Join us in celebration of the 49th anniversary of the Freedom Seder and Arthur Waskow’s Haggadah.

In 1969, on the anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, nearly 800 people gathered in the basement of a black church in Washington, D.C. These Jews, blacks, rabbis, and ministers participated in what became known as the “Freedom Seder,” and used Arthur Waskow’s controversial Haggadah as their liturgical guide.

The Center for Jewish History and the Goldstein-Goren Center for the Study of American Jewish History will convene a symposium to explore the historical context and the impact of this event. The evening will begin with Arthur Waskow, co-founder of ALEPHAlliance for Jewish Renewal, who will offer his reflections on that first Freedom Seder, on his Haggadah, and on how it shaped American Jewish life.

We will then feature a panel of scholars who will contextualize the Freedom Seder. The panel will include:
Anthea Butler, Professor of Religious and Africana Studies at University of Pennsylvania
Hasia Diner, Paul and Sylvia Steinberg Professor of American Jewish History at New York University and Director of the Goldstein-Goren Center
Susannah Heschel, Eli Black Professor of Jewish Studies at Dartmouth University
Shaul Magid, NEH Senior Scholar at the Center for Jewish History and Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein Chair in Jewish Studies at Indiana University

There will be a reception following the talk.