Imagine; showing up to a wedding and leaving before the actual ceremony, arriving at a concert, enjoying the opener but leaving before the headliner, or enjoying the buffet and leaving before the main presentation.

G-d is in the details. Passover is celebrated on the eve of the 15th of Nissan, the very same day the Jewish People left Egypt.

In the Torah’s instruction, the Torah says “and they shall eat the meat (of the Passover sacrifice) on this night”. The Torah is very specific, the rituals of the Seder are to be celebrated on this very evening, not in the afternoon, not the day before or the day after.

Nightfall in Cairo Egypt on the eve of Passover wil be 6:40 PM. (Yes, I looked it up :-)). In Atlanta it is almost 2 hours later. With daylight savings time, it makes it a real challenge not only for children but even for adults to begin the Seder and observe the traditions in the proper time.

So what is one to do? Leave before the Chuppah? Miss the headliner?

Here is my suggestion: Gather when you gather on the evenings of the Seders April 5 and 6, children and adults, and eat good food, even dinner – save the wine for later. Talk about the Exodus, discuss the freedoms we experience today. Discuss the challenges we face today as a People.

Then after nightfall (in Atlanta 8:38 PM) partake of the main Mitzvot of the Seder. These include the Matzah, 4 cups of wine/grape juice and the Marror – bitter herbs. If you have energy, stagger the cups with the reading of the Hagaddah.

My prayers for inner liberation and external alleviation from all those internal and external things that may cause angst or hold us back from living to our fullest.