The 4th of July Declaration

Thank you for the inspiration to make our 4th of July celebration a teachable moment as well as a time to reflect on what it all means and what it all cost. We had 4 generations of family together along with good friends. Tears based in gratitude and many thanks given to me for hosting the event. I was surprised how many thank yous I received... everyone gladly participated and we are making plans for next year's seder.

Lisa K Hughes

Thank you for this royal idea: to celebrate our independence by having a July 4 Seder modeled simply after your Passover Seder.

Our first annual July 4 Seder was held at Everett Plaza, an Assisted Living Facility where I have been volunteer chaplain since 1984. It was extremely well received. All the seniors present tarried for a time afterwards to comment on other celebrations they remembered and to express their appreciation for such a meaningful observance.

Lauren, Michaela,
Conor and Luca Collins
Auburn, CA

My wife has listened to your radio programs for years and forwarded your e-mail to me while I was in prayer about this service.

G-d bless you,
Bernie J
Lake Stevens, WA 98258-3339

Better than School: This is a profound ritual! I believe it teaches more about America than 11th grade history class attended by my two kids. However, I must say I am depressed at how little appreciation and knowledge there is about how special America is. Those present at my Declaration wanted to spend the entire time talking about our treatment of Native Americans. Not surprising, they probably feel this makes them sound intelligent and intellectual. While my friends were more than happy to give me ten minutes of the BBQ time, they were largely "deer in headlights" throughout the reading. They are not DP listeners, so they have never heard any of this before. I introduced the subject of Mobility – economic and social, suggesting the mobility in America is by far greater than any other country. They had to think about it. Then I asked why they thought more people try to come to America – legally and illegally – than any other country? The question went without an answer. The ironic thing is a the father of my friend, an 86-year old Holocaust survivor, attended dinner but left before the ritual. My wife, a second generation survivor and lefty, asked him why he came to America. He only said lovingly in a Yiddish accent, "America." My brother based in the New York area and a strong left winger who believes the NYT is the proof text, but a host of 30 every Thanksgiving and Passover, told me this ritual was too pro-America and he just couldn't doo it – a real shame because his 13-year old loves history. One small suggestion: I would instruct the HOST to put out the symbols BEFORE the reading begins. Don't assume the leader has an experience of leading a Seder. Thanks for a POWERFUL teaching!

Roy Y
Beverly Hills

Even my liberal wife liked it. She read one of the questions, signed the Declaration, and totally enjoyed it. One of my son's friends happened to stop by, so he joined us. After singing "God Bless American," he said, "If I didn't live in America, I might not have been adopted."

This was just a trial run. Next year, we'll make it a party. And I intend to sell the idea to as many people as possible. Your idea has legs, Dennis. This practice is going to grow.

You are truly a blessing to America.
Barry S

I loved this idea, and sent the link to a friend who invited us over for a 4th BBQ.

Turns out she loved it, and every holiday her husband (who is from Israel) would prod her about "What type of holiday sale is it this time?" referring to American's lack of true tradition on holidays. She kept it a secret from everyone, including her spouse, and when she did it to her international crowd of 20+ people, everyone sang at the end, and her husband raved, stating he wants to do it every year. Bravo P.U. team! Now can I challenge you to come up with something for each of the major holidays? ;)

Thanks again.
Sincerely,
Evelyn C
Ojai, CA

There were approximately 70 people at our event. It was a great day; the best 4th of July that I ever celebrated. This was the 5th year that I have done the 4th of July Seder. Our party has grown, and this year we partnered with a family that came last year. It was so nice to see another family get excited about this event. Like I said on the radio, I really wished you could have been at the party. We did the 4th of July Declaration that we downloaded from Prager University. We had all the items that you suggested, and we even had a violinist play ‘God Bless America'! It was great. The Declaration Ceremony is the piece that has been missing from the party. In addition to the 4th of July Declaration, we also used the Celebrate America piece that you introduced last year. All the guests were assigned an identity of one of the signers. In order to encourage mingling, each guest was given information about another signer and they had to find that person. In the past, children were assigned a signer of the Declaration of Independence, but the interest hasn't been great. So, next year we intend to give the children information about a child that helped during the Revolutionary War. We found a book that tells the story of 100 children that helped in one way. Putting this together will be our assignment for the next year. In addition to all this, we have food, music, and games from 1776. In order to keep the children busy while the parents mingled, we had four stations for the children. One station was about games from 1776 that children played, at another station we made cards for soldiers, we made butter and ice cream, and we read books about the Declaration of Independence and the Revolutionary War. We also had potato sack races this year! Please know that you are invited to the Spirit of America Celebration in Waconia, Minnesota next year. We would love to have you there! I think you would enjoy it. You could do your show right from the farm........ I hope you enjoy the video. Please keep in mind that we are not professionals, but we tried! Thanks so much for all that you do!

Karen B