The Interdenominational Ministers Conference and the Rabbinic Advisory Council sponsored a community Freedom Seder to celebrate Passover, the Festival of Freedom, at Beth El Temple on April 8, 2014 in Harrisburg.
Rabbi Carl Choper, president of the Religion and Society Center, Rabbi Eric Cytryn of Beth El Temple, Pastor Earl Harris of St. Paul's Evangelical Baptist Church, Pastor Russell Sullivan of Pine Street Presbyterian Church and Bishop A.E. Sullivan, president of the IMC., led discussions during the Freedom Seder on what freedom means for Americans. About 50 people took part in the community-wide celebration that included symbolic Seder foods, rituals, varied teachings and songs of freedom by the IMC Citywide Revival Choir.
According to a press release about the event, the history of the Freedom Seder dates to 1969, when America’s Civil Rights Movement inspired blacks and Jews to reflect upon the meaning of freedom from slavery from the Bible through our own time. The first such Seder was held on April 4, 1969, which was the third night of Passover and the first anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King.