Bringing action to the Seder table: Action Against Hunger’s Passover supplement
Action Against Hunger Canada joins our network across the globe in wishing a Happy Passover to those who celebrate. In this season of liberation and renewal, bring a commitment to taking action against food insecurity and malnutrition to your Seder table with this printable Haggadah supplement.
Action Against Hunger’s Passover supplement
During Passover, the youngest parson at the Seder table asks the ‘four questions.’ In response, the older generations impart the story of the Passover Exodus: how for generations the Israelites were slaves in Pharoah’s Egypt; how a brave yet reluctant leader named Moses facilitated ten plagues that were brought on the Egyptians, each worse than the last; and how Moses, together with his sister Miriam and other leaders, led thousands through the desert to their freedom.
Oddly enough, the ‘four questions’ are really just one question, with four observations. The question is: ‘Why is this night different than all other nights?’ We observe that on most nights we don’t eat matzah, don’t eat bitter herbs, don’t dip greens in salt water, and don’t recline while eating – but during the Seder we do all of those.
Right this moment, in Canada, over 4 million Canadians are food insecure – they aren’t sure where their next nutritious meal is coming from. A third of Canadian children – a THIRD – need to go to school hungry because they aren’t able to get the calories and nutrients needed to fill their growing bodies and prepare their minds to learn. The situation among Indigenous people here on Turtle Island (Canada) is significantly more dire: our shameful legacy of colonization has led to off-reserve Aboriginal households being twice as likely as other Canadian households to experience food insecurity, and in Northern communities up to 70% of people are food insecure. The comforts most of us experience in Canada come on the backs of Indigenous dispossession and marginalization.
During this celebration of our liberation, let us challenge ourselves with a fifth question: How can we make this year different from all other years?
Action Against Hunger Canada is one of the organizations working to address these critical inequities through programs and interventions that are done hand-in-hand with communities. We always look forward to working with engaged leaders across the country, and if you are interested in what we do then please let us know how you would like to be involved in making this year better than the last.
Together with those around our Seder tables, both in person and in spirit, let’s commit ourselves to being able to answer that question with the tangible actions we’re taking in our pursuit against food insecurity, food illiteracy, and malnutrition. Next year, when our children ask how we made this year different from all others, may we proudly answer, “I did what I was able, and as our liberation is bound up with others I will continue to learn and to act.”
To support our work, please consider a donation.