Although he’s only started to think about the broader message of this more somber Passover, Weinstein said, “we’ll find ways to be able to equate” the holiday’s biblical narrative with the outbreak. The virus could be viewed in one sense, he said, as the oppressive rule that Jews eventually overcame. Seven in 10 Jews reported participating in a seder the previous year, compared with 53% who reported fasting during Yom Kippur, the holy Jewish day of atonement. With the coronavirus shaking up Passover tradition, different branches of the faith are offering their own seder guidance. For Orthodox Jews, the six leading organizations that made a unique joint plea last month for worshippers to curb outside interactions during the pandemic released further united guidance on Passover last month.

Source: International New York Times April 05, 2020 14:26 UTC