It\’s one of the great mysteries of the Jewish tradition. Every year, Jews around the world gather around a seder table to retell the story of our people\’s liberation from slavery. You can read a thousand articles, talk to a thousand rabbis, and they\’ll all say the same thing: At the Passover seder, we retell the story of the Exodus.\n\nThere\’s only one problem with this statement: It\’s not really true.
Both the composition and inclusion of \”Had Gadya\” into the Passover haggadah are shrouded in mystery.
This popular Aramaic song, chanted at the end of the seder purportedly to keep the children awake, is dated no earlier than the 15th century. Composed of 10 stanzas, \”Had Gadya\” follows a cumulative pattern similar to \”The House That Jack Built,\” where a new detail is added in each stanza.
This season, several new haggadahs raise new questions. New interpretations bring new approaches to the seder, enabling readers and participants to bring new layers of meaning to their own celebrations of the holiday.
If you recall, a couple of weeks ago I asked you if there were Passover experiences that really moved you. Well, all I can say is I\’m glad I asked.\n
When author Marge Piercy was a little girl, her grandmother set a special place at the Passover seder for Blackie, her grandmother\’s cat.
The Haggadah tells us \”you were strangers in the land of Egypt.\” Here is the interesting thing — because we were strangers, we are supposed to learn not how the Israelites should have acted, but — how the Egyptians should have acted. We are supposed to learn how not to oppress others. Don\’t treat others the way we were treated.
Moshe Hammer\’s pieces look like quirkier, black-ink versions of medieval illuminated manuscripts. The Hebrew letters dance and morph into images based on his intensive studies of commentaries on the sefarim. Apparently, Hammer was feverishly working on such drawings when he took one of his late-night walks to clear artist\’s block in July 2004. He had trekked miles from his Fairfax area apartment when the truck hit him at the intersection of Santa Monica Boulevard and Western Avenue, killing him instantly, according to a coroner\’s report.
The haggadah hints that Jews ignore the way they are spoken about at their own peril. Actions too often follow words.
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