This is the 27th time we have gathered to tell the Exodus Story of the Jewish People’s liberation from slavery. Through that ancient and profound Story, we have also tried to achieve our own personal liberation from our individual emotional and sometimes physical, bondage. The goal of our collective experience tonight is to be moved by and internalize that Story to enable each of us to enter our own personal Promised Lands, each of which are unique, deep and separate places for each of us.

Lot’s of things have changed since we first gathered that Spring in 1992:

  • Ron’s father, Joseph Spiegel, was here.
  • Sid Field, was here.
  • LA riots occurred.
  • President George H.W. Bush signed the NAFTA Treaty.
  • World Wide Web was 2 years old.
  • Mall of America Opened in Minneapolis.
  • Yitzhak Rabin elected Israeli prime minister promising to pursue peace talks with PLO.
  • Winter Olympics held in Albertville, France; Summer Olympics held in Barcelona, Spain.
  • Maastricht Treaty signed – Created European Union.
  • EEOC received 10,532 Sexual Harassment Claims.
  • 8 women accused U.S. Sen Brock Adams (D-WA) of sexually harassing, molesting or assaulting them - Retired - Never charged.
  • Presidential candidate Bill Clinton accused of sexual harassment by multiple women – Elected anyway.
  • Harvey Weinstein produced The Crying Game.
  • He also raped a married female Miramax employee in the firm’s London mansion. He was never charged. His victim kept silent for 25 years before coming forward in 2017, saying, “We live in more enlightened times now, but back then I just thought no one would believe me.”
  • US Gun homicides: 17,488 or 6.82/100,000. L.A. County alone, 2,589 gun deaths, an 8% rise over previous year.
  • Daniel Abrams wrote Ending the Other Arms Race: An Argument for a Ban on Assault Weapons in Yale Law & Policy Review. 
  • 145,000 refugees fled Somali civil war for Kenya, with 1,000 more pouring in each day.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. This year we will address and discuss 3 major themes: 1. Violence against Women; 2. Gun Violence; and 3. Immigration Bars. All deal with the Central Theme of the Passover Story - Freedom: Freedom from harm, Freedom to Live and Freedom for a Better Life. To these and all other forms of bondage, we say:

#timesup

הזמן נגמר#

# HAZMAN NIGMAR

#metoo

גם אני#

#GAM ANEE

#enoughisenough

מספיק זה מספיק#

#MASPEAK ZEH MASPEAK

Ya'alah - Let's start this year's journey to freedom and the Promised Land . ..........................


haggadah Section: Introduction