“In every age, some new freedom is won and established, adding to the advancement of the human happiness and security. Yet, each age uncovers a formerly unrecognized servitude, requiring new liberation to set our souls free.”
Many of us will be reading some version of this language Friday and Saturday night at Passover seders with friends and family, whether here in Fairfield County or wherever we travel to be with those close to us. (Those precise words above come from that classic,
Haggadah for the American Family
, with the Chase & Sanborn coffee ads, which my family has used for decades, and my copies of which have cherished wine and brisket stains from ancestors long since passed.)
And while the reading of the Haggadah may sometimes feel like rote ritual, I’ve come to ask myself with each year what new enslavement has been uncovered, in which new areas do others – or even do we – seek liberation.
With a shared sense of both sadness and strength, one of those areas this year was in full evidence at a program in which Federation partnered this past Tuesday evening with our Merkaz Community High School for Jewish Studies, BBYO, and Schoke Jewish Family Service, as well as many of our area's Jewish congregations. The event, which we titled “It's Time to Talk: Anxiety in an Era of Gun Violence,” brought together teens and parents (and others) to engage in open conversation about what has become an all-too-common type of enslavement, with our teens becoming captive to the fear associated with gun violence, and in particular, the school shootings that seem to occur on a weekly basis.
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Together at Congregation B’nai Israel in Bridgeport, approximately 150 community-members of various ages joined to hear a panel discussion featuring a local adolescent psychiatrist, a psychologist, a police captain, and a BBYO teen regional board- member, then moved into breakout groups that included teen conversations, adult sessions, intergenerational circles, and groups that expressed their emotions through art and meditation.
As I wandered around the building, eavesdropping on the various conversations, there was a richness and openness in the exchanges, a sense of a community of support where, if we may not be able find all the answers, we can always find each other to look to and to lean upon. Often that starting point can simply be found in coming together to talk.
Indeed, part of the Passover story is about beginning a long journey walking together.
As we approach Passover, I pray, among many things, that all of us – and especially our precious youth – will find liberation from the fear, and from the reality, of gun violence. And that, as we face new challenges – whether in our own local community or enslavements faced by our extended Jewish family and beyond around the world – we will find powerful ways to come together as a community – in conversation, in action, and in the great collective power of our generosity.
On behalf of our Jewish Federation, I wish you a joyous, meaningful, and liberating Passover.
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UPCOMING FEDERATION EVENTS
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Ezra Glinter has combed through the
Forward
's archives to find the best stories published during the newspaper’s 120-year history, digging up such varied works as wartime novellas, avant-garde fiction, and satirical sketches about immigrant life in New York.
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Tuesday, April 17, 12 noon
Shir Shalom
46 Peaceable St., Ridgefield
Info
(203) 226-8197
Presented by Federation in partnership with the Jewish Book Council
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COMMUNITY YOM HASHOAH PROGRAMS
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Wednesday, Apr. 4, 2 p.m.
Sacred Heart University Commons, 5151 Park Ave., Fairfield
Yom HaShoah Commemoration
with Federation and Area Jewish Clergy
Wednesday, Apr. 11, 7 p.m.
The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Campus
4200 Park Ave., Bridgeport
Info
(203) 226-8197
Thursday, Apr. 12, 4:30 p.m.
Fairfield University, Egan Chapel of St. Ignatius Loyola
Info
Website
| (203) 254-4000, ext. 2065
Friday, Apr. 20, 11:30 a.m.
State Capitol Senate Chambers, Hartford
Wednesday, Apr. 25, 7:30 p.m.
First Church Congregational, 148 Beach Road, Fairfield
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events from our community partners
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U.S. Congressman Jim Himes
recently returned from Israel.
Hear about his trip:
Wednesday, Apr. 4, 4:30 p.m.
Temple Shalom
259 Richards Ave., Norwalk
Info
(203) 866-0148
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Sunday, April 15
8 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Cost $50/person includes bus transportation from and to Congregation Rodeph Sholom
Register (203) 334-0159
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