CREATING TABLES OF

JUSTICE
SEDER SUPPLEMENT

With love from:

VEAHAVTA !"#$%
And you shall love
200 Bridgeland Ave., Unit D Toronto, Ontario M6A 1Z4 P:416.964.7698 Twitter: @VeahavtaNews

www.veahavta.org

How do I use this seder supplement?

We wanted to bring a social justice perspective to the traditional seder. We wanted to explore how the beautiful words and traditions of the seder live out in our modern pursuit of tikun olam, repairing the world. Each square will match to a key component of the seder. Use this supplement: To facilitate discussion around your seder table To learn (do some extra research before the seder) To provoke (without creating broigges) To exchange ideas To ask questions and be questioned To look at things a little differently To take action to create a more free world Items highlighted in yellow represent areas for discussion.
We want to know how this supplement provoked thought and discussion at your table! Let us know on facebook.com/Veahavta

dayenu; it would be enough.

If everyone had enough to eat, dayenu; it would be enough. If everyone had a warm place to call home in the winter, dayenu; it would be enough. If everyone had a good education, dayenu; it would be enough. If everyone had dignified health care, dayenu; it would be enough. If everyone lived a life free of prejudice, dayenu; it would be enough. If everyone had the love of mishpacha (family) and the care of close friends, dayenu; it would be enough. If everyone had faith in themselves and their abilities, dayenu; it would be enough.

If everyone had __________, dayenu; it would be enough. What would you put in the blank? At Veahavta, this is the vision that drives our work everyday join us.

Consider these thoughts on FREEDOM from the great leaders and thinkers of our time.
Which resonate most strongly with your passover experience?
For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. - Nelson Mandela How are you ghting for others to be free? Freedom is not a gift from heaven; you have to ght for it every day of your life. - Simon Wiesenthal What is a daily act you do to maintain freedom in your life? Most people do not really want freedom, because freedom involves responsibility, and most people are frightened of responsibility. - Sigmund Freud Do you agree or disagree? Better to die ghting for freedom then be a prisoner all the days of your life. - Bob Marley How are you ghting to be free? Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness. If, in our heart, we still cling to anything - anger, anxiety, or possessions - we cannot be free. - Thch Nh&t H'nh What do you need to let go of to be free? In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can't build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery and death. - Anne Frank What types of thoughts and beliefs make you feel free?

THE

A letter from Avrum Rosensweig, President and CEO of Veahavta Unlike the Jews who left Mitzrayim (Egypt) - 600,000 strangers heading somewhere but not quite sure where - we have settled into a land that offers us unparalleled comfort and the freedom to create an even stronger and emancipated society. ! Tonight, however, on Pesach, we ask you to unsettle yourself, and ask the FIFTH question - where do the borders of our Jewish obligation end? In other words; what IS a Jewish cause? How about the 1.4 million First Nations, Mtis and Inuit people? Do they have the blessings I have; the ability to actualize their lives in the way I do? What about those experiencing homelessness? Do they have what they need to emancipate themselves from poverty? And what about the Roma and other refugees, those individuals who have arrived at our shores to make a life that our grandparents sought? Are they welcomed from the Atlantic to the Pacic with the same opportunities our family had? Please consider strongly the message of this booklet and the meaning of Pesach which is to recognize the stranger - the man, woman and child unable to recline like royalty tonight. Chag Samayach, and thank you for bringing us to your seder table. Remember this night is different from all other nights, because tonight we recall our power and obligation to bring change to the world.

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QUESTION

We asked 10 Toronto rabbis What is your idea of a modern plague?

Here are their answers:

ne what ask everyo d n a le b ta the uld be. Go around plague wo ry ra po m te their con

1 Apathy:!We could x the world, but we x our cars instead.

Rabbi Michael Dolgin, Temple Sinai Congregation

2 Electronic Media Pestilence: This pestilence is destroying our ability to emote,

Rabbi N. Daniel Korobkin, Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto Congregation (The BAYT)

to empathize, and to get in touch with our deeper selves. Just like the frogs of the original Plagues, who croaked day and night and gave us no down time.

