Leave a seat for a hostage at this year’s Seder table
IN THE RUN-UP to Passover, the community is being asked to leave an empty chair at their Seder table to remember during the festival of freedom the 134 hostages still held captive by Hamas in Gaza.
Launched by the Board of Deputies, the Seder Seat for a Hostage campaign urges households to set an extra place at their Seder table for one of the hostages still imprisoned.
“At the Seder table, the youngest among us will ask the traditional Four Questions,” the Board said. “But for many of us, there will be another question this Pesach, left unanswered.
“How can we discuss being redeemed from slavery, when Hamas still holds [over] 130 men, women and children in the most vile captivity? How can we celebrate our freedom, when our brothers and sisters are not free?”
Photographs of the many hostages can be downloaded and printed via the Board’s website, and participants are encouraged to share pictures of their laid Seder tables with the hashtag #SederSeatForAHostage.
Board president Marie van der Zyl described the initiative as “commemorating the festival of freedom, remembering those in captivity”.
She said: “As in ancient days, we call: ‘Let Our People Go.’ Jewish, Muslim, Christian, or Buddhist – the hostages must all come home.
“We pray for their release and for this terrible conflict to come to an end with Hamas uprooted, so that Israelis and Palestinians can together build a better future. And when we recite the words: ‘Next year in Jerusalem’, we will be thinking of all those who are not with us for the Seder this year, hoping for their safe return.”
Nivi Feldman from the UK branch of the Hostage and Missing Families Forum backed the initiative. Addressing a vigil to mark six months since October 7, she said: “Take a picture; put it on a chair. Tie a yellow ribbon in a public place, so when the hostages come out, they will know we’ve been waiting.”
As the JC was going to press on Tueday, a second vigil was due to take place in London. Vigils have been held in other UK cities, including Manchester and Edinburgh.