Passover, Easter and Ramadan

The Jews are a peculiar people. Mark Twain said “The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planet with sound and splendor, then faded away; the Greek and the Roman followed, and made a vast noise, and they are gone. The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert and aggressive mind. All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains."

So what is the secret to survival and what’s unique about Spring, when every religion celebrates survival and resurrection? What lessons can we learn from millennia of hardship, from world wars to pandemics, from revolutions to economic depressions, to help us survive and thrive the Coronavirus?!

While this week Jews are celebrating Passover by reciting the hardships they have endured throughout history, from slavery in Egypt to concentration camps in Germany, may each of us, of whatever faith, remind ourselves that no matter what happens to be the "disaster du jour,” we will survive and thrive. Just saying it, and believing it, helps makes it so.

May we all celebrate the spirit of Passover during the Coronavirus episode, by repeating “this too shall Passover. This too shall pass over. This too shall pass."

— Sina.