Passover - 15-22
Nisan
Produced by the Religious Action
Center of Reform Judaism
At this time of Passover, we recall in the Seder that “in
every generation, we are commanded to view ourselves as if each one of us was personally
brought forth out of Egypt.”
During Passover, as Jews we remember our own slavery and
recommit ourselves to bringing freedom to all those who are enslaved today. A
joint project of the Religious Action Center of Reform
Judaism and the American Anti-Slavery Group
is co-sponsoring The Passover
Project, where you can learn more about the Jewish response to widespread
slavery in modern-day Sudan—and how to take action to help end it. As we say at
the Seder, “This year we are slaves, next year, we will be free!”
At this year's Seder, you may want to consider adding a plate
of “slave food” as a physical reminder of the ongoing slavery and genocide in Darfur.
BabagaNewz provides a family-appropriate
modern midrash to read aloud on preventing genocide. “We who remember what
it felt like to be beaten as slaves—we call to mind now the pain of our fellow humans
in Darfur.”
Produced by the American
Jewish World Service
These timely readings focus on the situation in Darfur with
information related to the rally held in
Washington DC on April 30, 2006.
By RUTH MESSINGER & RABBI OR N. ROSE
As the holiday of Passover approaches, we prepare to
celebrate the exodus of our ancestors from Egyptian bondage. During this season
of liberation, the Jewish people must commit itself anew to ending oppression
throughout the world. In the spirit of Passover, we ask you to consider the
following questions about the ongoing genocide in Darfur, Sudan.
There’s no question that Passover heightens one’s
sensitivities to food. The Jewish Council for Public Affairs’ (JCPA) Confronting
Poverty Initiative correctly determines that this is an appropriate time to
think about hunger insecurity in America.
Produced by the Religious Action
Center of Reform Judaism
This kit provides suggested programs and projects that join
together the themes of Passover with social action concerns.
The Seder begins with our declaration that “all those who are
hungry shall come and eat.” So, why not invite a family who has recently immigrated
or just moved to your neighborhood to your Seder? Or donate the chametz you
removed from your house prior to Passover to a local food pantry. These are
among the easy-to-implement suggestions from Areyvut that can help create
a social action-friendly Passover.
“For you were strangers in the land,” explains the Torah, and that shared struggle is a major theme of Passover. Our Jewish experience of “otherness” compels us to support societies that protect newcomers from exploitation and harm, even more so because of the alarming recent nationwide increase
in anti-immigrant
activity. The
Jewish Funds for Justice offers this Pesach guide (pdf
format), including
suggested texts
and a fact sheet, so that you can integrate stimulating
discussions about
immigration, liberation,
and freedom into your Seder.
Passover is the pre-eminent Jewish home holiday, according
to Yosef Abramowitz and Rabbi Susan Silverman. In their column “Passover &
Parenting,” they talk about why the Passover Seder has endured and evolved. “In
Passover, more than any Jewish holiday, we have the complete melding of food,
ritual and symbolism, and thus of body and soul.”
Reviewed by JONATHAN GRONER, REBECCA GUTTERMAN, RABBI ABBY SOSLAND,
and JUDITH BOLTON-FASMAN
Only some of these haggadot are related to social action.
Or is every haggadah about social action?
Reviewed by FRANCINE KLAGSBRUN
The first of these related books is an anthology that delves
into the history of women's seders and the connection between Passover themes and
women. The second book (they share the same editors and compilers) suggests readings
and rituals to complement or replace traditional Haggadah passages.
The Haggadah has been reprinted more often, in more
languages, and in more places than any other classical Jewish text. There are
at least 4,000 versions, including interfaith, feminist, holistic, and humanistic.
Some modern haggadot compare the story of the Jewish Exodus to pressing
contemporary issues: slavery, freedom, hunger, and rebirth.
An article in the Forward explains why the
best-selling novelist and social activist Jonathan Safran Foer decided to write
yet another haggadah, this one in English. Foer’s haggadah will
be a tool for social change, he says, but also fun to read. The Forward
also reviews
a new crop of Passover publications that examine the holiday as a
socio-historical institution.
Produced by the Jewish
Council on Urban Affairs
We hope that this Passover seder has helped to illuminate our
collective path towards justice. What will your next step be to take us further
down that road?
By RABBI JILL JACOBS
For the Haggadah, it is not enough simply to remember
or even to retell the story of the exodus from Egypt. Rather, one must also
project oneself into the story in order personally to experience the move from
slavery to liberation.
By RABBI DAVID SEIDENBERG
Rabbi David Seidenberg offers two thought-provoking,
different interpretations of why on Pesach we hold up a broken piece of matzah
and invite the hungry to our Seder table to share our food.
In 1970 New York became a key state to approve abortion rights
before Roe v. Wade and was seen by the movement as the tipping point. On the eve
of Passover it was going to lose by one vote. At the last second, a Jewish legislator
changed his vote explaining that he knew it was going to end his political career
but that he was about to celebrate Passover and ...
Contrary to popular belief, Jews are not required to eat
meat at the Seder. An increasing number of Jews are celebrating vegetarian
Passovers while remaining consistent with Jewish teachings. This year, for
example, the environmental group Shomrei Adamah (“Guardians of the
Earth”) has scheduled a vegetarian Seder. Many Jewish vegetarians see connections between
the oppression that their ancestors suffered and the fact that 20 million oppressed
people suffer and die each year of hunger and its effects. Vegetarian diets,
they contend, require less land, water, gasoline, pesticides, fertilizer, and
other resources.
