It feels very Greek, very mythic, very Persephone. We've eaten our six pomegranate seeds. The death of Joseph feels like the end of Autumn. The last leaf falls from the trees. We get our tribal blessing and cocoon our way through the coming cold.
Spring feels along way away.
Torah tells its story of the winter of the human soul as the weather forecasters do blizzard projections, as our institutions for silent running, as our institutional selves are getting dressed in winter clothes. It will be a long time before we teach Passover. In the meantime, a lot of kids will miss school for many skiing trips. That, too, is Egypt. Exodus is the time of the night light.