In remembrance of the 2011 protests in Tunisia, Egypt, Gabon, Bahrain, Libya, and elsewhere.

Liberation comes when people gather by the tens and by the thousands

demanding that the despot who's held the reins step down, and in between the slogans

they dish out lentils cooked over open flame, and homes open up so the protestors can shower

and members of one faith link hands
to protect members of another faith at prayer.

Liberation comes at a cost: not only
the horses and chariots swept away, but

innocents gunned down by their own army, panicked children lost in the roiling crowds

activists imprisoned for speaking freely, and when the world stops watching

they may be beaten—or worse.
It's upon us to at least pay attention

on mobile phones and computer screens as real people rise up to say

we have the right to congregate and to speak we will not be silenced, we are not afraid.

(—Rabbi Rachel Barenblat) 


haggadah Section: Cover
Source: Velveteen Rabbi's Haggadah for Pesach