Seder celebrates social justice

By Lee Zucker

Published April 25, 2008

More than half the attendees of Thursday’s Social Justice Seder raised their hands after Seder co-coordinator Jordan Parshall asked who had never attended a Seder before.

The Women’s Center, Hillel, the Multicultural Center, the Mizzou Alumni Association, the Jewish Student Organization and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Questioning Resource Center co-sponsored the third-annual Social Justice Seder. Structured as a traditional Jewish Seder, the coordinators used Jewish symbols to reflect those of social justice in a custom-made Haggadah, or Seder booklet.

“A lot of messages in a Seder are social justice-oriented,” Seder co-coordinator Jenny Dills said.

After two days of cooking and preparing the custom Haggadah, Parshall and Dills said they were happy with the attendance of new people and groups from around Columbia.

“It was great seeing different faces,” Dills said. “We had a few more students than we had in the past. We usually get a lot of community members.”

Former MU Women’s Center adviser Beth Pickens brought the social justice Seder idea to MU after attending one in San Francisco. Since the first Seder in 2006, the tradition has continued to grow with more people attending every year, Dills said.

Parshall has been involved since 2006, and also attends Seders to celebrate the Jewish holiday Passover with her family.

“This is my favorite (Seder) because everyone here is supporting causes I support in my life all the time,” Parshall said.

Although senior Dan Imhoff had never attended a traditional Seder before Thursday, he said it was an overall positive experience.

“I thought it was a very interesting, reflecting experience,” he said. “I liked how it incorporated the Jewish symbols and social justice. It’s good to have a reminder every now and again that the need for social justice is all too common.”

The majority of guests at the Social Justice Seder were women in association with the Women’s Center, but Dills said feminism is not just about equality between men and women.

“Feminism is about ending all forms of oppression,” she said. “The Seder represents freedom and renewal.”

One tradition the Social Justice Seder took from the Jewish tradition was a reference to the 10 plagues. In a traditional Seder, the plagues represent God’s power against the Egyptians to help free the Jewish people. The 10 plagues within this Seder included current social justice issues occurring in the world.

“The plagues talked about activism on a large scale, but also on a local small scale,” senior Emily Aul said.

During the Seder, several speakers talked about social justice. Jennifer Kimball and Paige Hendrix, founders of Stop Traffic Now, a group working to stop human trafficking and the sex trade, spoke about their organization and the social justice within the illegal human trafficking business.

To keep kosher law and accommodate as many guests as possible, the Seder concluded with a feast of all-vegetarian dishes.

Matzah ball soup, salad, matzah lasagna and chocolate kosher desserts filled two buffet tables.

“We wanted to keep everything vegetarian and kosher for Passover to make it a very inclusive Seder,” Parshall said. “I think that’s our theme: inclusive.”