Bringing the Hostages to Your Seder: Seder Supplement
How might we integrate hope for the return of our hostages into our Seders this year? How might we meaningfully engage an intergenerational group with the hostage issue at the Seder table?
“Let Our People Go”: The Power of Being an Upstander
What makes an effective upstander? Does one need to be a public leader in order to be an upstander? How might we find inspiration from the upstanders of the Passover story to become upstanders to help the hostages?
When the Four Children Aren’t There to Ask Questions at the Seder
Based on the traditional “Four Children” of the Haggadah, and the ritual of the “Four Questions”, this unit provides suggestions for ways we might adopt the question-asking element of the Seder to provoke timely, thoughtful questions and discussion at our Seder this year.
Holding Innocent People
Why have the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and other humanitarian agencies been unable to fulfill their own charters to take care of the Israeli hostages of October 7? Why does the ICRC continue its presence in Gaza while ignoring its continued impotence regarding the Israeli hostages? How does this embody neutrality, impartiality and independence? How can it justify its historic lack of neutrality and partiality? Where is the accountability for the ICRC and other EU-recognized organizations for their inability/inaction in helping the hostages and yet helping all other peoples?
Freedom Trips
One of the gifts of living in a democracy is the ability to amplify even the smallest voice and make it heard in the most powerful halls of government. You can keep the plight of the hostages as top priority for American legislators by taking the time to call, write and visit your representatives. Urge Congress to work with the international community, and particularly Qatar, in securing the immediate release of all hostages. In this unit you can find ideas for political activism which can take as little as one minute and as much as a day. Any time investment is worthwhile!! For a deeper lesson in civic activism, we give you some tools and encourage you to take your students on a trip to Washington, DC to advocate in person on behalf of the hostages.
Symbols of Freedom: Tie a Yellow Ribbon
Freedom is the ability to make choices and is a basic human right. What is the importance of freedom in everyday life? What is my obligation to fight for other people’s freedom? How can I make a difference in such a big story? Each person on this planet deserves to determine their own fate, to make their own decisions.
Fighting for freedom requires staying power, patience, dedication and faith in our own abilities to effect change. Justice requires that we be creative to do everything we can to make people aware, and accelerate the return of all hostages to their families.
How can we send a powerful message to the families of the hostages in Gaza that they are not forgotten? How can we keep this issue alive for our leaders in government so they will work for their release?
Joseph in Captivity: Convene an Interfaith Gathering
What stories do all three Abrahamic faiths share in common that can shed light on the basic human rights to freedom and just treatment? How might our religious narratives help us take action for the hostages, regardless of their faith, and regardless of ours?
