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Apr 19, '08 9:18 PM
for everyone

Every year I've been changing my haggadah, with the aim of making it more meaningful. This year I found myself chucking out all the customs and traditions and just going for what I believe is the essence of it: tell the story and focus on what it means.

This attachment is what I came up with. (not very long!)

We read it out - me doing the narration and my husband doing the Bible readings - and then sang and praised God, and then I explained to everyone that Jewish festivals are summed up: they tried to kill us, we survived, let's eat :-) so we ate.

I think it worked well, despite the fact that the computer decided to get stuck when I was trying to print out copies of the haggadah, and then the ink cartridge ran out... but what's a Seder without a bit of last minute panic :-)

Attachment: Haggadah 2008.pdf

Tags: passover, jewish, messianic

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snowburst wrote on Apr 19

meirav said

but what's a Seder without a bit of last minute panic

Amen to that!

Actually, I've been wanting to pare mine down for a couple of years now. When I had a lot of people from church who knew nothing of this holy day, it was fun having a full blown traditional seder. Everyone was so into it that time seemed to pass too quickly. Now, with just the family it would be nice to make it more simple. We ended up skipping quite a bit anyway. Joshua did love having his own part, so I'd have to keep at least 3 of the four questions. I did already get rid of the egg a long time ago. Didn't need an Easter add-on. So thank you for the inspiration. Looks like I'll be doing a re-write sometime soon.

I hope you and your friends had a good time. May you never cease to be amazed by this glorious miracle. Praise Y'shua, our Passover Lamb!

snowburst wrote on Apr 20

I just got the chance to read your haggadah. I like it. Short, sweet, to the point. It is a gift that I can appreciate very much, though it is a gift I do not possess.

I do like tradition that enhances Scripture, so I kept most of it. The pillow is gone since that really had nothing to do with it. Even though it was on my list of things to remember for preparation, we always forgot it anyway. My haggadah got rearranged more than shortened. In some places I even added a little. Though I ended up taking out 3 of the four questions, I added the question from Exodus 12:26, taking the Hebrew from my Tanach. There was also something I felt was missing with the third cup, so I felt very strongly about adding that, as well. But in the end 4 pages in my booklet got cut out. That translates to 2 full-size pages. Not bad, all things considered.

meirav wrote on Apr 21

Thanks, Leigh Ann, I'm glad you liked my short version. I have no doubt it will change again next year - very possibly with some of the traditional customs added back in... I'm not anti-tradition per se (only anti tradition that goes against Scripture), I just needed to rewrite the thing and put it in my words - if I'm the one that has to read it out, then I need to be able to own the words.

I really enjoyed the rewrite process, looking stuff up in the Bible and seeing what actually went on there instead of just reciting words from the haggadah without thinking - especially the ten plagues, I think this was the first time I read about them properly, and people at the Seder responded to this - it was so much more meaningful than just reciting: blood, frogs, etc. It brought the story to life, we found ourselves really imagining Pharaoh's stubbornness in the face of all these calamities. (Someone suggested a similarity to Mugabe.)

Will have a look at yours when I've got my coursework out of the way. Somehow I wasn't surprised to find you'd also written your own :-)

snowburst wrote on Apr 21

meirav said

especially the ten plagues, I think this was the first time I read about them properly, and people at the Seder responded to this - it was so much more meaningful than just reciting: blood, frogs, etc. It brought the story to life, we found ourselves really imagining Pharaoh's stubbornness in the face of all these calamities.

Oh no!!! Don't go giving me ideas for adding even more!!!

I've always felt that part was a bit empty, but how to elaborate on the other nine without making an already long service even longer! Mine might just get another update when I get home from work tomorrow morning. Don't know yet. I know you said you copied mine before, but if you do look, I'd much prefer you look at the new one I made instead ... if you don't mind.

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Shalom! Welcome! Come on in, make yourself at home, have a browse. I'd be interested to hear your comments. And please do come again!