!

Had G-d unified Jerusalem
But not led us toward peace with Egypt
-Dayenu!

Had G-d returned us to the land of our ancestors
But not filled it with our children
-Dayenu!

Had G-d filled it with our children
But not caused the desert to bloom
-Dayenu!

Had G-d caused the desert to bloom
But not built for us cities and towns
-Dayenu!

Had G-d rescued our remnants from the Holocaust's flames
But not brought our brothers from Arab lands
-Dayenu!

Had G-d brought our brothers from Arab lands
But not opened the gate for Russia's Jews
-Dayenu!

Had G-d opened the gate for Russia's Jews
But not redeemed our people from Ethiopia
-Dayenu!

Had G-d redeemed our people from Ethiopia
But not strengthened our hands throughout 62 years of statehood
-Dayenu!

Had G-d strengthened our hands throughout 62 years of statehood
But not planted in our hearts a covenant of one people
-Dayenu!

Had G-d planted in our hearts a covenant of one people
But not sustained in our souls a vision of a perfected world
-Dayenu!

דיינו
אלו קימנו שנות אלפים בגלות ולא שמר בנו את תקות שובנו
דיינו

אלו שמר בנו את תקות שובנו ולא שלח לנו מנהיגים להגשימה
דיינו

אלו שלח לנו מנהיגים להגשימה ולא זכנו בהצבעת האו"ם
דיינו

אלו זכנו בהצבעת האו"ם ולא נצח את רודפינו בתש"ח
דיינו

אלו נצח את רודפינו בתש"ח ולא אחד את ירושלים
דיינו

אלו אחד את ירושלים ולא הוליכנו לקראת שלום עם מצרים
דיינו

אלו החזירנו לארץ אבותינו ולא הרבה בה ילדנו וטפנו
דיינו

אלו הרבה בה ילדנו וטפנו ולא הפריח את המדבר
דיינו

אלו הפריח את המדבר ולא בנה לנו עיר וכפר
דיינו

אלו הציל את שרידינו מאש השואה ולא קבץ את אחינו מתפוצות ערב
דיינו

אלו קבץ את אחינו מתפוצות ערב ולא פתח שער ליהודי רוסיה
דיינו

אלו פתח שער ליהודי רוסיה ולא גאל את אחינו מארץ כוש
דיינו

אלו גאל את אחינו מארץ כוש ולא החזיק את ידינו במדינה שישים ושתיים שנה
דיינו

אלו החזיק את ידינו במדינה שישים ושתיים שנה ולא נטע בלבנו ברית עם אחד
דיינו

אלו נטע בלבנו ברית עם אחד ולא קים בנפשנו חזון תקון עולם
דיינו

And in the obligatory political corner: Horovitz's take on the root cause of the US-Israel rift, Dershowitz's fiery AIPAC speech, Barry Rubin's take on the Obama administration's Mideast policy, advice to Netanyahu to scout out his visits in advance, and back to the issue of Haredim (Ultra-Orthodox) gone wild vis-a-vis modern Israel.

I wish all of Am Yisrael (the people of Israel) a liberating Pesach. Gilad Shalit will mark his fourth Pesach in captivity. While his liberation will have to (most definitely) wait for another day, I wish freedom and Jewish pride to everyone from Sderot (where please, no rockets will fall this Pesach) to Raida, Yemen. For a great laugh, check out Colbert's report on the Journal article I linked to last time and Passover commercialism.

לשנה הבאה בירושלים/Next year in Jerusalem!
אריק/Eric