Bill Shore’s Letters

Letter From a Passover Sedar

Originally published: April 2000

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Dear Friend,

I can't imagine that many Passover sedars start with the reading of an e-mail, but ours did last Wednesday evening.

It was something I had received from Jeff Swartz, CEO of Timberland and more important, a great friend and tutor. I was to be conducting a sedar for the first time, and so he suggested: "Look this year in the Haggadah... which begins with the Aramaic words 'Ha lachma anya -- this is the bread of affliction.' Ask your children why the compiler of the Haggadah would have chosen Aramaic, rather than the Hebrew to begin the recounting of the redemption of the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt. Notice that the paragraph evolves quickly into an invitation -- all who are hungry come in and eat. The commentators note that the use of Aramaic was a reflection of its status as the lingua franca when the Haggadah was compiled. Of course an invitation to the hungry must be couched in the words and phraseology of those who are hungry -- otherwise the invitation is nothing but a ceremonial and sanctimonious intonation. And so Aramaic, the language of the hungry, rather than Hebrew, the language of the educated elite.

"And I ask my friends and family each year, and most importantly I ask myself, am I open enough, inviting enough, genuine enough toward my brothers and sisters who are hungry -- physically, mentally, spiritually? Imagine if every meal began with the language of the hungry -- let all who are hungry come in and eat..."

Jeff's suggestion to imagine this language of the hungry helped me decide to go to Ethiopia. I have not been there before, although the famine of 1984-85 was the catalyst for creating Share Our Strength. Nearly one million Ethiopians died as a result of the drought at that time. Since then, literally thousands of talented supporters have shared their strength in countless ways, giving of themselves to alleviate the suffering of others, to prevent unncessary death half a globe away.

Now, three years of steady drought in the dry central region 400 miles south of Addis Ababa has once more turned wells salty and dry. A long and expensuive border war with Eritrea has compounded the nation's economic problems and the relief efforts. As the Washington Post editorialized in this morning's paper "Callous as their government's priorities may be, Ethiopia's drought victims should not have to suffer because of them."

The specter of severe famine is looming again in Ethiopia, and as you know from the newspapers, children there are already beginning to die. But this may be the first time in history that we have an opportunity to actually prevent full scale famine before it starts rather than pursue remedial efforts once it is upon us. Early warning systems that measure weather patterns and agricultural production give us advantages fighting famine that didn't exist even 15 years ago. Catherine Bertini, the United Nation's special envoy, told BBC News "They are on the brink of needing aid. If we can get it to them soon, we can avert a major disaster." It will require many nations and many nonprofit organizations to all do the right things at the right time. That's not likely, but it's possible, especially with better knowledge of what that means and voices raised high to communicate it. The odds are slim but I'll take them.

In the new volume of his memoirs called AND THE SEA IS NEVER FULL, Elie Wiesel writes "One of the main tenets of my life has been: Do not be indifferent to the bloodshed inflicted on your fellow man (Numbers 19:16). Not to take a stand is in itself to take a stand, said Camus."

These are inconvenient instructions to carry in one's head. They don't make for relaxing weekends. But they do add meaning to a sedar. In his book, Wiesel wonder aloud about whether one person's modest actions could possibly make a difference or influence national or international affairs. But he concludes that "Moses was right when he said that the world survives thanks to its madmen."

So, mad though we may be, Chuck and I will see what we can accomplish in Ethiopia between May 16-22, after an 18 hour flight and 9 hours in a landrover get us to the headquarters of Action for Development in the small, thirsty town of Yavello. Sometimes, as Weisel's life and writing suggests, simply bearing witness is powerful in itself.

But I hope we can do more than that. I hope we can return to Washington in a position to make a more compelling case to government officials and donors for the immediate actions that will prevent this famine. Food must be distributed by July, before the rains come, and turn dusty, pot-hole filled roads into impassable muck, aid experts say.

The days before our departure will be filled with briefings and meetings with Peace Corps staff and volunteers, ambassadors, humanitarian agencies, etc. to better prepare for what will surely be a difficult trip.

Since you're not able to join me, I hope you'll come along on this journey in another way. I'll drop you a note like this each week, describing what we've learned, explaining what we'll be recommending, and how each of us can best help. Please share your own ideas and support. Tempered by realism but fueled by idealism, perhaps together we can play some small role in doing what has before been done: using our experience, technology, resources and commitment to stop a famine before it starts among one of the world's most vulnerable people.

Childhood Hunger in America

Letter From a Passover Sedar

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