A few Passover Seders ago, after a delicious meal, my son declined dessert, a lovely chocolate treat. I'd never seen him pass up sweets before.

"I'm only eating Fair Trade chocolate," he explained. And then it dawned on me - we had just spent the evening retelling the story of our liberation from slavery only to eat chocolates produced by slaves.

On Passover, Jews all over the world gather with friends and families to remember the moment of our liberation. The Torah instructs us to explain to our children - "It is because of what the Lord did for me when I went free from Egypt."

At Jewish LearningWorks, we believe in Jewish education that illuminates our lives, that connects the wisdom of our tradition to the world we live in.

The Seder - its rituals, narrative, prayers, and songs - helps us remember what slavery felt like - to fuel gratitude for our liberation and to remind us not to oppress the stranger, for we were once strangers in Egypt. The Haggadah calls upon us to not avert our eyes from bondage in the form of human trafficking.

Slavery remains very much alive in our world and in our lives. In fact, abolitionists assert that there are more than 20 million people in some form of slavery today - more than at the peak of the slave trade two centuries ago.

We found some slave-free resources to help us create a more meaningful Passover, so we might learn from our experience and tradition, shed light on contemporary slavery and trafficking, and be guided on steps we can take to abolish slavery. We'd like to share them with you.

These include: 

• Supplemental readings for your Seder; connecting contemporary slavery with Passover
•  Jewish texts on slavery;
•   Information on Fair Trade (slave-free) products for your Seder;
•  Information about contemporary slavery in our communities and steps we can take to aid those in bondage;
• Anti-Slavery Haggadot.  

There are many ways each of us can help to abolish slavery and trafficking.  If you want to learn more, here are a few ways you can get more involved:

• The National Council of Jewish Women is hosting a Distance Learning Call on Ending Human Trafficking - Thursday, April 3, 10 AM Pacific Time. Learn more here. 
• To learn more about local efforts - contact your synagogue to join or create a synagogue-based anti-trafficking committee or contact the Bay Area Anti-Trafficking Coalition at: www.baatc.org.  Or reach out to me by replying to his email.

David Waksberg

CEO, Jewish LearningWorks

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