As we ritualize the Passover story each year, we often lighten the mood of serious subjects with kid-friendly songs and games. A few years ago, I bought my wife plague-themed nail decals, one for every finger. At our seder table, we have frogs hanging from our ceiling, and plush toy plagues that are distributed to each participant. My daughter’s favorite Passover song has become “10 Plagues in Egypt Land,” by Ellen Allard, a fun and upbeat tune that will stay with you months after Passover has come to an end. At some point last year though, my daughter asked me a critical question: “what is a plague?” I explained that a plague is when something bad happens that hurts people. This year, I will have a more simple answer that she will surely understand. What’s a plague? COVID-19, AKA the coronavirus.
I’m not sure though that the coronavirus should be counted as a new plague. When we look at the wrath of this pandemic upon the world, we realize that it is, in effect, both the ninth and the tenth plagues combined. Instead of being wrought upon the Egyptians, however, these plagues are targeting us.
How is coronavirus like the plague of darkness, the ninth plague? You might recall that the darkness brought upon Egypt wasn’t just a regular darkness. It was so thick, tells the Torah, “וְיָמֵשׁ חֹשֶׁךְ׃” that you could feel it.” The Torah adds that “לֹא־רָאוּ אִישׁ אֶת־אָחִיו,” a person was not able to see his brother, ִ וְלֹא־קָמוּ אִישׁ מִתַּחְתָּיו, and a person could not get up from where he was.” This seems to be the exact effect of the corona plague. In our social quarantines, we are unable to physically see others, nor are we able to leave where we are. Social distancing is a far cry from a vacation, it creates a darkness that physically obscures our relationships, and prevents us from seeing the places that we love. Remember, this wasn’t a darkness that was seen, rather it was a darkness that you could feel. The feeling of darkness is loneliness, isolation, depression, fear, anxiety, and cabin fever. We are living the ninth plague this Passover, except we call it by a different name, the coronavirus.
What’s worse is that this isn’t just a plague of isolation, it’s a deadly malady. No, this plague isn’t slaying the first born. But like the tenth plague, the coronavirus discriminately attacks a discrete part of our population, our elders and those who are immunocompromised. They are the people we love, our spouses, our parents, our grandparents, our friends, and our immunocompromised children too. Make no mistake, this virus is a plague. When we pour out ten drops of wine onto our plates, we do so as a memorial to the innocent Egyptians who suffered the plagues. When we do so this year, I’m sure that we will have heightened empathy as we too are suffering some of the very same plagues. I would much rather have frogs, locusts, lice, and boils than suffer the coronavirus pandemic. But here we are. The Haggadah asks of us that we see ourselves as part of the Passover narrative. This year, we aren’t playing the Israelites. Rather, we are the suffering Egyptians enduring unfathomable plagues. Next year, I pray that we can once again share more in common with the experiences of the Israelites.