Source: | a Chron.com blog
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Houston Rescue and Restore Coalition hosts their annual Faith and Freedom Weekend each September during Human Trafficking Awareness Month. This year will be their second seder to combat human trafficking.
Each autumn, Jewish people around the world celebrate and consider the Days of Awe, the first ten days of the Jewish New Year. For most, this is a time of inward spiritual reflection and repentance.
This year during the High Holy Days, a group of Jewish women in Houston are partnering with other faith groups to turn that inward contemplation into outward activism and are hosting a meal usually associated with another Jewish holiday – Passover – to do so.
On Thursday September 20, the National Council of Jewish Women’s Greater Houston Section (NCJW) is partnering with Houston Rescue and Restore Coalition (HRRC) to put on an Interfaith Anti-Trafficking Seder. This event is part of a wider series of events during HRRC’s Faith and Freedom weekend during Human Trafficking Awareness month.
Judaism is deeply connected to the themes of slavery and freedom. The seder meal is a retelling of the liberation of the Hebrew people from slavery in ancient Egypt as told in the book of Exodus (Shemot). The rituals, timing and symbolic foods of the seder meal are meant to involve participants in the story of slavery and freedom.
“We know what it is to be owned by someone, to be a slave,” said Terrie Roth of NCJW, “and we know what it means to be liberated.”
Remembering their enslavement and celebrating their liberation, Jews believe they are to take part in repairing the world (tikkun olam). The NCJW in Houston asserts combatting human trafficking is a great way to work towards this kind of restoration.
“We relate to the people who suffer from human trafficking because of our Jewish history,” she said.
Roth added, “When NCJW investigated a project to take on, it boiled down to this issue being something we could relate to and knowing we would help stop a horrendous act against humanity, much like our slavery was or any slavery is.”
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, human trafficking is one of the fastest growing criminal industries in the nation, as there are 14,500-17,500 individuals trafficked in the United States each year. The International Labor Organization says that 21 million are enslaved globally.
With a number of contributing factors, including a diverse immigrant population and major thoroughfares for domestic and international travel, Houston is a hotspot for human trafficking in the U.S.
Roth hopes this seder will help raise awareness and get people involved in the fight against, what she called, “modern day slavery.”
Kendra Penry, of HRCC, said that many individuals talk about slavery as if it is only a scar from the past. She insisted it is a very present wound in the world.
“Through this seder experience people learn about trafficking and come to understand that it did not go away after the Exodus or in the 1800s, it is very much alive and well,” she said.
To help participants appreciate the connections, the seder will follow a specialized Haggadah led by Clear Lake Rabbi Deborah Schloss. The Haggadah is the story of Jewish liberation with added narrative, special blessings, rituals and commentaries on the Exodus event and its meaning for today. This Haggadah, from the Jewish Labor Union, will focus on modern day slavery.
Penry said, “the seder is a way for people of the Jewish tradition to see how trafficking relates to their story and give people of other faiths a way to link slavery with modern trafficking.”
Although the primary purpose of the special seder is to raise awareness, it is also meant to inspire intervention.
While the Exodus story chronicles the Old Testament God’s intervention in the events of history to rescue and restore his people from slavery in Egypt the thrust of this evening is to move participants to action to fight modern day slavery.
“The intervention here is not from God on high, but from us,” she said.
As the Days of Awe begin and Jews turn inward to reflect on the coming spiritual year, organizers for this year’s Anti-Trafficking Seder in Houston hope many others will consider how slavery impacts every day decisions and be motivated by inner divine intervention to be catalysts for change.
Penry said, “instead of waiting on God to intervene we can be the ones to make a change, to play a role in liberating modern day slaves.”
Follow Ken Chitwood on Twitter - @kchitwood
*The Interfaith Anti-Trafficking Seder is Thursday, September 20, with appetizers and mingling beginning at 6pm, and the seder at 630pm. The event is $25 per person and will be held at Christ Church Cathedral on Texas Ave.
*HRCC is also hosting a 5k race, free film series, a “smart shop” event, fair trade chocolate night and yoga spirituality event as part of Human Trafficking Awareness Month and their Faith and Freedom weekend. Please visit their website for more information.
No comments:
Post a Comment