The Third Cup: Liberation Is Our Ancestors' Dreaming

“I am my ancestors’ wildest dreams.”

MOTIF BY ARTIST BRANDAN “B-MIKE” ODUMS  
ABOUT THE DREAM OF BLACK LIBERATION IN THE U.S.

In the seder, we sit among symbols. But we ourselves are symbols too.

We say the words of liberation in the haggadah even in times when we can’t fully hear them. Even when it couldn’t possibly have felt true— in times of plague and pogrom, diaspora and destruction—our Jewish ancestors of every background and race and origin have said, ‘Once we were slaves, now we are free.’

Our ancestors, and all ancestors of oppressed peoples, had to believe beyond what they could see—that their descendants would not only exist, but thrive. We, here, now, are each the symbols of our ancestors’ dreams. By existing. By resisting injustice. By celebrating liberation with joy.

Liberation is our ancestors’ dreaming.

We too will be ancestors—what will we leave behind? What are our dreams for a future where all of us are free? 

Source: Bend the Arc's Four Cups of Liberation Haggadah Supplement


haggadah Section: Bareich