During the Passover Seder, the symbolic items on the traditional Seder plate help us to tell the story of the Exodus, with its cruelty, hardships, plagues, flight and tears. Some people add additional items to their plate to spark conversation about issues of the day.

With our third annual Second Seder Plate, Jewish World Watch once again is inviting everyone to take this trend a step further, to focus on this challenging moment in time, when forced exodus has become commonplace across the world, and the plight of the 70.8 million refugees and internally displaced persons worldwide is so precarious. We encourage you to create a Second Seder Plate for your table to inspire reflection: As we recall what the Hebrews endured in Egypt, we can take a few moments to talk about the modern-day survivors of genocide and mass atrocities.

We have created a sample plate with easy-to-find objects that will be familiar to people of all ages. Each object matches a picture and explanation tying it to a Jewish World Watch program. The symbols we suggest may also inspire you to find your own objects to serve as reminders of the disadvantaged and displaced.

The goal is to deepen our empathy for the world’s most vulnerable people so that we will act on their behalf.

We hope your Seder will be filled with new ideas and learning. Please encourage everyone at your table to follow up by reaching out to help in some way. We have suggestions based on our work on each of the perforated, easily detachable cards that follow. Thank you for joining us as we work as partners to heal survivors and to prevent conflicts that will cause future Exoduses.

Sending you wishes for a meaningful Seder, from the Board and Staff of Jewish World Watch


haggadah Section: Introduction