Giving Back Is Easy—Just
Ask One More Question at Your Seder!
By: Ivan Porto, Giving Back is Easy Guest Blogger
With
April 18 around the corner, it’s time to start thinking about Passover – a time
when Jews all over the world gather with friends and family to commemorate our
people’s liberation from slavery and oppression. While a significant aspect of
this holiday is focused on food—delicious, unleavened food—Passover also
provides an opportunity for reflection.
During
our seders, we retell the Passover
story so we will never forget that we were once slaves. Times have changed for
many of us, but unfortunately many others are still enslaved – to hunger.
50
million Americans – including 17 million children – are unsure when or if their
next meal will come. That’s more hungry
people in this country than the entire population of Canada. It is clear
that we can’t claim complete victory over this oppression just yet.
There
is another way – an end to hunger is within our reach.
Early
in the seder we say, “All who are hungry,
let them enter and eat.” More than an invitation to join us at the dinner
table, we at MAZON see these words as a rallying cry – a call to do more to
help those who so desperately need it; to fight for responsible government
policies that promote the health and security of everyone in our nation; to
provide access to resources that allow people to pick themselves up and build
(or rebuild) their lives; to give every man, woman and child a chance not only
to live their lives, but to thrive.
You can
join with MAZON to raise awareness about hunger during Passover by participating
in our Fifth Question campaign:
1.
Bring
hunger to your Seder by asking a Fifth Question: Why on this night are millions of people going hungry? Encourage
conversation about and/or discuss ways you might help to fight the epidemic of
hunger in America.
2.
Activate
your network as hunger-fighters. Share MAZON’s Fifth Question posts and
information and encourage others to get involved.
3.
Share
your hunger-fighting ideas with MAZON. Write your commitment on a Fifth Question placemat and send us a picture (iporto@mazon.org). We’ll showcase your
placemat on our Facebook page to share it with our larger anti-hunger community.
Chag Sameach, do-gooders!
Ivan
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