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Passover 5782:
The Season of Liberation

According to the Jewish calendar, the month of Nisan, (April 2- May 1) is the “season of liberation.” As we approach the full moon we are instructed by Talmud to once again prepare the stage for the great retelling of our journey from the narrow place of enslavement out to the frightening unknowns of liberation and, ultimately, revelation. Every Passover we celebrate the courage of our ancestors who dared to be free in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Miriam stepped out first and fiercely led her people to safety. We recite their story and make it our own.

But we also know that freedom just for some is not enough! The following offerings are designed to accompany you through the journey out of this narrow place of the pandemic and the unrelenting oppression near and far, towards a realized vision of collective safety. This year, in whatever sacred space you create – alone, virtually, or in-person – raise your blessings to our collective liberation.

Prepare

Preparing for Passover during a Plague: Protection For the Sake of Solidarity & Healing. This updated guide features blessings, printable artwork, and ritual offerings to do before Passover.

Attend a Seder

IN-PERSON SEDERS

As local, in-person seders begin to return, we recommend you find and connect with a local chapter.

 

VIRTUAL SEDERS

Sunday, April 10: Pre-Passover Seder with the Tikkun Olam Chavurah, JVP Philadelphia, and Christian-Jewish Allies for a Just Peace in Israel-Palestine. 3:00 to 4:30 ET.

Sunday, April 17: Counting of the Omer with leaders from the JVP Rabbinical Council and Havurah Network. We will start our communal counting on the third night of Passover, and count EVERY night for 7 weeks, from 8:30pm-9:00pm ET. Register for any one or all of the nights.

Friday April 22: For the last night of Passover, JVP Bay Area and Chavurah for a Free Palestine are jointly hosting a virtual seder for local members that links Palestine to the Passover holiday rituals. Read their inspiring “Our 5782 Letter to Kehilla Community Synagogue.”

Lead Your Own

HAGGADOT

 JVP Liberatory Passover Haggadah from JVP Rabbinical Council

Compilation of Radical Haggadot from Lefty Shabbaton

Passover Toolkit: Setting the Stage for the Great Narrative of Liberation 5775/2015 Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb offers a pared-down Passover seder with inspiration and room for contemplation.

Passover/Pesaj Haggadah from JVP-Tuscon’s Cross-Border Solidarity Seder 5776/2016 from JVP-Tuscon

 

SUPPLEMENTS AND INSERTS

Yachatz / Matzah Dedication JVP Haggadah Supplement 5779/2019 from Rachel Kipnes, Zora Berman, Rabbi Margaret Holub, Rabbi Dev Noily, Rachel Lee, Channa Rose Rabinovitz & Ilana Lerman

Maggid: Telling the Story of How a People Gets Free 5778.2018, from Arian Katz & Miriam Grossman of the JVP Rabbinical Council

Dayenu! Basta! Halas! We’ve had enough!, from Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb

 

LEAD YOUR OWN VIRTUAL SEDER

 Leading towards Liberation: Virtual Seder Guide

 Virtual Tips for Making & Sharing Your Haggadah

 Video: How to Make a Virtual Haggadah

Video: How to Make Your Seder Interactive & Meaningful

Use the JVP Liberatory Passover Haggadah from JVP Rabbinical Council and incorporate brand new inserts and readings for this year from the list below.

 Tips & Tricks for Bringing Song Into Your Seder

Video: 7 Creative Ways to Bring Singing Into Your Seder

 

OTHER RESOURCES

A Guide to Difficult Conversations about Israel and Palestine

JVP Family Recipes

 

POETRY

On The Edge of Pesach by Elliott batTzedek

‘Inaugural’, An Original Poem by Jericho Brown. Listen to or Read this poem written for this moment and a demand for accountability

Wash Your Hands by Dori Midnight. The Passover Seder invites us to wash our hands twice, read a verse or two or the whole poem.

 

PLAYLISTS

This playlist, curated by Sol Yael Weiss, includes some English songs that feel more political and others that are beautiful melodies for seder liturgy. It  includes prayers for Hallel, Kiddush and other services during Pesach in addition to the seder.

Another playlist, from Margot Seigle,  “is one about birth/new life.”

Counting of the Omer

Counting of the Omer

Sunday, April 17 • 8:30pm-9:00pm ET (and every night for seven weeks)

 

Join leaders from the JVP Rabbinical Council and Havurah Network for one or all of the nightly rituals of this seven week liberatory journey. This mystical road map from the Kabbalist tradition is spiritual support for Judaism Beyond Zionism.

Traditionally, Counting of the Omer begins the second night of Passover. We will start our communal counting on the third night. Come strengthen our community in rad ritual.

Leaders include Rabbi Brant Rosen, nomy lamm, Rabbi Linda Holtzman, Hadar Ahuvia, Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, Beth Bruch, and Socket Klatzker.

Shavuot

Torah of Our Collective Liberation Shavuot 5782: 3 Book Launch

Monday, June 6 • 7-9:30 PM ET

 

JVP, JVP Havurah Network, and JVP Arts & Culture are so proud to host Torah of Our Collective Liberation Shavuot 5782: Book Launch and Creative Interaction.

Join discussions with the authors–all of whom are JVP members– of three recently-released books : A Land With A People edited by Esther Farmer, Rosalind Petchesky, and Sarah Sills; The Other End of the Sea by Alison Glick; and Documentary Cinema in Israel-Palestine: Performance, the Body, the Home by Shirly Bahar. All of these books offer radical, anti-Zionist visions of collective liberation.

Shavuot is the holiday that marks the revelation of the Torah (a Hebrew word with a root meaning of “teaching,” “instruction,” or “law”) to the Jewish people at Mt Sinai. As such, many celebrations of Shavuot include a component of study through the night .At JVP, we think these books are a fitting way to study the Torah of Our Collective Liberation.

The second part of the evening will offer virtual spaces facilitated by the authors to creatively explore the themes within  these books.