3 Cynicism which!constricts!our capacity to be hopeful and to act upon our

convictions. Rabbi Yael Splansky, Holy Blossom Temple 4 Trafcking in women and children: It is hard to believe that almost 30 million people are still sold as slaves (for sex or labour) in the 21st century.
Rabbi Baruch Frydman-Kohl, Beth Tzedec Congregation

5 l'After - instead of l'Chaim, living here and now, we delay our embrace of

lifes freedom until....after.....? Rabbi Yossi Saperman, Beth Torah Congregation 6 Victimhood: our problems are worse than yours; our suffering and oppression was worse than yours. Is this a competition? Rabbi Elyse Goldstein, City Shul 7 Entitlement: taking things for granted - taking things without gratitude - taking things without acknowledging the consequences of one's taking.
Rabbi Chaim Strauchler, Shaarei Shomayim

8 Spiritual Impatience: People often forget that Jewish growth is a process and

exploration, not a!one-time destination. Rabbi Ra Lipner, Shaarei Tellah 9 Economic Inequality: The past centurys growing gap between those who live comfortable lives and those who struggle daily just to survive (or not) is an immoral backdrop to all our lives that we must not accept as a given, as it denies the equal worth and dignity of all humans created in Gods image.
Rabbi Aaron Levy, Makom: Creative Downtown Judaism

10 Cowardice: !only the brave can defeat tyrants and oppressors; we must
realize the power that we do have, politically and personally.
Rabbi Debra Landsberg, Temple Emanu-El

CHAMETZZFEED
VEAHAVTAS GUIDE TO THE 4 SOCIAL ACTIVIST CHILDREN THE REFORMERS | Working within the system is the only way to make effective change. To them, we say - keep a memento of your initial desire to make a change. It will help remind you of your passion when the days get long. THE REBELS | Change requires dramatic changes. The time for justice is now! To them, we say - a candle, like passion, can burn bright - its important not to burn others with it or burn out. THE REVOLUTIONARIES | The system is broken - time to shake things up! Status quo just wont do. To them, we say - a revolution requires more than an army of one. Your revolution might throw out the old ways, but needs to be inclusive of those who practiced them. THE APATHETICS | Nothing changes ever - I dont care! To them, we say get off your tuchus! Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. (M. Mead)

Which one are you?

MAROR | THE BITTER REALITY OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING

Symbolically and viscerally evocative, the maror occupies a potent place on our seder plates one which for generations has demanded that those gathered around the table maintain a connection with the embittered. As we tell and retell our ancestral stories of slavery and liberation, we are required not only to consider but to taste bitterness, with the herbs often positioned as a bridge back in time. And yet, we exist in a reality where people all over the world continue to be bought and sold, traded and trafcked within and across national borders, dismissed as yet another resource to be extracted and exploited for prot. Human trafcking is the second largest international criminal industry in the world. And it is the fastest growing too. This Passover, let the maror connect us in deep solidarity with our foremothers and forefathers, as well as all those who continue to be enslaved. To learn more about human trafcking visit www.enditmovement.com and nd out how you can make a difference.

matzah | THE BREAD OF AFFLICTION & FAIR TRADE

We have our deliverance from slavery, but not everyone has gained that right. Just as we toiled to build Pharaohs pyramids, today hundreds of thousands of children and adults receive unfair wages and work for organizations with unjust labour practices and unethical environmental and safety regulations. They harvest our chocolate and coffee, as well as our sugar cane and cotton. The Fair Trade movement strives to correct these poor working conditions for our farmers that produce raw goods. They guarantee improvement in working conditions and wages and assist in community building initiatives. The bread of afiction reminds us that we cannot forget what it is like to live in servitude. Lets work to improve the lives of those still held in bondage. Find out more: http://bit.ly/1gSrazv or http://bit.ly/1cCSJu7

And you shall not mistreat a stranger, nor shall you oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. Exodus 22:20

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Let

ALL
HUNGRY COME &

Join over 25,000 people around the world and the Veahavta family, to confront the modern day plague of extreme poverty by living on $1.75 a day for 5 days, April 28 - MAY 2

THOSE WHO ARE

Sign up and more info: www.livebelowveahavta.ca
Get in touch and lead the change: livebelow @ veahavta.org
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