PEACE with Penny joined with Unity is Strength, the Federation Movement and Unity Made Visible to create a unique Haggadah, with Peace as the theme. You know me by now, it was not something I could pass up.
Writers of the Haggadah and organizers of the Seder include Israelis, Palestinians, Arabs, Diaspora Jews, and more. Contributors were asked to write commentaries on Seder sections that spoke to them, thus my decision to provide three separate commentaries. Others who we were honored to have join us on our journey that you might recognize included former Speaker of the Israeli Knesset (Parliament) and Interim President of Israel Avrum Burg and Gazan peace activist Rami Aman.
The first time I interviewed Rami Aman was January 2023. It may surprise you to know that he is a Gazan Peace activist. As part of his Peace efforts during COVID, he organized zoom conversations between 200 Gazans and Israelis. His countrymen were upset, he was accused of being a collaborator with Israel, spent months in jail, and was tortured. Ultimately, many NGOs fought to get him released. Currently, he lives in Cairo. Within our Peace Haggadah, you’ll also find his story.
After October 7th, I wanted to hear how Rami was doing so I contacted him in January 2024, a year after our first interview. Not well. After only three months of the Israel-Hamas War, he told me, that already 20 of his friends had been killed, his previous home had been destroyed, and even his previous office was demolished. Needless to say, he was overwrought. I’m hoping to be able to get an update interview soon. Going through this intense situation, sometimes the horror is too difficult to put into words.
Another wonderful accompaniment with our Peace Haggadah is a selection of music that was chosen by my wonderful co-host for the Peace Seder on April 7th, Paul Storfer. He is a veritable encyclopedia of music and his selections for each section resonated a deep understanding of the music married with the essence of the commentaries. Whether he sang the songs with his wife Sandi, or used a recording, It was another avenue to learn and deepen even the authors’ understanding of the content of their own writing.
Another notable contributor is Michael Hunter Ochs who allowed us to play his song “A Healing Song, Refuah Shlema,” for the Seder, and I think the entire world could use its inherent comfort.
I’d also like to thank Melissa for allowing her daughter Talia to be our voice of the youngest child to sing the traditional four questions. She did a great job and I’m sure we all wish her the most happy of bat mitzvahs that she is soon to celebrate. Kol Hakavod! She makes me feel like we are in great hands with the next generation. For our Peace Seder, we used Talia’s recording of just the Hebrew parts so we could allow others during the Seder to read the English parts of the questions, and we also added a fifth Peace-related question. You can listen to Talia’s reciting of the four questions in the video above.
The fifth question we composed is: Why is this particular night, this Haggadah, and this Seder, different from all other nights, and all other seders? On all other nights, we discuss whatever comes to mind; on this night, we engage in a sacred redirection of our thoughts toward envisioning peace and an integrated future for Israelis and Palestinians. Amen.
May You Live in Peace, שלום and سلام Amen.