(Passover Haggadah Supplements:
to be read after Yachatz)
Our mothers and fathers ate the bread of affliction
every day when our ancestors were in Egypt.
Tonight we gather around tables filled with
the bounty of food, and the warmth of love,
and endeavor to see ourselves as if
we ourselves went forth from Egypt,
with minds and bodies nurtured only on
the bread of affliction.
We are aware of Israelis who hunger for security,
who are afflicted with terror, and who yearn
for acceptance in our world as a people
of a nation with a sacred mission.
We are aware of Palestinians afflicted with poverty,
who desire nothing more than to raise their
families in an independent state,
free of the burden of occupation, and able
to build a future of their own choosing.
Only peace can feed the souls
and salve the wounds of
Israelis and Palestinians today.
Only peace can offer sustenance
to two peoples struggling side by side,
afflicted with anger, burdened with pain.
Only peace — peace now — can allow
our brothers and sisters to escape
the bondage of their violence.
When they are vulnerable,
we are vulnerable.
When they are insecure,
we are insecure.
For us to see ourselves as if we went forth
from Egypt means to recognize that
all of God's children hunger for justice,
hunger to be free from the bonds of conflict
that oppress the human spirit,
and hunger to celebrate life
with love and hope, bread and peace.
— Rabbi Douglas Krantz, Pesach 5763/2003
originally circulated by Americans for Peace Now