In Diana Brement’s February book reviews, she selected a few haggadot for early bird shoppers wanting to get a jump on their Passover preparations. Below are a few more choices, as well as supplements to both the holiday and the meal.
“A Mystical Haggadah” by Rabbi Eliahu Klein (North Atlantic Books, $16.95)
Not for the faint of heart or fans of the short seder.
This is a complex haggadah that stops at nearly every point in the telling of the Passover story to discuss the meaning and greater mystical significance of every action undertaken during the seder, as well as including the occasional story with lessons and miracles of harder, but more pious times.
Rabbi Klein borrows from Chassidic masters and features descriptions of his own experiences, providing meditations every step of the way while he blesses God and the shechinah.
Here’s a passage from Yachatz, the breaking of the middle matzoh:
“I heard from Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach (of blessed memory), “˜We break this matzah and hide a part of our selves. Only we know which part we are hiding. It is the part that is our broken heart that we hide and protect as we travel through the Haggadah. At the end of the Seder, we bring out this precious part that has become healed. At this moment we eat this broken piece.’ This means we integrate the healing of liberation into our daily lives.”
At 190 pages, including a glossary and some beautiful art, as well as mandalas and recreations of ancient texts, this haggadah is indeed long, but for those looking for inner meaning, they may well find it in this text.
“Telling the Story: A Passover Haggadah Explained” by Barry Louis Polisar (Rainbow Morning Music, $7.95)
On the flip side of A Mystical Haggadah comes the very short Telling the Story. Fans of the soundtrack to the movie Juno may recognize Polisar’s name as the singer/songwriter of the opening track, “All I Want is You.” Be forewarned: this haggadah is nowhere near as whimsical as the song (or the others that he regularly performs).
The Maryland-based performer and children’s book writer (he’s got a dozen under his belt) recruited his daughter Sierra to illustrate this compact retelling of the Passover story, leaving everything in but abridging the retelling to the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Consider it perfect for the seder leader who might otherwise have marked which pages to skip or who might just want to get through the thing quickly so that everyone can eat. It might also be great for the family with young kids, so they can experience the seder without enduring the boring discussions that a fuller reading entails.
Available at www.ipgbook.com.
Mindy’s Passover Parsley by Barbara Goldberg (Publish America, $19.95)
The author is well-known locally, having spent more than 20 years teaching at the Stroum Jewish Community Center’s preschool and now at Congregation Beth Shalom. She recently completed this book, named for her own daughter, about a little girl who plants some parsley, then watches it grow, harvesting it only for each year’s Passover seder.
The story is cute and could do a good job of helping younger children — ages about 3 to 6 — better understand the different elements of the seder plate while explaining how the karpas, the greens, come from a source more organic than the supermarket produce section.
The illustrations are by local artist Miriam Terlinchamp. Currently available at www.publishamerica.com and at Tree of Life Judaica & Books.
“Why is this Night Different From All Other Nights? The Four Questions Around the World” by Ilana Kurshan (Schocken Books, $16)
While this isn’t a haggadah per se, it takes a different look at one of the most important and well-known parts of the seder: the Four Questions.
Providing the questions in 19 different languages, from Afrikaans to Ladino to Yiddish (plus, of course, Hebrew), this compact but informative book lists the questions in the native script — the Amharic printing, which I’d never seen before, is beautiful (and hopefully spelled correctly) — as well as in transliteration. Descriptions of Jewish communities in each of the countries represented give short but concise histories, and the drawings or photos give a nice visual context to each translation.
This book might be best suited to seders with older kids, particularly for those who have an interest in foreign lands.
To find JTNews’ other Haggadah selections, find them online at www.jtnews.net/index.php?/news/item/books_in_brief8.