Los Angeles Jewish Home's Blog


Passover, A Celebration of Freedom

Passover is a time for families and friends to gather together and share the story of our forefathers seeking and finding freedom. 

"Passover's theme of freedom is a core ethic of Judaism," says Rabbi Karen Bender, the Jewish Home's Jack H. Skirball Director of Spiritual Life. "When we sit down at our Seders, we celebrate our exodus from a dark place of slavery into the freedom of the desert, and, ultimately, the Promised Land. Our story does not stand alone, however.  We must link it to the world in which we live."
Rabbi Bender explains, "The Seder is bittersweet, not only because we remember the bitterness of Egypt, but because there are still slaves and people who are oppressed. Passover is about every individual's right to move from suffering and oppression to a place of safety and freedom."
On the first night of Passover in 1912, five homeless immigrant men sought freedom to worship with their brethren, safe from the ethnic taunts they had to endure at the "poor house" where they lived. They were taken in by caring Angelenos who read the Haggadah with them and served them dinner. The occasion marked a turning point in the life of the Los Angeles Jewish community, and those five seniors were the first residents of what would become the Jewish Home. The Community Seder at the Home has been a continuous tradition since that historic night one-hundred and three years ago. 
Please take this opportunity to join residents and staff of the Jewish Home for a truly heartwarming experience as we celebrate Passover and the freedom it represents. 
This year's Community Seder begins at 5 p.m. on Saturday, April 4th at the Jewish Home's Eisenberg Village campus.  Tickets are $40 per adult ($30 per adult family member of Jewish Home residents) and $15 per child for children under 12. Advance purchase of tickets is required by March 27th.
Call (818) 774-3386 or email EVrsvp@jha.org to reserve your place.
On behalf of the Los Angeles Jewish Home, Chag Sameach!