Adena Berkowitz

This is not your grandmother's Maxwell House Haggadah. It has a thoughtful design and beautiful photographs. There are discussion questions and points for reflection as well as the standard service. There are activities for children and even jokes. As a non-Hebrew reader, I appreciate the transliterations. The Mah Nishtanah is provided in multiple languages, including Yiddish and Ladino, again with transliterations, for the non-Latin alphabets. A few recipes in the back round out the complete experience.… (altro)

Beautifully compiled, easy to understand, open and welcoming complete explanation of and step-by-step how-to for the Passover Seder. Includes ideas for vegetarians, how to better engage children, alternative meanings and/or practices, the science behind the plagues, and colorful photography.

As a religious studies major and recent discoverer of Ashkenazi ancestors, I was most interested in the copious entries explaining the "Background" of each step in the Seder as well as the "Reflection" - bringing the meaning of each step more fully into our current lives while reflecting back on the true hardships our ancestors experienced on that first Passover.

The four Mah Nishtanah questions are presented in Yiddish, Ladino, Arabic, Russian, Spanish, French, and English. Appendices include alternative, fun songs, humor, stories, thoughts, suggestions, and recipes. Nice introduction to Passover for new Jews, kids/teens, students of religion, or anyone curious about the Night Different from All Other Nights.

I received my copy free from the publisher via LibraryThing Early Reviewers in exchange for my honest review.… (altro)

I found this book to be a well presented and interesting guide to the Passover feast. The different levels at which engagement is encouraged, from suggestions for activities for youngsters through to deeper reflections on Passover themes was excellent. As a someone who doesn't read Hebrew, I appreciated the parallel transliterations provided, though perhaps an appendix including a pronunciation guide would have been helpful. I would also have appreciated an overview of the whole feast, either in the introduction or in an appendix, to fully appreciate how all the different sections of the feast work together.… (altro)

The Jewish holiday of Passover is centred on the home and family. Beginning with the dinner known as a "Seder" ( or "order")families recite the story of how the Jewish people were enslaved in Egypt and how Moses brought them out of bondage. Many families, like the author, use or display many different Haggadahs ( a "how to "conduct the seder with passages, prayers and directions) My late brother used to put out his collection of Haggadahs- modern versions, facsimiles of ancient documents and one family heirloom belonging to his wife. I,too, collect Haggadahs. I have a copy of the Sarajevo Haggadah and a modern update that features the history of Jews in Canada in English, French and Hebrew. This new Haggadah has some very interesting additions to the traditional text that I really appreciate. The author relates the history of many of the passages and explains how and when they were incorporated into the Haggadah over time. There are interesting reflections that can be discussed at the Seder table. Discussion and debate are really an important part of the Seder meal. There are some suggestions of activities for children-who have an important role to play at the Seder as they ask what we would call the " trigger questions" that lead to the recital and discussion of the story of the Exodus from Egypt. There are some new songs added at the back of the book( a little cheesy but would appeal to young children) and a section on recipes. I did enjoy the read and think that for me -the parts that I liked the best were the sections on the history of the prayers and passages.… (altro)