• About
  • Jewish Community Directory
  • Subscription Information
  • Contact Us
American Jewish World
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • All
    • Africa
    • Asia
    • Australia & New Zealand
    • Europe
    • Israel/Mideast
    • Latin America
    • Minnesota
    • US & Canada
    Shoah survivor, fundraiser Francelyne Lurie dies at 84

    Shoah survivor, fundraiser Francelyne Lurie dies at 84

    Temple Israel’s Rabbi Simeon ‘Sim’ Glaser dies at 67

    Temple Israel’s Rabbi Simeon ‘Sim’ Glaser dies at 67

    Israel, ‘an almost magical story’

    Israel, ‘an almost magical story’

  • Arts
    • All
    • Blue Box
    • Books & Literature
    • Music
    • Televison & Film
    • Theater & Performing Arts
    • Visual Arts
    Set a place for Andrew Zimmern at the dinner table

    Set a place for Andrew Zimmern at the dinner table

    Righteous Diplomats saved Jews in the Shoah

    Righteous Diplomats saved Jews in the Shoah

    Sharon’s got a brand-new bag

    Sharon’s got a brand-new bag

  • Lifestyle
    • All
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Health & Wellness
    • Home & Garden
    • Travel & Culture
    Robyn Frank finds her niche in the cookie business

    Robyn Frank finds her niche in the cookie business

    Editorial: More from my European vacation

    Editorial: More from my European vacation

    Our Rosh Hashana special edition

    Our Rosh Hashana special edition

  • Editorial
  • Opinion
  • AJW Digital Archives
  • News
    • All
    • Africa
    • Asia
    • Australia & New Zealand
    • Europe
    • Israel/Mideast
    • Latin America
    • Minnesota
    • US & Canada
    Shoah survivor, fundraiser Francelyne Lurie dies at 84

    Shoah survivor, fundraiser Francelyne Lurie dies at 84

    Temple Israel’s Rabbi Simeon ‘Sim’ Glaser dies at 67

    Temple Israel’s Rabbi Simeon ‘Sim’ Glaser dies at 67

    Israel, ‘an almost magical story’

    Israel, ‘an almost magical story’

  • Arts
    • All
    • Blue Box
    • Books & Literature
    • Music
    • Televison & Film
    • Theater & Performing Arts
    • Visual Arts
    Set a place for Andrew Zimmern at the dinner table

    Set a place for Andrew Zimmern at the dinner table

    Righteous Diplomats saved Jews in the Shoah

    Righteous Diplomats saved Jews in the Shoah

    Sharon’s got a brand-new bag

    Sharon’s got a brand-new bag

  • Lifestyle
    • All
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Health & Wellness
    • Home & Garden
    • Travel & Culture
    Robyn Frank finds her niche in the cookie business

    Robyn Frank finds her niche in the cookie business

    Editorial: More from my European vacation

    Editorial: More from my European vacation

    Our Rosh Hashana special edition

    Our Rosh Hashana special edition

  • Editorial
  • Opinion
  • AJW Digital Archives
No Result
View All Result
Morning News
No Result
View All Result
Home Editorial

Sharing our freedom story

erin by erin
May 23, 2020
in Editorial
0
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

READ ALSO

Editorial: A mosque is like a synagogue

Editorial: ‘Unprecedented’

There was a remarkable moment on Sunday afternoon, during the Immigrant Rights Freedom Seder at Mount Zion Temple. The Jewish Community Action-sponsored event, in its seventh year, drew about 200 participants from diverse backgrounds.

After Rabbis Amy Eilberg and Adam Stock Spilker led the kindling of lights and explained the order of the seder, blessed wine, ritually washed hands, dipped parsley in salt water, we came to Yachatz, breaking the middle matzo. Rabbi Eilberg explained that in breaking the matzo, we remind ourselves that as long as anyone is suffering in our world, none of us can be whole. The division of the matzo also represents “the forced dvision of communities and families due to disappearances, detentions and deportations of immigrants that are carried out in the name of national security.”

The group read together from the Haggada: “This is the bread of poverty, the bread of affliction. Let all who are hungry come and eat!”

Then (this was the moment), Eilberg invited participants to speak the latter line — Let all who are hungry come and eat! — in their native languages. There were about a dozen different languages spoken, including Spanish, Lakota, French, Polish, Hutu, Hungarian, Greek and Hebrew. It was a vivid demonstration of what a diverse group was gathered in the room.

