This series is being posted before the first seder, which occurs this year on the evening of April 18. The Seder is the ceremonial meal marking the beginning of Passover, or Pesach. Passover is named for the Angel of Death passing over the homes of the Israelites on the night of the tenth plague, the death of the firstborn. The word Pesach has the same root as paschal lamb, as it was a lamb that was killed and eaten on that night and whose blood on the doorposts let the Angel of Death know that Israelites lived within.
The Haggadah is the book we use at the seder to tell the story of Passover. The word Seder means order. The rabbis took the commandment to eat the meal and tell the story of the exodus from Egypt and added symbolic representations of different aspects of the story, along with prayers, songs, and of course explanations.
Hopefully this series will add to the discussions at our respective seders.
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Over the next week you will be able to read about the different parts of the seder. After candle lighting, we really begin with questions, and then we proceed to answer them with the explanation of the symbols on the seder plate, and thus to the telling of the story.
There are two tellings of the story of the exodus from Egypt in the Torah, in Exodus and Deuteronomy. But the story in the Haggadah is not from either of these texts. Rather it is from another celebration, one that only took place during the times of the Temples - the bringing of the first fruits to the Temple. "My father was a wandering Aramean" it begins, and in few words tells suffering oppression in Egypt:
He went down to Egypt in meager numbers; but there he became a great and very populous nation. The Egyptians dealt harshly with us and oppressed us; they imposed heavy labor upon us. We cried out to the Lord...and the Lord heard our plea and saw our plight, our misery, and our oppression. The Lord freed us from Egypt with a mighty hand, by an outstretched arm and awesome power, and by signs and portents.
Along the way there are songs and prayers, plagues and miracles, and discussion of the different parts of the story, including records of discussions held in former times.
Why this version? The rabbis point out that Moses is never mentioned in the Haggadah though his part in the story is huge. Rather, the story in the Haggadah is a reminder that God did this, and any leader would have been merely an instrument. I generally don't like the God in the Exodus, whom I find to be rather like a court magician and an egomaniac, but the Haggadah makes it a story of a personal relationship between us (we must tell the story as if it were happening to us now) and God. Each of us must take responsibility for our own experiences. And each of us can be an instrument of liberation for ourselves and others.
There are hundreds if not thousands of versions of the Haggadah in print. Some are wonderfully illustrated and illuminated. Some have a definite political bent, such as a feminist or LGBT perspective. Some are for families with small children, and are written to be completed much more quickly than usual. There is at least one Holocaust Haggadah. Some are aimed at children, with games and skits to be acted out. The point is to make each seder relevant to those present, using the language and actions that make it understandable and meaningful to them.
And some are humorous. If you've never seen it, here is a link to the Facebook Haggadah.
Correction:
Shakshuka points out that it is God himself who executes the death of the firstborn, with this quote from the Haggadah:
"And I have passed in the Land of Egypt on this night. I and not an angel
And I shall strike all firstborns in the land of Egypt, I and not an angel.
And I will destroy (?) the gods of Egypt. I and not a messenger.
I am God, I am He and no other."
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