Chag Pesach Sameach---Rabbi Micah Buck-Yael and Keshet

From Rabbi Micah Buck-Yael and Keshet

Whether you are Jewish or not, I want to reach out to wish you a Chag Pesach Sameach - a joyful Passover holiday! I’m Rabbi Micah Buck-Yael, the Director of Education and Training at Keshet, an organization which focuses on equipping Jewish communal organizations to build LGBTQ-affirming communities, create spaces in which all queer Jewish youth feel seen and valued and advance LGBTQ rights nationwide. I’m happy to be partnering with Faith in Public Life in this season of liberation.

In Passover, we celebrate God’s liberation of the Jewish people. We retell the story of the Exodus from Egypt, share symbolic foods, ask questions, and share inspiration for the work ahead. One line of the Haggadah, the retelling of the story, states that “in every generation, a person must see themselves as if they personally were freed from Egypt.” One famous commentator taught that we should understand this line to mean that in every generation there is ongoing oppression that must be met with ongoing work for liberation. I am excited to share Keshet’s Passover resources with you. Feel free to use them as haggadah inserts during your Seder, or to adapt them to the observances that you are celebrating this season to reflect on and commit to the work for LGBTQ+ liberation.

Four Cups for Liberation
Next Year in Gender Liberation! Towards Trans Justice and Joy

Whether you are celebrating Passover this week or one of the many other holidays that are all coinciding these months, I pray that your observance may be an opportunity to remember liberation and an opportunity to commit to the liberation of others. We are together, made stronger by the diversity of faiths, racial identities, genders, sexual orientations, abilities and disabilities, and multitudes of identities that make us each who we are. Together we support each other and, together, we build the multi-faith and multiracial democracy that we need so that we all can thrive.

Chag Samech - a joyous holiday season to you and yours,

Rabbi Micah Buck-Yael (he/him or they/them)
Director of Education and Training, Keshet