Join R’ Arthur at Freedom Seder Revisited 2023! (in person event)
by Rabbi Arthur Waskow
For many years before 2019, when we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Seder with a Seder in a mostly African-American mosque and a call by Rev. William Barber to march on the royal palace of our own corrupt king — both the first time in history!! — each year I had the joyful responsibility of speaking at what is now the Weitzman Museum on “Freedom Seder Revisited.” I spoke each year on some edgy subject stirred by the biblical story of the Exodus from slavery in ancient Mitzrayyim, as it was called in Hebrew — the Tight and Narrow Land.
The edginess came because I was talking not about events 3000 years ago, but about oppression and liberation today. To my surprise and delight, the hundreds who gathered not as an audience but as companions welcomed the edginess. (The Museum was often as surprised as I was, but occasionally not so delighted. But they stuck it out. As they said, “What else is freedom for, if not to make us uncomfortable sometimes?”)
So after a few years off while the Coronavirus Plague made us meditate on death, freedom, loneliness, and other edgy issues, Now — back again! Hope to see you there.
And edgy it is. I’ll do my best not to disappoint.
— Arthur
As part of the Shalom Center community, you are invited to join the event at The Weitzman member price by using code SHALOMCENTERFS at checkout. For tickets, visit: https://bit.ly/FreedomSeder23.
Exodus Alliance street seder in front of Chase Bank; Wayne, PA; April 20, 2022. Photo: Rachael Warriner
The Shalom Center invites people of all backgrounds to join us at the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History for Freedom Seder Revisited 2023. The event, inspired by R’Arthur’s historic 1969 Freedom Seder, is held annually and returns in person in 2023 on Monday, March 20, at 6pm.
Instead of a traditional seder, the retelling of the Exodus story will be substituted with an artfully curated lineup of storytellers, speakers, and songsters whose presentations will reflect Passover themes such as freedom and “welcoming the stranger.”
Story and song selections will tie to Norman Rockwell’s Four Freedoms posters which are currently featured in the Weitzman Museum’s special exhibition, The Future Will Follow the Past: An Exhibition by Jonathan Horowitz. One of the central tenets of Passover (and history museums!) is understanding the meaning of the past in our lives today. The Weitzman’s current exhibition explores this idea through Rockwell’s Four Freedoms, first articulated by Franklin D. Roosevelt: Freedom of Speech, Freedom from Fear, Freedom of Worship, and Freedom from Want. The posters appear alongside contemporary works on the same themes by other artists.
At the 1969 Freedom Seder, hundreds of people of all backgrounds gathered to explore and celebrate freedom in the context of the civil rights movement. This communal event invites you to The Weitzman table for an evening commemoration, stories, performances, and community exploration of freedom in America today.
As part of the Shalom Center community, you are invited to join the event at The Weitzman member price by using code SHALOMCENTERFS at checkout. For tickets, visit: https://bit.ly/FreedomSeder23
Event details:
Freedom Seder Revisited 2023
Date: Monday, March 20th
Time: 5:30pm ET Doors | 6:00 pm ET Event
Place: Live at the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History
Price: General Admission Ticket: $36 | Member Ticket: $25
Kosher food will be provided by Panache Catering