Haggadah means "telling." The Passover Haggadah is a framework, an order, for the telling of the Exodus from Egypt. The word Seder actually means Order. But the story of the Exodus itself is certainly not told in any clear, linear way in the Haggadah. In every generation, maybe even every year, Jewish people reinvent the actual story, using the traditional framework provided by the Haggadah. Many of us got used to the Maxwell House version of the Haggadah which was widely distributed by the coffee company in the twentieth century. There are also many other historical and contemporary versions of the Haggadah. Let's delve into the priceless sacred formula for celebrating spring and liberation. What makes a Haggadah a Haggadah? What must it include and where can creativity and contemporary relevance have a voice?
First Session
In this session which is scheduled just before Pesach, we will look at key features of all Haggadot, learning about how and when they developed. This will prepare participants to engage more deeply with the Haggadah at your own seders. You will need a copy of a traditional Haggadah such as anything published before 1968. If you can’t get access to such a text from your own library, reach out to other congregants. We will look at the order and the building blocks of the “telling.” You may be surprised when you look closely that the Haggadah does not even mention Moses’ name and has a lot in it other than the story of the Exodus from Mitzrayim.
Assignments
1. Read this short text. See if you can find in your Haggadah text the key parts of any Haggadah that are explained in this reading.
2. Use this worksheet to understand the four key biblical quotes in the Hagaddah and see how they are used as scaffolding for the liberation story.
This program will be presented on Zoom. The link will be sent to all Leyv Ha-Ir members. Guests are welcome and must register to receive the Zoom information.
The other sessions in this series will be on April 19 and May 3.
There is no charge for this program, although donations from guests are welcome here to support our programs.
