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Come, let us gather as one, bound together by love and the shared hope that all Jews, and all people, will one day live free and in peace. Together, let us recall the story of Passover, relived time and again by Jews throughout the world. As we move through the Seder, reaffirming our belief in a faith so rich in history and life, may we take into our hearts the memory of all who have and continue to enrich our lives...

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The Seder This book is a Hagadah.which means “telling.” Tonight we will be having a seder, which means, “order”.Through this traditionally ordered ritual, we will retell the story of the Israelites’ journey out of Egypt, eat special foods that symbolize Pesach's many messages, and teach each other the traditions of Pesach, first celebrated more than 3,000 years ago. An ancient rabbinic text instructs us, “Each person in every generation must regard himself or herself as having been personally freed from Egypt.”...

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For the chief musician, on common instrument: a song of rebellion. Praise rising up. Praise unlawful assembly.Praise the road of excess and the palace of wisdom.Praise glass houses. Praise the hand that cradles the stone.Praise refusal of obedience. Praise the young on Raamses Street.Praise Galileo. Praise acceleration.Praise bombshells and en masse.Praise sit-down strikes. Praise outside agitators.Praise Red Emma. Praise her pistol and praise her restraint.Praise living your life. Praise Joan of Arc.Praise wayward daughters. Praise their wayward sons.Praise the power of...

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Human Trafficking TodayHuman trafficking is the practice of modern day slavery, and is one of the largest criminal indus- tries in the world, generating an estimated $32 billion per year. Approximately 27 million people are enslaved today and 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders each year (this number does not include those trafficked within a country’s borders). Fifty percent of those victims are children, and 80% are women and girls. While human trafficking is often thought of as solely an...

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Passover is rich in social justice themes. It is impossible to study the story of our redemption and not feel compelled to eradicate injustice in the world today. Among the primary social justice themes found in the Exodus story and in the Passover observance are hunger and homelessness and oppression and redemption. “This is the bread of affliction which our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt. Let all those who are hungry come and eat with us. Let all who...

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From Oppression to Liberation: For the Pursuit of Reproductive Justice in this Generation The four cups of wine we drink this evening are symbols of our freedom and God's presence in our lives. But, as the seder ritual reminds us, freedom is an ongoing journey. True freedom can only be enjoyed when all our sisters, brothers and others are freed of the many burdens that would delay or deny their inherent dignity. As women, we still know the shackles of oppression...

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While our tradition applies specific meaning to the four cups of wine found within the Passover seder, many modern Haggadot have begun to reinterpret the original four cups. The four cups are derived from four expressions of redemption found in Exodus 6:6-7: “I will bring you out;” “I will deliver you;” “I will redeem you;” and “I will take you.” Due to the positive, redemptive focus of each phrase, each cup could come to represent current groups that need to be...

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A Prayer for Human Rights  Rabbi Brant Rosen Ruach Kol Chai - Spirit of All that Lives: Help us.Help us to uphold the values that are so central to whom we are: human beings created B'tzelem Elohim- in the image of God. Help us to recognize that the inherent dignity of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. The inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of...

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Breaking the matzah There are three pieces of matzah stacked on the table. We now break the middle matzah into two pieces. The host should wrap up the larger of the pieces and, at some point between now and the end of dinner, hide it. This piece is called the afikomen, literally "dessert." After dinner, the guests will have to hunt for the afikomen. Reader 1: Ha lachma anya—this is the bread of affliction. At the seder we begin as slaves....

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Ha lachma anya—this is the bread of affliction.At the seder we begin as slaves. We eat matzah, the bread of affliction, which leaves us hungry and longing for redemption. It reminds us of a time when we couldn’t control what food was available to us, but ate what we could out of necessity. The matzah enables us to taste slavery— to imagine what it means to be denied our right to live free and healthy lives.But, while we will soon enjoy...

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WHO SITS WITH US AT OUR SEDER?Eloheinu v'Elohei Kadmoneinu (Avoteinu, Avoteinu vEmoteinu), our God and God of our ancestors, we are gathered around this seder table as b'nei khorin, free people commanded to remember our dark nights of oppression. Your Torah warns us never to become oppressors ourselves, reminding us, "For you were strangers in the land of Egypt." Yet, when we are honest with ourselves, we know that we have been Pharaoh to other peoples, and to the disadvantaged among...

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Ha lachma anya—this is the bread of affliction. At the seder we begin as slaves. We eat matzah, the bread of affliction, which leaves us hungry and longing for redemption. It reminds us of a time when we couldn’t control what food was available to us, but ate what we could out of necessity. The matzah enables us to taste slavery— to imagine what it means to be denied our right to live free and healthy lives.But, while we will soon...

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Child labor in cocoa fields has been documented in the following countries: Cameroon, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, (leading supplier, accounting for around 40% of production) Guinea and Nigeria.Hundreds of thousands of children work in cocoa fields, and many of them are exposed to hazardous conditions, where they:- Spray pesticides and apply fertilizers without protective gear- Use sharp tools, like machetesSustain injuries from transporting heavy loads beyond permissible weight- Do strenuous work like felling trees, and clearing and burning vegetationThese children are treated...

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by Rabbi Nancy Fuchs-Kreimer Celebrating the new year of the trees in wintry Philadelphia always seemed counter intuitive to me. When our children were small we aspired to mark the occasion by planting parsley in paper cups. Some years we did not get organized in time to buy the seeds, and some years we forgot about the plants and they went missing, but more often than we had any right to expect, the seeds germinated and by Pesach we had a...

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by Professor David Gushee The Passover story communicates the fearsome commitment of God to the human rights of suffering people. Because Pharaoh would not let God’s people go, God finally inflicted that grievous last recompense on Pharaoh’s people, while passing over the households of the Jews whose liberation had been so long in coming. This story reveals God as one who not only hears the cries of the oppressed, but delivers them from bondage into freedom. It shows a God who...

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At the heart of a progressive Muslim interpretation is a simple yet radical idea: every human individual, female or male, Muslim or non-Muslim, rich or poor, of the “developed” North or “underdeveloped” South, has exactly the same intrinsic worth. The essential value of human life is God-given, and is in no way connected to culture, race, ethnicity, gender, geography, or privilege. A progressive Muslim is one who is committed to the strangely controversial idea that the true measure of a human...