After Passover?

The end of Pesach coincides this year with parsha Acharei Mot, the portion we read on Yom Kippur. Acharei Mot refers to what happens “after the death” of Aaron's sons for having brought a “foreign” fire for offerings to the Temple. Much has been said and commented on the “death” of Aaron's sons, Nadav and Avihu, but little importance is given to the word that precedes them: acharei “after.” Where are we after this Pesach?

As we said at the community Seder we celebrated in Atid, this year is not like every year, this year there was an empty cup at the seder, 133 empty seats and many other empty seats that can never be filled again. This year it is very difficult for us to live the reality that has been in place since October 7, and it is difficult to understand what happens after, because to think about the after is to think about the future, and to think about the future is to have hope, and right now, that future resembles more to an empty cup than to Eliyahu's overflowing cup of wine or Miriam's cup of water.

However, the counting of the Omer has already begun on the second night of Pesach and pushes us to head towards Shavuot. As Alan Benlolo told us in the Kabbalat Shabbat of Noam on April 26, the account of the Omer invites us to patiently prepare to collect the fruits on Shavuot, the harvest festival, which we plant in spring, on Pesach. This year the Omer is not simply a rule to follow, a calendar in which to accumulate days and weeks because that is how it is written, but this year the Omer must become a staircase of 49 steps, which at first glance seems endless, but with each step it helps us strengthen ourselves to be able to see some glimmer of hope at the end of the road. After Passover? After Pesach is when you have to conquer freedom.