Min hametzar karati Yah; anani bamerchav Yah.
From the narrow places I called upon God, God answered me from God’s expansiveness. (Psalm 118:5)
On Thursday, we welcome a new month, the month of Nisan. If you join us for Thursday Morning Minyan and/or our Wise Women Rosh Hodesh gathering, you will likely hear the words above—a verse from the Psalms that is a part of the Hallel service for Rosh Hodesh and festivals.
It seems particularly appropriate this week; we welcome Nisan, the month of spring and of Passover, the month that we as a people travel from slavery to freedom, from metzar—Egypt, constriction, the narrow place—to freedom, to expansiveness. This year, Passover will look and feel different from years past, though we are hard at work on ways to make your Passover as interactive and joyful as possible in this challenging time. In the meantime, I will be singing these words today—a reminder that even from our narrowest places, the expansiveness of new beginnings waits on the other side.
— Rabbi Sari Laufer