Rabbis for Human Rights Haggadah Supplements 5774

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WHO SITS WITH US AT OUR SEDER?

Eloheinu v'Elohei Kadmoneinu (Avoteinu, Avoteinu vEmoteinu), our God and God of our ancestors, we are gathered around this seder table as b'nei khorin, free people commanded to remember our dark nights of oppression. Your Torah warns us never to become oppressors ourselves, reminding us, "For you were strangers in the land of Egypt." Yet, when we are honest with ourselves, we know that we have been haraoh to other peoples, and to the disadvantaged among our own people. !ur awareness that ""n every generation there are those who arise to destroy us" often causes us to harden our hearts, and perceive hatred where it does not e#ist.

We therefore turn to You, as in days of old. Stand with us, so that our fears not rise up to be our taskmasters. Help us to banish Pharaoh from our hearts, and let others in.
$ith haraoh at bay, we become more painfully aware of the desecration of Your "mage found in every human being. %s with the plagues of old, our &oy is diminished when we hear of those whose lives remain embittered. "Hashata Avdei," "This year we remain slaves because of their oppression " $e remove additional drops of wine from our cup of celebration and renew our commitment to winning their freedom, thereby completing ours. $e make room in our hearts and at our table for' (Choose one or more. One person can read out loud, and all participants can read the italics together) Arabiyah has seen her home demolished si# times. There is a hollow and vacant look on her face, and she has
struggled with depression ever since the first demolition in ())*. ictures drawn by children on our office wall testify to the trauma suffered by thousands of alestinian children who left their homes in the morning, only to find rubble where their house once stood. The pictures are full of violence, blood and tears. $ith the numbers of demolitions skyrocketing both in the !ccupied Territories and in the "+nrecogni,ed" -edouin villages of the .egev, %rabiya , the children and all the families of all the homes we have seen demolished over the years will be in our hearts as /0/ goes to court on %pril 1* t to return ,oning and planning in %rea 2 to alestinian hands.

As we sit at our seder table in our secure homes, we leave a place for those whose tables lie under the rubble of their bulldozed homes. Ri !a struggles every month with only 344 shekels, after rent, for food, water, electricity, health care, transportation and
municipal ta#es. 5he wouldn6t even have that without the help of /0/. %nd, there was no open door or place at the table for the poor at the meetings of the %laluf 2ommittee given three months to find solutions to "sraeli poverty. -ut, with our intervention, /ivka was invited to tell her story.

As we ather toni ht to tell our people!s story, we know we must include the for otten and untold chapters of those whose sufferin has not ended, whose tears continue to fall, and who have nothin but the bread of poverty all year lon . As we tell their story, we commit to endin their de radation.

Sali" was born in the "+nrecogni,ed" village of +mm El 7hiran, after "srael moved his family from their lands near what
is now 7ibbut, 5huval in the ()846s. They were given long term leases and promised that they would be able to stay in their new homes "until there are no more 9ews or %rabs living on this land." -ut now the government has approved building the 9ewish community to be called "7hiran" on the rubble of their homes. They must move to a poverty and crime stricken township.

"oni ht we are asked to recall #aban the Aramean, who chan ed our ancestor $acob!s wa es time and time a ain. "oni ht we invite to our table those %sraeli &edouin who have learned that a promise is not a promise, and an a reement is not an a reement. As up to '(,((( %sraeli citizens face e)pulsion from their homes in villa es that will be destroyed, and they may be dispossessed of most of their

Rabbis for Human Rights Haggadah Supplements 5774

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remainin lands, they have a place in our homes and our hearts, and our commitment not to rest until *ustice is done.

#atalie breaks into tears every few minutes as she tries to e#plain why she and her young daughter were forced to
s:uat in an empty public housing apartment after being kicked out of the apartment her &ob didn6t allow her to afford. 5he has been on the waiting list for public housing for eight years. -ut, with successive governments seeking to eliminate housing, the supply is short and every time she gets close to the top of the list, she falls back again.

"oni ht we dip herbs in salt water reminiscent of our ancestors! tears. As we dip toni ht we aze at +atalie!s empty seat, her tears are our tears. As we sin Adir Hu and dream of the day when ,od!s house will be built, know that first our national home must have a home for all.

Is"ail. % bitter wind courses through the 5outh 0ebron 0ills. /0/ returned "smail and other families to -ir El 6"d almost
ten years after settler intimidation forced them to abandon their village. The laughter of children was heard again where there had been only desolation. 0owever, "smail and his family have continued to pay a price since returning. They eked out a living from their flocks, while suffering arbitrary arrests, harassment from settlers and soldiers, tires slashed, water tankers emptied, midnight visits and much violence. "smail could return to his cave, but everything he and others built was demolished. They build again. % year ago "smail was brutally attacked by knife wielding masked settler s. The final straw for his children was when settlers attacked them and sent one to the hospital while working their land ne#t to the ;it,peh Yair outpost, but they were arrested and are about to stand trial. "smail and the other families of -ir El 6"d would gladly accept the bitterness of hard labor, were it not for the ruthlessness of army backed settlers.

