It took me a little while to realize that the Baltimore football team is named for the famous poem.  But the starkness and despair of Poe’s verse stands in contradistinction with the news of this past week.  Due to the generosity of the Baltimore Ravens, KaBoom, and Zuckerman Spaeder, inspired by a grass roots effort here in the neighborhood, we will soon have a brand new state-of-the-art playground in Reservoir Hill!

Tomorrow night, my family and I will sit down with guests for our Seder.  The Torah refers to Passover as Chag HaAviv, the Festival of the Spring.  Waking up on this breezy and sunny Spring day, seeing hundreds of people walking their dogs around the Reservoir for the annual “March for the Animals,” I couldn’t help but catch a bit of Spring Fever!  I’ve written in previous posts about my love for Druid Hill Park, a wonderful resource just across the street from our neighborhood.  But all communities need central gathering places within their borders.  Druid Park belongs to the city of Baltimore.  German Park, at Linden and Whitelock, is at the heart of our Reservoir Hill.

Each year, Jewish children in countless households around the world look forward to a particular moment in the Passover Seder — opening the door for Elijah.  It is a wonderful custom, at once reflective of our desire to welcome guests and of our hopeful prayer for future redemption.  This year I can’t help but think of Poe and his raven “Rapping at [the] chamber door.”  But the raven only answers questions and obliquely at that.  Passover is a time for asking questions, particularly for children to do so.  This Summer, a sound to listen for will be the rapping of knuckles, not beaks, on doors throughout the neighborhood.  “Wanna come play?” the children will ask….

It all begins very quickly!  Here’s how you can be a part of it: