JEWISH WORLD WATCH SOWS SEEDS OF HOPE
Passover recalls a journey from oppression to liberation — a story of resilience and hope. Today, as we navigate uncertain and challenging times, we carry the weight of fear for our safety,our rights, and our freedoms. Yet, just as our ancestors believed in the promise of a brighter future during their exodus, we too are tasked with nurturing hope and working toward our own liberation.
When the world is unraveling around us, it is more important than ever to plant the seeds of justice. Just as the earth must be broken and tilled before it can yield a bountiful harvest, so too must we cultivate a better future.
YOUR DONATION CAN:
• Rescue child soldiers and sex slaves from armed militias and reunite them with their families in Congo
• Provide food, water, shelter, and psychosocial support to Sudanese refugees
• Fund school tuition for Congolese children orphaned by war to learn peacebuilding and nonviolence
• Expose over 2,000 companies and suppliers that use Uyghur forced labor
YAHATZ: THE FOURTH MATZAH
This year, we add a fourth matzah at our Seder.
Before breaking the middle matzah for Y’ahatz, this year, let us add another matzah to the plate. And then we crumble it, as a tangible reminder of all the brokenness around us this year.
Here is a ritual which can be recited by the Seder leader or passed around the table:
[Lift the fourth matzah]
I lift this matzah, bread of affliction,to remind us of what is broken in our world.
[Break the matzah in half]
I break this matzah to remind us of the four corners of the earth where human greed and gratification have wrought destruction.
[Break the matzah in four]
I break this matzah once more to remind us of the children whose futures are fractured and whose eyes are empty of hope.
[Break the matzah again]
I break this matzah in pieces to remind us of the rubble of lives ruined by war and hearts broken by hatred.
[Crumble the matzah]
Tonight, we relive the story of our own brokenness and redemption — May it remind us to work for the redemption of the world.
– Rabbi Deborah Silver
