Haggadot Contributors

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The American Jewish movement for refugees is vibrant and strong. You can get involved by educating yourself and others, speaking up, taking to the streets, volunteering, organizing your community to take action, and/or donating to support HIAS’ work helping refugees rebuild their lives in the U.S. and around the world. Visit hias.org/take-action for more information about all of these ways to help refugees.

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Have a participant open the door for Elijah. Make sure that all participants have an extra wine glass that has not been used for the previous three cups of wine and will not be used for the fourth cup of wine. Pour a cup of wine into the additional wine glass. Raising the additional cup of wine and read as a group: Gathered around the Seder table, we ultimately pour four cups, remembering the gift of freedom that our ancestors received...

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As the meal is ending, the youngest participants – in body or spirit! – should go look for the afikomen, which was hidden earlier in the meal. Once it is found, read the passage below as the group shares in eating the afikomen. Earlier in our Seder, we broke the middle matzah, hiding the larger piece out of sight. What was broken and out of reach to us now becomes our sustenance. As we share in the afikomen, we acknowledge that...

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B’chol dor vador chayav adam lirot et atzmo, k’ilu hu yatza mi’Mitzrayim. In every generation, everyone is obligated to see themselves as though they personally left Egypt. Discuss as a group:  Put yourself back into the story of the Exodus. What do you remember from leaving Egypt?

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Lift second cup of wine. Leader: Vehi she’amda la’avoteinu v’lanu. She’lo echad bilvad amad aleinu l’chaloteinu, elah she’bechol dor vador omdim aleinu l’chaloteinu, V’Ha’Kadosh Baruch Hu matzileinu mi’yadam. This is the promise that has sustained our ancestors and us. For not one enemy alone rose up to destroy us; rather, in every generation, they rise up to destroy us, and the Holy Blessed One rescues us from their hands. Group:  As a refugee people – an immigrant people – we know...

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The Magid – the story of the Israelites’ journey from slavery to freedom – now begins. Group: Avadim hayinu l’Pharaoh b’Mitzrayim. We were slaves to Pharoah in Egypt.  As we retell our story, we hold in our minds and inscribe on our hearts the stories of the millions of people across the globe who still yearn to be free. Pour the second cup of wine.  - Ha Lachma Anyah -  Ha lachma anyah di achalu av’hatanah v’ar’ah d’Mitzrayim. Kol dich’fin yay-tay...

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To begin the Seder, each guest may ritually wash their hands by pouring water over each hand three times, alternating between them. No blessing is recited. After everyone has washed, if all are comfortable, join hands and, together, read the passage below. We begin our Seder by washing our hands, preparing ourselves to reach back into the original refugee story of the Jewish people. As we consider our own history of escaping violence and persecution at the hands of a merciless...

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The Passover story is the Jewish people’s original story of becoming strangers in a strange land. It is the story that reminds us that we, too, have stood in the shoes of refugees and asylum seekers in search of safety and liberty. With more displaced people around the world than at any time in recorded history, the words of the Haggadah are more poignant and relevant than ever before. As we read these words, we are commanded to put ourselves back...

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WHY SHOULD I CARE ABOUT THIS AS A JEW? The Jewish people has been a refugee people since biblical times. In the United States, we know the devastating consequences of turning away refugees. Less than a century ago, refugees fleeing the Holocaust were marked as security threats to the U.S., denied entry, and sent back to Europe to be brutally murdered. Furthermore, the value of welcoming, protecting, and loving the stranger appears in the Torah 36 times according to the Talmud...

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The 1951 Refugee Convention clearly states that host countries must permit asylum seekers and refugees to engage in both wage-earning and self-employment. According to asylum experts, “the right [to work] has been recognized to be so essential to the realization of other rights that without the right to work, all other rights are meaningless.” Even with these legal protections, though, outside of the United States, “many of the world’s refugees, both recognized and unrecognized, are effectively barred from accessing safe and...

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Many refugees find themselves in multiple countries before they find a permanent place to begin rebuilding their lives. If they do not speak the language in those countries, refugees face even greater challenges finding employment, and everyday tasks like filling out forms or trying to purchase food can feel nearly impossible. Children confront language barriers in school. The language of instruction may be the language of the child’s host country – the country to which s/he flees – or it may...

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The world’s refugee camps are some of the most desolate backdrops against which people fleeing violence and persecution rebuild their lives. The Akre Refugee Camp in Iraq, which houses hundreds of Syrian families, was built out of the remains of a former Saddam Hussein prison. The Za’atari Refugee Camp in Jordan, one of the world’s most populous refugee camps, consists of endless rows of beige tents and caravans with almost no plant or animal life. Dust storms, heat, and blindingly bright...