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To be read prior to the beginning of the Seder
Tonight we celebrate the festival of Passover with Jews across America, in Israel and around the world. In the best and worst of times in Jewish history, the seder has provided a sense of family, purpose, peoplehood and hope.
Tonight we eat matzah and maror to remember that slavery and war still persists in our world. We eat karpas to rejoice in the rebirth of our people. We enjoy haroset to savor the sweetness of Jewish life in our time.
During the seder we proclaim, “let all who are hungry, come and eat” to remember our obligation to “do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God.” In that spirit, we pledge our devotion to tikkun olam (the repair of our world through good deeds), to the principle of freedom for all peoples, and to the obliteration of poverty, and hunger throughout the world. We also are reminded of our obligation to support our Jewish brothers and sisters who have been placed in precarious positions due to renewed anti-Semitism in Europe or fighting in the Ukraine.
As we relive the Exodus from Egypt at our seder table, we pledge our commitment to our beloved State of Israel, the national expression of Jewish peoplehood. We pray that our brothers and sisters who live there will continue to build a just society based on the precious values enshrined in our Hagaddah, even as it defends itself against every modern-day Pharaoh who would rise up to do it harm.
May this Passover inspire us to renew our commitment to the Torah of Jewish values and learning, and to dignity, harmony, and peace for all humankind.
Amen
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The Jewish Federations of North America Rabbinic Cabinet
Cabinet Chair: Les Bronstein
Vice Chair: Frederick Klein
Vice Chair: Larry Kotok
Vice Chair: Steven Lindemann
Vice Chair: Fredi Cooper
Vice Chair: Tina Grimberg
Vice Chair: Jonathan Berkun
Vice Chair: Jack Luxemberg
President: Stuart Weinblatt
Honorary President: Matthew Simon
Director of the Rabbinic Cabinet: Gerald I. Weider
The opinions expressed in Mekor Chaim articles are solely of the author and do not reflect any official position of Jewish Federations of North America or the Rabbinic Cabinet
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