[ ]J Street [ ]
Friend --

For Jews around the world, this will be a very different Passover than
what we’re used to.

Because of the COVID-19 crisis, many of us are downsizing seders or
attempting to do them virtually. We may not be able to celebrate as we’d
like with our communities and loved ones, or to travel to join them. We’re
experiencing great uncertainty and working to overcome a sense of
isolation.

At the same time, we’re drawing strength, wisdom and comfort from our
traditions. Passover offers us so many valuable lessons and messages for
this time: the importance of sticking together as a people and as a
community in times of crisis. Gratefulness for the ways in which we are
fortunate. Concern and compassion for those who are less fortunate than we
are. Hope and persistence in the face of darkness.

As we were crafting J Street’s new 2020 haggadah, the threat of a global
pandemic was far from our minds as we focused on the long-term challenges
that ongoing conflict and occupation pose for Israelis, Palestinians and
all of us who care about their future. Yet the lasting themes of
solidarity and empathy still run through it, along with important
reminders of the common goals and mission we all share.

[ [link removed] ]View or download J Street’s 2020 haggadah here.

Our haggadah approaches all of the core components of the Passover seder
through the lens of J Street’s work and issues. It’s chock full of
thought-provoking readings, poems, discussion questions and artwork. We’ve
chosen some of our favorite writings from the existing work of great
Jewish spiritual leaders, teachers and writers, like Rabbi Sharon Brous
and Amos Oz -- and we’re so grateful to be able to draw on such a wealth
of great work from the Jewish social justice community of the past and of
today. Other pieces are inspiring original contributions from members of
our movement, including members of our Rabbinic and Cantorial Cabinet and
J Street U leaders.

We’re proud of it and so grateful to all those whose work helped make it
possible. However you choose to observe Passover or hold your seder this
year, we hope you’ll find meaningful passages in the J Street haggadah to
incorporate into your holiday rituals and discussions.

We hope you’ll feel inspired to reflect on our shared work and all the
work we still have to do to combat xenophobia and bigotry, to promote
peace, to defend democracy and to end occupation. We hope that it will
give you a stronger sense of community with the wider J Street family and
the entire pro-Israel, pro-peace movement, even as we all grapple with the
strain of isolation and the changes that are now taking place in our
day-to-day lives.

[ [link removed] ]Download the J Street haggadah

I know I speak for all of us at J Street when I send my best wishes to
you, your family and your community. If there’s any way that we can offer
further support, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Yours in gratitude and hope,

Shaina Wasserman
Director of Rabbinic and Community Engagement


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© 2020 J Street | [ [link removed] ]www.jstreet.org | [email protected]

J Street is the political home for pro-Israel, pro-peace Americans who want
Israel to be secure, democratic and the national home of the Jewish people.
Working in American politics and the Jewish community, we advocate policies that
advance shared US and Israeli interests as well as Jewish and democratic values,
leading to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.



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