Hostage Moms Call for Adding—and Filling—Seats at Seders Worldwide
by Menachem Posner – chabad.org
Every day, starting 50 days before Passover, Ditza Or has been taking time to actively envision the moment her 30-year-old son, Avinatan, will join her and her family at the Seder.
She is not alone. United by WhatsApp groups, thousands of people have joined her in the daily exercise, inspired by the Chassidic teaching, “Think good, and it will be good.”
With less than two weeks to Passover, Or is among several mothers of hostages believed to be held in the Gaza Strip who have called upon the global Jewish community to invite as many Jews as possible to the Seder in the merit of the safe return of their loved ones.
In a video released through Chabad.org, Rachel Goldberg-Polin, the mother of hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, called for “people all over the world to invite as many people as possible to join them for Seder. We are praying that Hersh will be home for Seder, and it could be that in merit of you inviting people to your Seder, Hersh will return to us even before Pesach comes.”
Since the abduction of some 250 men, women, and children from southern Israel on Oct. 7 (an expected 133 are still there after the release of 105 hostages in November), Chabad emissaries in Israel and abroad have been a constant source of support and encouragement for the families of hostages. This effort, coordinated by Chabad.org, is steadily gaining momentum and galvanizing Jewish people around the world to act.
United under the hashtag #SeatAtTheSeder, the campaign was inspired by the Rebbe’s response to the Soviet Union’s decades-long refusal to allow Jews to immigrate to the West, where they would be free to practice their religion.
At several points in the 1970s, when some Jewish organizations suggested placing an empty chair at Seder tables in protest, the Rebbe spoke out publicly, instead urging world Jewry to add chairs and fill them in merit of those unable to attend.
This approach is also evident in the Rebbe’s oft-repeated clarion call to invite in the “fifth son,” the Jew who is so estranged from Judaism that he or she does not even attend the Passover Seder.
The current campaign takes its cue from the Rebbe’s empowering message. In the words of Goldberg-Polin: “There should be no empty seats at anyone’s Seder.”
Looking to get involved? Pull out your phone—or Rolodex—and start making invites. And then post on social media with the hashtag #SeatAtTheSeder so that others can do the same.
meyer cheinYe quessYou
It just ecourages Hamas to demand more. It does not help in any other way
AH
Maybe you meant yo comment on some other article. How would inviting people to your Seder “encourage Hamas to demand more”?
Anonymous
I am reminded of the Tefillin campaign during the 1967 War.
My personal view is that Hashem’s divine intervention be increased by the actions of Jews down here in the physical realm. Isn’t there a Chabad reference to Moses & divine intervention coming from a different spiritual or meta physical level / realm…a fight with help from “Azulot”
Rebbe lectured on this. Does anyone know more ?
meyer cheinYe quessAre
keep the Rebbe out of your folly. The rebbe did not talk about hostages held for political and ransom reasons. The Maharal of Rottenberg did not allow people to pay ransom for him because the bandits will demand more. Hamas, reads and knows the price people will pay and demands more killers released so they can spill more Jewish blood
AH
Again, if you think that doing mitzvos on behalf of the hostages is what Hamas wants, and is going to embolden them to do this again, then something is seriously wrong in your world. Seek professional help.