Freedom
for All: A Secular Seder
by Stephanie Carrow
When I was three
years old, I went to my first Passover Seder. It was at a cousin's
apartment in Manhattan. There were so many people that, to accommodate
them all for the seder and meal, a series of long tables was set up, end
to end, stretching from the far wall of the dining room, across the entrance
hall, all the way to the far wall of the living room. My family sat at
that far wall. In order for anyone to partake in the service or meal,
the food—symbolic and otherwise—had to be passed down from one
person to the next, until everyone had his or her ration of matzoh, bitter
herbs, parsley, matzoh ball soup, pot roast or vegetables. This passing-down
process was a major part of the seder, and I assumed that this was also
where the holiday got its name: it was about passing the food over.
Many years have elapsed since that first seder,
and I have come to understand and appreciate on a much deeper level the
meaning of Passover, to the extent that it has become for me, as both
an American and a Jew, the most important and meaningful of holidays.
Passover is, at its heart, a celebration of universal freedom - not only
of the Hebrew slaves in Egypt, but of all peoples everywhere, through
all time. It is an affirmation of the claim, as stated in our own Declaration
of Independence, of the basic, inalienable right to life, liberty and
the pursuit of happiness. It is a declaration that no human being has
the right to own another, and that no human being can be truly owned.
The Haggadah—the guidebook for the seder—in its many
variations, reminds us of this deeper meaning of Passover; it reminds
us to be vigilant about safeguarding all human freedom, everywhere; and
it cautions us in the words of the prophet Isaiah that where there is
no justice, there can be no peace.
As a child of the 60's, I have often wondered
why there is no official, secular American holiday celebrating the end
of slavery in the United States (there is Juneteenth, but it is not an
official holiday). The institution of slavery bound all Americans to a
system that negated basic American principles and ideals, as well as our
own humanity. It is right for us to celebrate the act of emancipation
as the first step to re-affirming those principles. As a psychotherapist,
I feel that it is essential to our national health and healing to acknowledge
our history, in both its negative and positive dimensions. As difficult
as it may be to face the more shameful aspects of our history, it is only
then that we can also take pride in the great changes that we have effected
so far; and that we can more fully appreciate the power and capacity that
we have to change even further.
The state of Virginia has just taken an unprecedented
and immeasurable step in this direction. In time for the 400th anniversary
of the Jamestown settlement - the first site of African enslavement in
the New World—the Virginia legislature has unanimously issued the
first official apology for slavery and the exploitation of Native Americans.
From Richmond, the capital of the confederacy, the apology recognized
the "violations of our founding ideals" and the "depredations
of human rights" on which America's economic and political foundations
were built.
This recognition is far more than a matter of
making peace with the past. It could not be more relevant for the present,
because slavery is far from over, and we as a nation continue, along with
many other countries, to benefit from the depredations of human rights.
According to the American Anti-Slavery Group, there are an estimated 27
million people in bondage in the world today, approximately 80% of them
women and children. There are even documented cases of human trafficking
in the United States; the CIA estimates up to 17,000 individuals
are trafficked into the U.S. each year, for an annual profit of
$9 billion. The worldwide sex slave trade - which also includes children
- yields $6 billion annually.
Abject poverty, corrupt governments and civil
wars, such as that in Sudan, are the conditions that allow the slave trade
to flourish. Many of the products we buy, from sugar and chocolate to
clothes and hand-woven rugs, come from forced labor. Our government and
corporations do business with other governments that ignore and even benefit
from their countries' slave trade. We spend our tourist dollars in these
countries, and some Americans even indulge themselves there in brothels
composed of children.
It is hard to imagine, in recalling the words
of Isaiah, how there can be peace in the world in the midst of such injustice.
As a psychotherapist, I shudder to think of the crippling effect on the
minds, psyches and spirits of children in bondage.
Our own lack of awareness and apathy stemming
from a general sense of helplessness as to how to resolve such a daunting
problem further enables slavery to continue.
All
of this brings me back to Passover. The first step toward change is awareness
- not only of the problem but also of the solutions. It is with this in
mind that the Fairfield County chapter of the Network of Spiritual Progressives
is planning a "Freedom for All: Secular Seder"
this spring. The seder will celebrate the end of American slavery and
raise awareness about the international slave trade, as well as practical,
realistic actions we can all take to abolish slavery and re-affirm our
founding ideals and shared humanity.
The
celebration plans currently include a screening of the film, Amazing Grace,
commemorating the 200th anniversary of the end of the British slave trade.
Other plans include: a drummer's circle; a pot-luck meal; and a labyrinth
walk to symbolize the desert we must all travel through to reach a higher
level of enlightenment and empowerment.
Sometimes
the meaning of any holiday can get lost in the well-known ritual, family
dynamics and good-humored revelry. Sometimes it's a matter of interpretation,
as it was for me at my first seder. This year, the opportunity to bring
the seder - an emancipation celebration—into a contemporary light,
and to use it as a platform for advancing universal freedom, seems to
me an opportunity that we simply cannot pass over.
For further information about the Secular Seder, please contact Stephanie Carrow at carrows@optonline.net or 203-299-1744.
For further information
about contemporary slavery, please visit: www.iabolish.com.
