The Festival of Freedom and Spring

The festival of Passover is upon us. For those who observe Jewish law stringently, it means a lot of cleaning and switching dishes and shopping and cooking. For those who observe less stringently, it may mean some of those things, down to picking up a bottle of kosher wine or a bunch of flowers on your way to the Seder.

But as we are making matzah ball soup by the gallon, dealing with a kosher-for-Passover brownie mix, or setting the table for 22 guests, it's a good time to remind ourselves that Passover is the holiday of freedom, and the celebration of Paschal lamb and unleavened bread. But it's also the festival of spring. Wear something bright and cheery, notice the wildflowers on the hillsides, and sing words from Song of Songs - "for lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone, the flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing is come and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land."