Seders Illustrated

Wishing all who celebrate a Happy and Healthy Passover!

This is an image I created representing the 6th step of the Passover Seder called “Rachtzah”, when we wash our hands for the second time.

As we navigate another Passover during a time of great challenge and uncertainty, this step has taken on even more significance and new meaning. We have been constantly washing our hands and sanitizing our surroundings throughout the pandemic. Rachtzah marks a transition in the Passover story from hardship and affliction to redemption, hope, and freedom. It comes before the blessing and eating of matzah (the bread of affliction) and sets us up for a new mindset. It provides a moment to stop and reflect on the ritual and symbolism of hand-washing.

Washing our hands is a visceral reminder of our responsibilities for one another and for the earth, that we are all interconnected, share precious resources, and rely on one another for well-being. It is a ritual as well as a practical action—this time accompanied by a blessing, “al netillat yadayim”, that sets this second washing apart and elevates the act from all the other times we have been washing our hands. It also reminds us that there are so many others without access to basic human rights such as clean water. We saw that in Texas and Oklahoma just a few weeks ago, and in the ongoing plight in Flint, Michigan and so many other places around the world. Water is vital to life, health, and growth. It flows through lands as through our bodies, connects us and separates us, and sustains us if we protect it. Rachtzah reminds us (if we let it) that we are responsible for protecting ourselves, one another, and the environment—not just our own immediate surroundings, but the entire earth; including our families and friends around the Passover table (or Zoom seder) and also all people in communities near and far.

Let’s hope that this year our hand-washing and symbolic expression of washing away impurity helps to finally wash away what has been plaguing us for too long, and gets us closer to wider protection and greater freedom for everyone.