How might we integrate hope for the return of our hostages into our Seders this year? How might we meaningfully engage an intergenerational group with the hostage issue at the Seder table?
Pesah celebrates the quintessential moment of Jewish redemption, the Exodus from Egypt, which has informed Jewish responses to moments of collective suffering throughout Jewish history. As such, there is no more appropriate moment to acknowledge and respond to the suffering of our brethren in captivity in Gaza than during our retelling of the Exodus narrative. The mitzvah of pidyon shvuyim—redeeming captives—is a Jewish obligation… in the same category as the Jewish obligations that we fulfill each year at our Seders: eating matzah and maror, recounting the Exodus from Egypt, and singing God’s praises. This resource offers a practical, adaptable activity to help Seder participants of all ages to make connections between the obligations of Pesah and our collective obligation to redeem our captives. In this activity, not only the afikoman, but several ritual items needed to fulfill our obligations at the Seder, are in turn hidden, discovered, and redeemed. The jarring image of the empty Seder plate at the center of our holiday table serves to highlight the plight of the captives who are jarringly absent from their families’ Seder tables this year. The return of each set of ritual items is accompanied by intentions and prompts for thoughtful reflection that connect Pesah’s story and rituals to the plight of the hostages, and the gradual replenishing of the Seder plate embodies our deep longing for their redemption.
Download the Source Guide: Eng_Seder Supplement
Download the Facilitators Guide: Bringing the Hostages to Your Seder_Facilitator_Guide
Brought to you by our friends at EveryoneCounts
Everyone Counts: A New Toolkit to Inspire Learning and Action to Free the Hostages in Gaza
Everyone Counts provides educators, community leaders, families, and organizations across diverse denominations and affiliations the tools to guide learners toward immediate, effective, and sustained advocacy, dialogue, and action around the Mitzvah (imperative) of Pidyon Shvuyim (hostage liberation).
Initiated by the Bring Hersh Home advocacy, M2 and Kol HaOt launch a new website of educational resources to inspire sustained awareness and concrete action for hostage liberation (Pidyon Shvuyim)
Rachel Goldberg, mother of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was taken hostage on October 7th: ” With Everyone Counts, communities across the world have a powerful and growing collection of resources to use as access points to inspire action and call for the hostages’ release.”
