Interfaith Hunger Seder gathers to teach Atlantans about food insecurity

For the 15th year, a local event tied to the Jewish holiday of Passover will bring together people of all faiths to learn how to combat food insecurity in Georgia.

The Interfaith Hunger Seder, presented by the Jewish Community Relations Council, will take place at 5 p.m. Sunday at Ahavath Achim Synagogue in Buckhead.

The event was established in Atlanta in 2011 to create “advocates for food and nutrition programs,” said Harold Kirtz, the Hunger Seder chair and a JCRC board member. It was inspired by MAZON, a Jewish organization that works to end hunger for people of all faiths, and which held the first Hunger Seder in Washington, D.C.

During the Hunger Seder in Atlanta, faith leaders will gather to teach around 120 attendees about food insecurity in Atlanta using the traditional Passover Seder meal as the medium.

“They get to see our faith tradition of a Seder, but it’s presented in a way that highlights or showcases the need for food security,” JCRC board member Sherri Wildstein said.

Last year, the federal government passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that included cuts to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funding.

Gov. Brian Kemp’s proposed state budget, which will be voted on in the coming days, includes millions of dollars for SNAP to replace some of those lost federal funds. Kirtz said that’s part of what the JCRC hopes to relay to attendees during this year’s Seder.

“This is to raise consciousness and to help people think about ways to advocate for programs that overcome the issue,” he said.

Wildstein attended her first Interfaith Hunger Seder several years ago. It was impactful for her to understand how far-reaching food insecurity is in the U.S., she said. The marketplace portion of the evening helped her discover the nonprofits and community organizations that work to ease hunger in metro Atlanta and how to support them.

The marketplace features more than 20 organizations sharing information on the work they do. It’s through this that Wildstein learned about Concrete Jungle, a nonprofit that supports food access across Georgia, and Bagel Rescue, which saves leftover bagels from restaurants and distributes them to neighbors in need.

“There’s so many different innovative people in this world, in our community that are really trying to make a difference,” she said.

Following the marketplace, attendees sit for a Passover Seder, a celebration of the Israelites leaving slavery in Egypt and journeying toward freedom.

Seder means “order,” and references the order of the ceremonial meal. The traditional Seder involves reading verses and saying prayers, and focusing on six food items placed on a plate that symbolize the Exodus story of the Israelites from Egypt. For example, a boiled egg represents the circle of life, Wildstein said.

“We tie the liberation and the freedom themes of traditional Passover Seder into the Hunger Seder,” Kirtz explained.

Rabbi Jason Holtz of Temple Kehillat Chaim will lead the service, along with an assistant rabbi and several interfaith clergy members.

The Interfaith Hunger Seder will take place at Ahavath Achim Synagogue on Sunday, March 29, where attendees across faiths will learn about Passover Seder and food insecurity in Atlanta. (Courtesy of the Interfaith Hunger Seder)

Wildstein said the rabbis and pastors leading the event will pause throughout the Seder to describe the traditional meaning of the food items, then “they relate it to things that are relevant in today’s society regarding food insecurity or other injustices people are facing,” she said.

The interfaith aspect works so seamlessly with the Seder because the holiday centers the idea of freedom, which “means so much to people, whether or not they go to synagogue,” she said.

During the Hunger Seder, faith leaders will gather to teach around 120 attendees about food insecurity in Atlanta using the traditional Passover Seder meal as the medium. (Courtesy of the Interfaith Hunger Seder)

Rev. Sean B. Smith, pastor at New Horizon Baptist Church, will be in attendance this year. He said the event involves two things that are very important to him: looking for ways to “collectively address that very serious issue (of hunger),” and interfaith relations.

“We work better together when we draw from each other’s strengths,” he said.

There’s no better time to think of others than during the holy season for Jews, Christians and Muslims as Ramadan just ended and Passover and Easter are about to begin, Smith said. Not only does it bring attendees’ attentions toward the community organizations doing good work, but it also exposes them to the Jewish traditions of Passover.