Spoiler alert: nope.
I really just wanted an excuse to post this fabulous article from a few years ago by Tasha Kaminsky, "What We Talk About When We Talk About Passover." In it, she addresses some of what makes American Passover celebrations so shallow in comparison with Thanksgiving. Here in the early 21st Century, we can hardly talk about Thanksgiving without confronting the reality of the changing historical narrative. We are actively phasing out images of homely Puritans engaging with happy Natives and replacing those narratives with a much more real and honest narrative about conflict and occupation, racism and white supremacy.
But it has yet to hit the mainstream at our seders here in America to engage in this sort of introspection of our story. Even many justice-minded Jews go through the haggadah by rote, perhaps placing an olive or a tomato on their seder plate and moving on. I know I myself am guilty of that, despite wanting (and working!) to live in a world where justice is made manifest.
So after you've read Kaminsky's article, here's a roundup of some Haggadot and supplements that will help you do what she calls the "hard and holy work" of Passover. Because in the words of Emma Lazarus, "Until we are all free, none of us is free."
Next Year in a Just World - AJWS
10 Social Justice Haggadot - LAist
An Exodus in our Time: A Reflection on the Rohingya Crisis - AJWS
MLK+50 Interfaith Seder - Ritualwell
T'ruah has PAGES OF RESOURCES on incorporating human rights at your seder
Invisible: A Social Justice Haggadah - The RAC
The Four Children: A Racial Justice Insert - ReformJudaism.com
Avodah Passover Resources
Please link more in the comments! And let me know what you're doing this year at Pesach to really grapple with freedom.
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