Save A Seat This Pesach

This year as we commemorate Passover, the festival of freedom we would be remiss as a community, if we did not acknowledge the void of the 91 souls which are still held in captivity by the hands of Hamas. 

Jewish communities around the world will be remembering how our ancestors were rescued from captivity and began the journey towards entering our treasured homeland, Eretz Israel.  

At the Seder table, the youngest among us will ask the age old traditional Four Questions. But for most of us there will be a fifth question this Pesach, that remains unanswered. When will these hostages be freed from the clutches of evil? When will our people be whole once again?  

How can we discuss being redeemed from slavery, when Hamas still holds 91 men, women and children in captivity? How can we celebrate our freedom, when our brothers and sisters are not free?

SSTC is therefore launching the “Save A Seat This Pesach' initiative, urging individuals and families to set an extra place at their Seder table, or even every Yom Tom table, for one of the men, women and children still held captive by Hamas. 

To participate in this initiative please sign up at the form below and select a name from the list of hostages, so that we can ensure that in our community there is a seat saved for every single one of the hostages.

We are offering laminated pictures of each hostage to everyone who signs up, as well as resources to help infuse your Seder with extra meaning this Pesach. Alternatively, people are asked to download and print a picture of the individual themselves, to be placed an empty seat at the table. 

We encourage you to research each hostage so that they become part of your conversation around the table. Details and photos can be found online at here. You can also find short bios on many of the hostages that we put together ourselves here.