The Empty Chair Prayer

Haggadah Section: Commentary / Readings
(Please take a moment at your family seder to join in this prayer: By Rabbi Naftali Schiff)
 
Do you remember seder night 50 years ago?
We had empty seats in our family after the Nazi Holocaust.
Do you remember seder night 20 years ago?
We had an empty seat in our home for a Jew in Soviet Russia.
This year, 50 percent of young Jews are being lost to apathy and assimilation.
Should we leave an empty seat tonight?
Dear God, Thank you for allowing us to enjoy another seder night together with our family and friends.
Just as our family joins together on seder night, bridging all distances and differences, please help us the Jewish People to heal the rifts of internal dissent.
Please infuse us with the knowledge and inspire us with the awareness that Jewish people all over the world are part of our family.
Together we have survived the turmoil of 3300 years, making a difference to civilization wherever we go.
Today we are losing every second Jewish child to the ravages of apathy and assimilation.
Dear God, help us to bring these young Jews back to us, back to You.
They are our children.
They are our grandchildren.
They are our future.
Fortify us with the resolve and the commitment to reach out to them so that together we can forge our common destiny.
Next year, please God, let there be no empty seats at our family seder.
Source:  
Foundation for Family Education, Inc.

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