Break Every Yoke*






















































Taking
action
against
slavery
today


At
this
time
of
Passover,
we
recall
in
the
Seder
that
"in
every
generation,
we
are
commanded
to
view
ourselves
as
if

each
one
of
us
was
personally
brought
forth
out
of
Egypt."
The
purpose
of
such
memory
is
to
remind
us
of
the
feeling

of
being
a
slave.
More
important,
this
command,
combined
with
the
rejoinder
to
"remember
the
stranger,
for
we

were
strangers
in
the
land
of
Egypt,"
is
a
call
to
action.
It
is
a
call
for
us
to
rise
up
against
slavery
and
tyranny
in
our

own
time.


Most
people
don't
know
that
slavery
still
exists.
But
it
does.
From
Khartoum
to
Kolkata,
from
Brazil
to
Bangladesh,

men,
women,
and
children
live
and
work
as
slaves
or
in
slave‐like
conditions.
Indeed,
there
may
be
more
slaves
in
the

world
than
ever
before.
An
estimated
12‐27
million
people
are
caught
in
one
or
another
form
of
slavery.
Between

600,000
and
800,000
are
trafficked
internationally,
with
as
many
as
17,500
people
trafficked
into
the
United
States.

Nearly
three
out
of
every
four
victims
are
female;
half
are
children.

Human
trafficking
is
the
one
of
the
most

profitable
forms
of
criminal
enterprise,
generating
over
$32
billion
annually.


Coltan:
One
of
the
forms
in
which
slavery
is
linked
to
our
daily
lives
is
through
the
mineral
coltan,
a
source
for
rare‐
earth
elements
widely
used
in
cell
phones
and
other
wireless
devices.

Every
day
hundreds
of
thousands
of
Congolese

child‐slaves
are
forced
to
crawl
into
underground
mines
on
their
hands
and
knees
to
dig
for
this
mineral.


International
efforts
to
halt
these
practices
and
force
electronics
manufacturers
to
use
less
exploitative
sources
are

ongoing.


Prayer


On
this
holiday
when
we
are
commanded
to
relive
the
bitter
experience
of
slavery,
we
place
a
fourth
matzah
with
the

traditional
three
and
recite
this
prayer:


"We
raise
this
fourth
matzah
to
remind
ourselves
that
slavery
still
exists,
that
people
are
still
being
bought

and
sold
as
property.
We
make
room
at
our
Seder
table
and
in
our
hearts
for
those
in
southern
Sudan,
in
the

Congo,
and
in
our
own
country
who
are
now
where
we
have
been.


We
have
known
such
treatment
in
our
own
history.
Like
the
women
and
children
enslaved
in
Sudan
today,

we
have
suffered
while
others
stood
by
and
pretended
not
to
see,
not
to
know.
We
have
eaten
the
bitter

herb;
we
have
been
taken
from
our
families
and
brutalized.
In
the
end,
we
have
come
to
know
in
our
very

being
that
none
can
be
free
until
all
are
free.


Knowing
that
all
are
connected
as
expressions
of
the
One,
we
commit
and
recommit
ourselves
to
work
for

the
freedom
of
enslaved
people
throughout
the
world.
May
the
taste
of
this
'bread
of
affliction'
remain
in
our

mouths
until
all
can
eat
in
peace
and
security.
We
will
tell
slavemasters
and
tyrants
everywhere
to
do
as

Moses
commanded
Pharoh:
“Shalach
et
Ami!
Let
my
people
go!"


Take
Action

•
Call
or
write
your
representative
and
ask
them
to
support
The
Conflict
Minerals
Trade
Act
(HR4128).

•
Join
labor
campaigns
against
exploitation
of
children:
http://www.laborrights.org/what‐you‐can‐do/2024

•
Buy
Fair
Trade
labeled
products:
http://www.transfairusa.org

•
More
ways
you
can
help:

http://www.rhr‐na.org/files/Slavery‐action‐sheet‐August‐2009.pdf


Sources
and
resources

http://www.freedomcenter.org/slavery‐today

http://www.antislavery.org/english

http://www.iabolish.org/passover/readings.html

http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/FreeBuyersGuides/technology/mobilephones.aspx



*Is
not
this
the
fast
that
I
have
chosen?
to
loose
the
fetters
of
wickedness,
to
undo
the
bands
of
the
yoke,
and
to
let
the

oppressed
go
free,
and
that
ye
break
every
yoke?
–
Isaiah
58:6




OSAvodah
is
the
Or
Shalom
Social
Action
Committee.

We
meet
on
the
third
Wednesday
of
each
month
to
guide
our

congregation's
action
for
social
justice.
All
are
welcome.



Genuine
religiosity
is
doing.
–
Martin
Buber