-ur ancestor!s lives were made bitter. As slaves they worked endlessly, with no reward for their labor. %smail and all the residents of &ir .l !%d sit with us toni ht if we commit to their stru le to peacefully and safely live on their lands.

Afri$an ref%gees. Even after "srael6s 0igh 2ourt struck down the law allowing %frican refugees to be imprisoned for
the crime of fleeing for their lives, the 7nesset approved a new law creating "!pen" detention facilities. The detained are the lucky ones. % fence prevents most from crossing our border. Traumati,ed "sraeli soldiers tell how they defy orders when they can, but often helplessly watch those who cannot cross being shot and raped by Egyptian soldiers.

As we open our doors to invite all who are hun ry to come and eat, we remember the many doors closed to us over lon years of persecution. As we await .li*ah, the empty seat ne)t to us waits for those who our fences prevent from arrivin .

Even ma'asu habonim The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone."
As we joyfully recite these words as a part of our seder, we pledge to build a homeland with a place for all those who are today rejected, ignored or oppressed. Tonight, they all have a place at our table. Recalling the midwives of old, we know that the seeds of redemption are planted when we oppose Pharaoh's command. This year we also celebrate accomplishments. Lands have been returned to Palestinian owners, olives have been picked, trees planted and fields successfully sowed and reaped. Inside Israel the Bedouin displacement program has been frozen, while the public attention we have focussed on the laluf !ommittee on fighting poverty will apparently lead to a significant change in the recommendations for the better.

" # T$%&% 'LI"P&%& () *$ T !(+L, B% &T-%.'T$%. (+- -%&(L/% T( &T-I/% )(*$ T "+&T B%0 NEXT YEAR IN A ER!"A#E$ RE%EE$E% T&R'!(& !"TI)E

Rabbis for Human Rights Haggadah Supplements 5774

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The )our !hildren at the &eder Table0 *hich !hild m I1

As we celebrate this oliday of !reedom, the ending of slavery, we ask, "#ho am $, when $ hear of human rights abuses% #ho will $ choose to be when $ know that others are suffering%" *ill I be one who does not ask1 #ill $ close the newspaper or turn off the television, the computer or the mobile device so that $ do not hear or see% #ill $ turn my head and heart away% *ill I ask only simple 2uestions1 "#hat is this%" #ill $ ask what, but never why% *ill I let the evil impulse, my yet*er hara ask0 "#hat has this to do with me%" #ill $ let the problem belong only to the victims and the do&gooders% #ill $ distance myself from those in need% (r will I strive to act in wisdom, to ask0 "#hat are the underlying causes of the problem and what needs to be done to stop the abuse and free the oppressed% #hat are the laws and what does 'd e(pect of me%" "ay 'd open the eyes of those who do not see, the mouths of those who do not ask, and the hearts of those who do not care, and grant us the wisdom to open our hands to our fellow humans when they are in need 3 the hand of generosity, the hand of support, the hand of peace and friendship.

Rabbis for Human Rights Haggadah Supplements 5774

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-abbi &amson -afael $irsch, !ommentary to the Torah

#ou shall not wrong a +er ,Non- e. livin+ amon+ you and livin+ by your rules/ or oppress him4her, for you were +erim in the land of %gypt. 5%6odus 770789
The great, meta&principle is oft&repeated in the Torah that it is not race, not descent, not birth nor country of origin, nor property, nor anything e(ternal or due to chance, but simply and purely the inner spiritual and moral worth of a human being, that gives him)her all the rights of a human being and of a citi*en. This basic principle is further protected against infringement by the additional e(planation, "!or you were gerim in the land of +gypt." ,our entire misfortune in +gypt was that you were -foreigners. and -aliens." As such, according to the views of other nations, you had no right to be there, had no claim to property, to homeland, or to a dignified e(istence. $t was permissible to do to you whatever they wished. As gerim, your rights were denied in +gypt. This was the source of the slavery and wretchedness imposed upon you. Therefore beware, so runs the warning, from making human rights in your own state conditional on anything other than on the basic humanity which every human being as such bears within him)her by virtue of being human. Any suppression of these human and civil rights opens the gate to the indiscriminate use of power and abuse of human beings, to the whole horror of +gyptian mishandling of human beings that was the root of abomination of +gypt. /o not "wrong", /o not "oppress"0means to be illegally deprived of material or spiritual possessions01thus, the full implication is2 & 3either by words nor by deeds shall you hurt a ger01and2 here the admonition against differentiating against gerim is directed primarily to the state as such. $t is not to practice any discrimination and injustice against gerim because they are gerim.. $t is not to impose heavier ta(es or grant lesser rights than it does to the native&born4 and in no ways is it to restrict them in the free e(ercise of any means of gaining their livelihood0 The main point is not to limit where s)he can live, or taking away his)her hold on his)her possessions.

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