One thing that stood out at this year's Passover Seder were the references to God as HaMakom: The Place.

The seder story is about people who leave a terrible place, trying to reach a better place, only to get stuck in another place. Yet they turn and say: Blessed is The Place.

What place are they blessing? Is it the place they're trying desperately to reach? Is it where they are at that particular moment, just happy to have stayed alive long enough to make it even that far? It doesn't seem like it could be the place they just left, but maybe.

HaMakom of course suggests that God is *the* place, the place that holds everything. It suggests that in essence all places are one.

But that was not true for Moses and the Israelites. The place where they began was murderous, exploitative, and terrible. They had to escape it.

This year we're stuck reading about these long-ago places, mostly alone, in places that -- whether we chose and love them or were forced into them against our will -- pretty much all of us would like to get the hell out of as soon as possible.

And yet ...

It's a reminder that there there are still other places. Some are good. Some evil. Most a little of both. All combine into one infinite place that we're all part of. And as long as we can stay alive, and keep others alive, we can be in it together.

Which is worth blessing.

Baruch HaMakom.

Blessed is The Place.