Freedom Seder Revisited

As many Jews prepare for Passover, the most widely celebrated Jewish holiday, we invite people of all backgrounds to join us for this long-running and beloved annual Weitzman event. Experience an artfully curated lineup of speakers, storytellers, and musicians as they reflect on traditional Passover themes such as freedom, renewal, transmitting traditions, and welcoming the stranger.

This year’s event features stories from members of Mural Arts Philadelphia’s Restorative Justice Program; remarks and poetry from spoken-word artist Vanessa Hidary, aka “The Hebrew Mamita;”  and music from the most exciting band in Philadelphia, Snacktime, who—fresh off of their first U.S. tour—will lead us in song together throughout the evening. Dinner will be served halfway through the show, when performances will stop for all to converse with their neighbors and enjoy the delicious kosher food provided by CookNSolo.

This annual event is inspired by the historic 1969 Freedom Seder, where hundreds of people of all backgrounds gathered to explore and celebrate freedom in the context of the civil rights movement. This communal event invites you to our table for an evening commemoration, stories, performances, and community exploration of freedom in America today.

This year’s event is produced by the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History in Partnership with First Person Arts and Mural Arts Philadelphia.

**Nobody turned away for lack of funds, contact programs@theweitzman.org to learn more.

About Mural Arts Philadelphia’s Restorative Justice Program:
The Restorative Justice department facilitates projects at Mural Arts that amplify the creative voices of people who have been disconnected from society. From our Reimagining Reentry Fellowship and the nation’s first Artist-in-Residence program at the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office, now in its second year, artists are bringing light to issues to inspire change. Our latest End the Exception project joined a national campaign and engaged a network of incarcerated artists to share their experiences with prison labor, drawing attention to the persistence of legal slavery in our country. Learn more here: https://www.muralarts.org/program/restorative-justice/

About First Person Arts

First Person Arts includes storytellers practicing across multiple disciplines such as theatre, memoir, visual, arts, spoken word, and dance. In documentary art, the message is more important than the messenger. Learn More Here: https://firstpersonarts.org/

About Snacktime

SNACKTIME is Philadelphia’s already beloved seven-piece band, blazing a path cut from their soul, funk, punk, jazz, hip-hop, and R&B influences. Created during the height of the pandemic, the group began performing free shows that combined their love of music, food, and togetherness in Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Square. They quickly amassed huge crowds and became a symbol of positivity and lockdown release, while showcasing the richness of their city’s musical history and community. This progressed to sold-out headlining shows, curation of neighborhood festivals, multiple appearances at Philadelphia 76ers halftime shows, and slots at major music festivals.

About Vanessa Hidary

Internationally acclaimed  Spoken Word Artist/ Author/ Director Vanessa Hidary, grew up on Manhattan’s culturally diverse Upper West Side. Her experiences as a Sephardic Jew with close friends from different ethnic and religious backgrounds inspired her to write “Culture Bandit,” the nationally toured solo show that chronicles Vanessa’s coming of age during the golden age of Hip-Hop.

She has aired three times on “Russell Simmons Presents ‘Def Poetry Jam’ on HBO and is featured in the award-winning film “The Tribe,” which was selected for the Sundance Film Festival, The Tribeca Film Festival, and The Jewish Motifs International Film Festival in Warsaw, Poland. Vanessa was chosen as one of 50 speakers to appear at the “2010 IdeaCity- Canada’s Premiere Meeting of the Minds’.” She has appeared at numerous LIMMUD conferences including South Africa and the UK, and has performed at the Lion Of Judah conference at the Jewish Federation’s General Assembly convention.

Her popular poem, “The Hebrew Mamita,” went viral garnering over half a million YouTube hits, igniting widespread discussion among Jews and non-Jews alike regarding the subject of identity.

She is the founder of the Kaleidoscope Project, a narrative-arts-driven initiative that was sparked by a desire to highlight the stories of Jews of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, observance levels, and interfaith experiences.

Price: $36 | $25 Weitzman Members

Promo code: FPA to get the Weitzman member price of $25.