This Passover, bring modern-day slavery, refugees, and global hunger
to the fore of your seder discussions
Looking to integrate global themes into your seder this year? These five OLAM partners have created Haggadot or Haggadah supplements that place our age-old Passover traditions within the context of modern-day global injustices, and help us use the seder as an opportunity for awakening and a springboard toward action.
1. AJWS’ Next Year in a More Just World: A Global Justice Haggadah
“As Jewish global citizens, we believe the Passover story, moving from slavery to freedom, is as relevant today as it has ever been…. [this] brief Haggadah connects the traditional Passover stories and verses to a spectrum of issues that matter today: refugees and genocide, global hunger, violence against women and the oppression of minorities. We hope that you will use this volume to enrich your Passover experience, sparking conversation and action to help bring justice, freedom and equality to people worldwide.”
“As we celebrate the Jewish people’s biblical exodus from Egypt, we remember that there are 60 million displaced people around the world, people fleeing violence and persecution in search of a safe place to call home… This Passover, we hope you will find inspiration in weaving the story of the Jewish people’s exodus from Egypt together with the stories of today’s refugees as we offer words of blessing and hope and commit ourselves to acting on behalf of refugees worldwide in the days to come.”
3. Jewish World Watch‘s What’s on Your Plate? Interactive Passover Companion
“Passover, Easter and Nowruz celebrate new days, new life, and new beginnings. In this spirit, we offer the enclosed piece which uses the symbols of the Passover seder to highlight JWW’s on-the-ground projects and the life-changing work you support through your activism. This companion for the Passover Seder Plate is dedicated to the victims and survivors of the genocide and mass atrocities in Darfur, Sudan and Democratic Republic of the Congo.”
4. Stand Up’s New Australian Haggadah
“Just in time for Pesach, our Haggadah is the full text with Hebrew-English translation, inspiring Australian social justice commentary and gorgeous illustrations… Commentaries written by Aussie Jewish writers, doctors, teachers, students, rabbis, lawyers, artists and activists punctuate the text to stimulate questions, thought and discussion. There are also inspiring scatterings of extracts from thinkers across the ages to give extra insight.”
5. Haggadah Companion produced by OLAM partner Tzedek along with JCORE, Rene Cassin, JSAF, and JHUB:
“This Haggadah Companion relates the Haggadah to issues that are at the core of the Exodus story and which remain of great contemporary relevance: slavery, refugees, and human rights. Let this be the year that we take a stand against modern slavery and let this Seder be the start of that … The Seder is intended as a place to discuss and bring to life our Exodus from slavery. We hope that this Companion will encourage that discussion and highlight the plight of millions in the ongoing struggle for freedom and justice.”
OLAM is a joint platform for promoting global Jewish service and international development founded by the Alliance for Global Good, Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation and Pears Foundation.
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This article should have been named: “5 Haggadot that distort the meaning of Passover by allowing Liberal causes to hijack the Haggadah”.
The REAL Passover Haggadah is about the miraculous Exodus from Egypt and the eternal gratitude we Jews owe to the God of Israel; it is not supposed to be a fundraising event for political causes.
As for me, I choose to use the same Passover Haggadah that my ancestors have been using for at least the past 500 years, and quite possibly for the past 1,500 years.
A wonderful resource to bring the real life, real time story to our discussions at the Seder table. These documents are a great way to educate and open the conversation about how we can all be involved in making the world a better place. While it is so important to tell of our past, it is also important to know what is happening around the world today, so that maybe, if we know and talk about it, the world will be rid of genocide in the future. Thank you for providing these supplements.
Dear Joy Brand-Richardson,
Like you, I am 100% in favor of making the world a better place.
But WHY must that discussion occur during the Passover Seder?
Why can’t we Jews give the Hagadah our undivided attention for an hour or two, and then discuss making the world a better place during more appropriate times, times that do not conflict with the recitation of the Hagadah?
When all Jews recite the same Hagadah at the same time, this helps to unify all Jews.
What happens to Jewish unity when Jews recite numerous different Hagadahs, each of which prioritizes a different cause?
Sincerely,
Mr. Cohen