Welcome to this Liberation Seder. Passover is the season of liberation. As Jewish students, we know that our liberation is bound up in the liberation of all people. In the last year, we have seen countless attacks on the freedom and humanity of both Jews and other oppressed groups. We have seen the rights of immigrants and refugees attacked both here and in Israel. The rights of people of color, queer people, women, Muslims, and Jews are under threat.

On Passover, we celebrate our freedom from slavery in Egypt in a miraculous story of liberation. We remind ourselves that our ancestors were slaves and wanderers, and we rejoice in the freedom we now enjoy. By reminding us of our history in slavery, the Jewish tradition asks us to think critically about the privilege of freedom. Tonight, we sit in the empathy that Passover evokes in the Jewish people as we consider the hardship our ancestors faced and our responsibilities today.


haggadah Section: Introduction