10. All plagues end.
This weekend marked the end of Passover. After a seder to two, during which we told our exodus story with a series of meaningful rituals – like dipping vegetables into salt water to symbolize our tears – many Jews spent a week observing dietary restrictions to commemorate our enslavement and long journey to freedom. Many of us ate matzah instead of leavened bread, for example, putting our digestive systems into a week of distress to remind us that not everything moves smoothly in life. The Ever Given container ship stuck in the Suez Canal was an ironic reminder of that we can’t take any freedom of movement for granted. However, even that ginormous ship became unstuck eventually. Even the matzah munching will end and our bodies will return to normal digestive functioning. And even our social isolation and mask wearing will end too – maybe not just yet, but hopefully soon. Just as the plagues that God enacted upon the Egyptians to encourage Pharaoh to free the Jews ended, so too will the plague of COVID end. All plagues end. They take a terrible toll on society and the people, but they do end eventually. The plague we are living through is unprecedented in our life time, but it’s not unprecedented in our history. So, we must not lose patience. We must continue to be vigilant. We must keep taking precautions until the end. Yes, sadly it might take another six to nine months, but one thing I know for certain is that it won’t take us forty years.