Supplements for Your Seder's Hagaddah

I have been asked for some Passover Seder Haggadah supplements reflecting current social justice concerns. In response I am posting a "Supplement to the Four Questions" published by the American Jewish World Service and a "Prayer for those Suffering in Gaza" published by Rabbis for Human Rights. I hope you find these of interest and useful for your Seder preparations.

Please remember that I Cantor Barr and Educator Cory Hermann are available to help you as you prepare your festive home celebrations.


A Supplement for the Four Questions (from AJWS)

Mah nishtanah ha-lailah ha-zeh mi-kol ha-lailot?

Why is this night different from all other nights?

We know the traditional answers to this question: On this night, we eat matzah and bitter herbs, we dip and we recline. But this is not all, or even most, of what Passover is about. On most other nights, we allow the news of tragedy in distant places to pass us by. We succumb to compassion fatigue – aware that we cannot possibly respond to every injustice that arises around the world. On this night, we are reminded that our legacy as the descendants of slaves creates in us a different kind of responsibility – we are to protect the stranger because we were strangers in the land of Egypt.

Let us add a fifth question to this year’s seder. Let us ask ourselves, Aych nishaneh et ha-shanah ha-zot mi-kol ha-shanim? How can we make this year different from all other years?

This year, this Passover, let us recommit to that sacred responsibility to protect the stranger, particularly those vulnerable strangers in faraway places whose suffering is so often ignored. Let us infuse the rituals of the seder with action: When tasting the matzah, the bread of poverty, let us find ways to help the poor and the hungry.

• When eating the maror, let us commit to help those whose lives are embittered by disease.
• When dipping to commemorate the blood that protected our ancestors against the Angel of Death, let us pursue protection for those whose lives are threatened by violence and conflict.
• When reclining in celebration of our freedom, let us seek opportunities to help those who are oppressed.

A Prayer for those Suffering in Gaza (from RHR)

During the Seder, we remember God’s admonition to those who rejoiced at the drowning of the Egyptians after the crossing of the sea, “Do not rejoice while my children are drowning”. In that spirit, Alanna Sklover, a student at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, has written this prayer for those suffering in Gaza. Some may wish to add it to their Seder’s prayers for the security and future of the State of Israel.

May the Holy One who lifts up the fallen see to the safety of those children of Ishmael who are put in harm's way whether by chance or by design. May they find the shelter, food, water, and medical attention that they so desperately need, and may they, too, find peace and security in their homeland swiftly and in our days. Bless the aide workers who risk their lives daily as they strive to do your work through their hands. O God, who is slow to anger, imbue us with the ability to hear and understand multiple perspectives and see truth, even when the truth is veiled.