Passover marks light from viral darkness
Last Passover was a difficult time for members of the Baron Hirsch faith community.
COVID-19 had arrived just one month earlier in Memphis. The city and state were under “safer at home” orders.
Passover is a time for family and friends to gather together, but instead, members of the community found themselves isolated. As an Orthodox Jewish congregation, members don’t use phones, internet or electricity during Passover — meaning no chance to do a video call with socially distancing relatives.
But a year later, there is light in the darkness of COVID-19, said Rabbi Binyamin Lehrfield. And part of that is the work that the congregation has done over the past difficult year, connecting with seniors, signing people up for
vaccines and making sure that everyone has a full Seder plate.
“The story of Passover is one of challenge, it’s one of darkness. It’s one of not knowing what they would be when they were slaves in Egypt,” said Lehrfield. “God tells us that even in the most challenging times, at the darkest moment of midnight, the furthest moment from sunrise and sunset, there can be hope, there can be hope in those darkest moments, and the hope comes from the light we create.”
In March of last year, Barbara Radinsky had just returned from New York, where she spent Purim with family, when she realized she wouldn’t be with her children for Passover.
“There was a frenzy and a big scare, a big worry. People were very nervous about what was in store for us,” she said.
At the synagogue, members and clergy quickly started making phone calls, finding out if anyone needed any assistance — even something as simple as a grocery trip — or if anyone was going to be alone for Passover. A donor stepped up and 70 Seder meals were delivered to those in need.
The synagogue has a membership of close to 500 families, and about half its membership is over the age of 65, Lehrfield said.
The phone calls continued throughout the year, and a “Chessed” — the Hebrew word for the concept of “lovingkindness” — committee was formed, with Radinsky as its chair.
“The majority of the people were fine, in quotes, but there were people who needed things,” Radinsky said. “People who were lonely, people who needed some grocery shopping done. We tried to accommodate as best as we could.
“The concept of chessed is to do acts of lovingkindness for people. I look at it as doing, just figuring out what somebody else needs and it’s done without any idea of repayment, so it’s doing the right thing to make sure that people’s needs are taken care of.”
Friderica Saharovici says those phone calls from members at Baron Hirsch, or the rabbi himself, help during the lonely times of COVID-19. A senior who’s attended Baron Hirsch since moving to Memphis in 1971, she’s lucky to have family in town, but knows others aren’t as fortunate.
“Any well-meaning phone call helps,” she said. “There are so many isolated people.”
A research forensic toxicologist at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center for over 30 years, Saharovici was one of the first in the synagogue to get her vaccine.
“I survived as a child the holocaust in Romania and I had ups and downs moving here and there, but this (COVID-19) is a really, really uncharted territory and it’s really hard. Very psychologically damaging,” she said.
“Hopefully we will get herd immunity and hopefully things will get better. I think it’s getting better.”
Another member of the community partnered with Memphis Jewish Federation’s Senior Services Collaborative ipads for Seniors initiative, which provides free ipads and training to isolated seniors in the Memphis Jewish community. While members of the Orthodox community don’t use technology on Shabbat, they increased their offerings on other days, offering services online via Zoom and helping seniors master their new ipads and other technology.
“This has been a time when people are otherwise really disconnected,” said Mary Trotz, president of the congregation. “We’ve received so many sweet notes and calls from folks, so very appreciative.”
The effort has involved both lay members and clergy and is “one of the most beautiful things,” Trotz said.
As the pandemic continued, eventually vaccines became available to seniors — but many had difficulty navigating the county’s website. Some still didn’t use technology and others needed assistance finding out where to go to find a vaccine slot.
Members of the congregation stepped up, developing a committee to set up vaccine appointments for seniors. In some cases, they hand delivered appointment times to seniors without computers. Sometimes, they drove seniors to their appointments. The group contacted every member who was eligible for the first round of the vaccine.
Eventually, the effort spilled outside the congregation, and they began helping others. Today, they have made more than 170 vaccine appointments.
“You can really see the fruits of the labor, you can really see how we’re making a difference in people’s lives, and it’s really meaningful,” Lehrfield said.
This year, Radinsky is once again able to travel to be with family for Passover. Trotz, too, plans to be with family.
Trotz said it’s fitting that people are feeling lighter now as another Passover approaches.
“It is a darkness to light, just as spring is springing, the flowers are coming up, we’re all coming back out of our homes and stretching our arms,” Trotz said. “I do believe it is apropos that this is the time when the vaccines are coming out and people are starting to feel more comfortable.”
Lehrfield points to the work of the last year to show how his congregation is carrying light into the coming one.
“It’s been a very, very dark time for all of us, but the light that has gotten our community through this time has been the acts of chessed, the kindness, and the sense of community we’ve been able to create and I hope that we carry that with us as we turn the corner on this absolutely terribly challenging time,” Lehrfield said. “When we are kind, we can bring light into this world as well, and that’s really what our congregation has done in this past year.”