Dear Friend,

Did you see our new Passover resource? In it, we narrate the Exodus story in a way that highlights how we can build a movement toward liberation.

Every year, my in-laws host a big seder, where we move between a traditional haggadah, and supplemental resources rooted in contemporary reflections on justice. I’m so proud to be able to offer this text this year and reflect with my family on the courage we need to work for justice and liberation.

Our Jewish tradition teaches us to learn from the past and resist in the present. Every year, we tell the Exodus story at our seders as a reminder that our own liberation is bound up in confronting the injustices of today, from anti-Black and anti-immigrant law enforcement, to attacks on our bodily autonomy, to bans on books promoting diversity and inclusion. We tell it to remember that freedom is not something that is just given — it must be fought for.

This year, our Passover Maggid adds important depth to our retelling of the story. It asks us to place ourselves in Mitzrayim, to stand on the shores of the sea, to think about our own community as a mixed multitude called upon to rise up against the forces of oppression. It provides different models of leadership — from Shifra and Puah’s quiet but crucial acts of defiance, to Moses’ reliance on Aaron to co-lead with him as they each draw from their specific strengths, to Nachshon’s faith that enabled him to stay in the water as it rose above his head. It reminds us that we need so many different types of leaders and courageous acts to fight the tyrants of our time and interrupt the systems that are keeping us in the narrow place.

I hope you'll join me and use this Passover Maggid to ground your seder in our shared fight for liberation.

Chag Sameach,
Jamie Beran
Chief Executive Officer, Bend the Arc

PS: This work takes all of us, and I'm so grateful to have you with us in our generation's fight for liberation. Help power this work forward with a gift of $18 today.