April 14, 2014
Dear Rabbi,
Members of Pine Valley Christian Church join with you and members of Congregation Emanu-El in the observance of Passover and the celebration of human freedom. We will observe a symbolic Seder meal on Maundy Thursday of our Holy Week.
The bitter herb of the Seder meal reminds us of the bitterness of history, which has been most recently experienced in the tragic deaths outside the Jewish Community Center in Kansas City. The attack on the Overland Park Jewish Community Center was an attack not only on the Center and the Jewish Community, but on people of faith and good will everywhere. Two of the people killed in this shooting, Dr. Bill Corporon and Reat, his grandson, were connected with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) community. Dr.Corporon’s father was at one time the pastor of Central Christian Church, Enid, Oklahoma.
The Seder meal calls us to refuse to be slaves to oppressive powers, and to build a society free from fear because that is what God has created us to do.
In this time of sorrow we hold you and members of congregation and the Corporon family in our prayers.
Shalom,
Reverend David Hansen