On Sunday, March 26, more than 380 people were registered to attend the AJC New England 2023 Diplomats Seder, including diplomats representing 21 countries from around the world, as we celebrated the universal values of freedom, democracy and human rights at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston. Each year, AJC New England celebrates the Passover seder ritual meal with Boston-area religious and ethnic community leaders, academics, diplomats, elected officials, human rights activists and the Jewish community.
Participants engaged in a thoughtful, intimate discussion about freedom with diplomats and representatives from Austria, Bulgaria, Cabo Verde, Canada, El Salvador, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, Pakistan, Portugal, Sierra Leone, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.
Highlights of the evening included the “contemporary exodus” testimonials given by Boston-area people from Afghanistan and France who journeyed to the U.S. to escape violence and persecution; a dramatic speech by Oleksii Holubov, consul general of Ukraine in New York, who received two standing ovations; and a moving and motivating call to help “Shape the Future” from AJC CEO Ted Deutch.
Special thanks to seder co-chairs Karen and AJC President Michael Tichnor, CJP president and CEO Marc Baker, Temple Beth Elohim of Wellesley Cantor Shanna Zell, and to the diplomats who participated in the program by asking one of the Four Questions in their own languages: the consuls general of Greece (Symeon Tegos), Japan (Kotaro Suzuki), Germany (Sonja Kreibich) and El Salvador (Abelino Chicas).
Please be sure to check out the photos of this year’s AJC New England Diplomats Seder in our Facebook photo album!
Thank you for joining us!
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