And the radical message of the Haggada spoke directly to the seder participants. In the year since last Passover, we have learned a great deal of the plight of Latino immigrants in the town of Postville, Iowa. The Jewish World has published numerous reports about the massive immigration raid last May at the Agriprocessors kosher slaughterhouse, and the subsequent deportation of hundreds of immigrant workers back to Mexico and Guatemala. Paul Rael, who is the lay minister at St. Bridget Catholic Church in Postville, works with the Spanish-speaking community left in Postville. After the seder on Sunday, Rael told me that 24 families, mainly mothers and their children, were left in the sole care of his church after the immigration raid. These detained men and women must wear electronic monitoring bracelets on their ankles, as they wait to testify at federal criminal trials for the indicted Agriprocessors owners and managers.

Father Paul Ouderkirk, the spiritual leader of St. Bridget, also attended the seder. He mentioned that numerous families stayed in his church for “six solid days” after the raid. Children were afraid to attend school for fear that they too would be snatched by federal immigration officers. “The community’s trauma was evident in all the students,” commented Ouderkirk, who expressed the hope that “these will not be the children of a new exodus, but that they will be able to put down roots” in this country.

Another group represented at the seder, Liberians, recently got some good news from Washington. Refugees from a civil war in their homeland, the 3,600 Liberians living in the U.S. were recently spared from imminent deportation by an executive order signed last week by President Barack Obama. So the postcards distributed at the seder tables, which had a message urging the president to allow Liberians to stay here, were repurposed as cards of thanks — with the message that Liberians should be allowed to stay permanently in America.

As our Page 1 story this week explains, the Passover message of freedom speaks to people around the world. As the Haggada we read at Mount Zion points out: “Our story joins the stories of all people who have ever been in bondage, and our story compels us to work toward freedom for those who remain physically, spiritually or economically enslaved.”

We tend to forget that we are relative newcomers to this land; most Jewish World readers are of their families’ first and second generations born in America. Each of us can make a contribution to helping immigrant families and expanding freedom in our world.

— Mordecai Specktor / editor@ajwnews.com

(American Jewish World, 3.27.09)

Related Posts

Editorial: A mosque is like a synagogue
Editorial

Editorial: A mosque is like a synagogue

May 21, 2023
Editorial: ‘Unprecedented’
Editorial

Editorial: ‘Unprecedented’

April 19, 2023
Editorial: In Yucatán
Editorial

Editorial: In Yucatán

March 30, 2023
Editorial: Jew hating makes a comeback
Editorial

Editorial: Jew hating makes a comeback

December 23, 2022
Editorial: Minnesota’s pro-Hitler senator
Editorial

Editorial: Minnesota’s pro-Hitler senator

November 13, 2022
Editorial: More from my European vacation
Editorial

Editorial: More from my European vacation

September 25, 2022
Next Post

PBS’ 'Jerusalem' delivers history without controversy

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

RECENT ARTICLES

Shoah survivor, fundraiser Francelyne Lurie dies at 84

Shoah survivor, fundraiser Francelyne Lurie dies at 84

May 21, 2023
Temple Israel’s Rabbi Simeon ‘Sim’ Glaser dies at 67

Temple Israel’s Rabbi Simeon ‘Sim’ Glaser dies at 67

May 21, 2023
Editorial: A mosque is like a synagogue

Editorial: A mosque is like a synagogue

May 21, 2023
Israel, ‘an almost magical story’

Israel, ‘an almost magical story’

May 19, 2023
Set a place for Andrew Zimmern at the dinner table

Set a place for Andrew Zimmern at the dinner table

May 19, 2023

About

Since 1912 the AJW has served as an important news resource for the Jewish community. The Jewish World unites the main Jewish communities in St. Paul and Minneapolis, as well as those in Duluth, Rochester and smaller cities, and bridges the divides between the various Jewish religious streams.

Quick Links

  • About the AJW
  • Advertising Information
  • Submission Guidelines
  • Subscription Information
  • Jewish Community Directory

Contact Us

The American Jewish World
3249 Hennepin Ave., Suite 245
Minneapolis, MN 55408

Tel: 612.824.0030 / Fax: 612.823.0753
editor@ajwnews.com

  • Buy JNews
  • Landing Page
  • Documentation
  • Support Forum

© 2023 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
  • News
  • Food
  • Health & Wellness
  • Lifestyle
  • Opinion

© 2023 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.