As a Jewish Unitarian Universalist, my family celebrates Passover and Easter. Last night, was our family Passover seder; Friday night is our church communal Passover seder; andSunday, we will attend church and celebrate dinner with my spouse's family. When we were first together, before we belonged to a faith community, we used to say, "we ate our religion." In some ways, I guess we still do.
Last night as we read the lines that because we were once strangers in Egypt, we must remember that others are still oppressed today, I couldn't help but think about all the people who are oppressed because of their sexuality. Certainly people who are sexual minorities, but also girls around the world denied opportunities, maybe even life itself, because of their biological sex and those forced into the sex trade. I thought about women forced to carry pregnancies to term and women where tradition or culture leads to female genital mutilation. The Easter story too is about oppression and a ruling class that sought to murder dissent.
But, ultimately what appeals to us about these holidays is their message of HOPE. The possibilities of liberation from oppression, rebirth and resurrection from the darkest places and days of our lives. May you and yours be blessed this Holy Week.
Rev. Debra W. Haffner
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