Tonight, April 3rd, is the beginning of an 8 day celebration of the liberation of Jews from being enslaved to the Pharaoh of Egypt some 3250 years ago. Most Jews will invite their non-Jewish friends to this celebration at a ritual meal following a text written 1,800 years ago.
If you are a serious Christian you might also think about creating an Easter Seder this Sunday (after all, Jesus was a Jew and his Last Supper was actually the first night of Passover and it was a Seder that Jesus led). So feel free to borrow any elements you choose of the Passover Seder Supplement for your Easter Seder.
Though it's traditional for the youngest child to ask 4 questions, the main question most people ask is "When do we eat?" That's because many of the attendees find the seder spiritually deadening and politically obtuse.
That's why I developed for Tikkun a supplement which you can download (for FREE) and bring to any Seder you attend. My guarantee: introduce this material, and no one will say that that seder was boring. Our Tikkun Seder Supplement will raise difficult questions:
- Is liberation an impossible dream with the Republicans in power and seeking a war with Iran, the Obama Administration providing cover for the torturers and the various government agencies that are monitoring our emails and private lives, the gap between rich and poor growing steadily to the disempowerment of most, and Islamic fundamentalist extremists like ISIL (the Islamic State) and Boko Haram providing fodder for Western imperialist ambitions and leaving most of the rest of us in despair?
These are the kinds of issues that get discussed in the Tikkun Seder Supplement. It is not meant as a replacement to the traditional Haggadah, but rather as a supplement that will give your any seder you attend a zest and energy appropriate to this historical moment.
And it's free. And you are authorized to make copies and bring it to any seder you attend, paste it into your Facebook, tweet about it, put it on your website, or in any other creative way make good use of it. And if you find it as stimulating and provocative as I think you will, then please join the community of people who think about these kinds of issues--by subscribing to Tikkun at www.tikkun.org/subscribe or by joining our Interfaith and Secular-Humanist-Welcoming Network of Spiritual Progressives.
Here's how to read the Seder Supplement: Go to www.tikkun.org, and look toward the left hand side of the upper part of that page titled Tikkun Passover Seder Supplement. Click there and download it!
Warm regards for a joyous, spiritually deep and liberation-oriented Passover or East or whatever other Spring holiday you celebrate!!!