As I celebrated my first Passover on Long Island and as part of the CBO family I found myself thinking about how you make an everyday thing feel special. In the case of Passover, Chag (a holiday in which no work is done) versus Chol Hamoed. (The middle regular days of a festival in which work is permitted)
The first two nights of Passover are magical because we have the Seders. We get to spend them with our close friends and family and catch up and relive the story of the Exodus from Egypt. We eat delicious food our loved ones prepared for us or that we cooked, sing songs that bring back memories and have conversations that fill us with delight. On the last two days of Passover many of us are so excited because the holiday is coming to a close and we know we will be able to eat bread and pasta again soon.
So the questions is how can we make those middle days of the holiday feel just as special as the first and last days? Some people travel, those middle days are spent in a fun place which makes them feel special. Others find new and interesting ways to cook and eat matzah. I can only eat so much matzah but for those of you who love to find new creative recipes with it, good for you. That is a way to make those middle days special by eating the thing you have every day in new and different ways.
Being that I am a Jewish musical nerd I find the Hallel service exhilarating. Hallel is the name of the liturgy in which we recite Psalms 113-118, it precedes the Torah service. Hallel is said on Shavuot, Sukkot, Passover, Rosh Chodesh, and Hanukkah. We do not always recite the full Hallel, for instance on the first two days of Passover we recite the full Hallel. However on the remaining six days we recite a chatzi hallel or half Hallel. There are so many different melodies for Hallel which is why I find it to be so special. I can sing different melodies on Chol Hamoed than I sing on the first and last days of Passover. These melodies become special to me because I know I will only hear them on the middle days of Passover. I look forward to hearing them. These melodies make the seemingly boring middle days stand out and create a uniqueness to them.
Making an everyday thing feel special or unique is all about finding the things in your life that bring you happiness and have deep meaning for you, be they travel, food, music or something else. Once you know what they are you can re-envision how you look at the holidays we celebrate and give them new meaning.
Wishing everyone a sweet Passover and restful Shabbat with their families and friends,
Cantor Kowitz
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