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Clergy Column by Rabbi Jonathan Prosnit

 

The Passover Haggadah

 

Passover 1945. A special Haggadah, called the Rainbow Haggadah, is produced for this special seder meal in Dahn, Germany. The Haggadah begins with a message from Major General Harry J. Collins of the 42nd Infantry Division: “My Jewish soldiers, the celebration of Passover should have unusual significance for you at this time, for like your ancestors of old, you too are now engaged in a battle against a modern Pharaoh. This Pharaoh has sought, not only to enslave your people, but to make slaves of the whole world.” The service ends with an English “Prayer For Home.” Rather than a traditional Passover song or “Next Year in Jerusalem,” the final song is My Country, ‘Tis of Thee.

 

According to the National Museum of Jewish American Military History (which has a collection of military Haggadot), during World War II* there were approximately 550,000 American Jews in service. Military Haggadot were produced by the Jewish Welfare Board and began during the First World War. During World War II, there were Haggadot used on Passover by American troops in the Pacific, in North Africa, and in Europe. There is even a Haggadah of The Jewish Brigade, part of the British Army, and primarily composed of Jews who lived in Palestine. 

According to Rabbi Eli Boenheim, the chaplain of the 42nd Infantry, the production of the Rainbow Hagaddah ”...was printed by the press which prints our Division newspaper. The press uses the photo-offset method. The Hebrew text was taken from the prayer book for soldiers issued by the Jewish Welfare Board. It was prepared to be used at our division seder which was held in Dahn, Germany. The Haggadah has significance for this reason, I believe. I am confident that it is the first Hebrew religious work printed in Germany since the advent of Hitler. You may also be interested to learn that the soldiers who did the actual printing told us that when they had to clean the press before printing the Haggadah, the only rags available were some Nazi flags, which for once served a useful purpose.” 

The Haggadah, which means “telling” in Hebrew, is a written guide to the Passover seder. Passover remains one of the most important and widely observed Jewish holidays and the Haggadah serves as the core text on Passover. But, despite its ubiquity, the Haggadah has never been uniform; throughout our history, the Haggadah has always been updated and adapted to meet the realities of Jews wherever and whenever they lived. One of the most famous is the Birds’ Head Haggadah, which dates to 13th century Germany where, responding to a medieval artistic style, the depiction of human figures are drawn with pronounced birds’ heads. This Haggadah is now on display at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. 

In more modern times, Haggadot have come to reflect cultural mores. There are LGBTQ Haggadot, feminist-themed Haggadot, Haggadot with vegetarian-leaning text and Haggadot that don’t require the reader to consume alcohol. Last year, Maxwell House released a throwback Mrs. Maisel Haggadah.  Whichever Haggadah you use, remember that the Haggadah is just a jumping off point to your seder. Rabbi Neil Gillman called the Haggadah a textbook: “The Haggadah text, moreover, is never complete; it is always in the process of formation. The printed text is simply the point of departure, and every class is encouraged to edit the book as the class progresses, to omit and/or add to the received text. Though each seder is roughly the same, no two are identical, and even the same family’s seder may change from year to year as participants change.”  

And since the Haggadah is just a textbook, here are a few ideas to spice up your seder this year:

  • Question and conversations are essential to a Passover seder. What are some questions you may want to pose at your seder? (What’s a question you would have liked to ask your grandmother, great-grandfather? What else should be on our seder plate? What should the 5th question be? What’s your family’s origin story?)
  • Add some friendly competition to your seder. (Who can ask the best question? Who can write the best haiku about a part of the seder? Who can read Who Knows One the fastest?) 
  • Include modern readings, songs or audio clips. 
  • Have a Passover grab bag for which each person reaches into a bag, pulls out an object and explain how that object connects to Passover. 
  • Do a little pre-work and bring a reading or a poem to your seder (check out organizations such as American Jewish World Service, HIAS or Hazon for thematic supplements) 
  • Make a Passover bingo board (great for kids) to pass around at the start of the seder. 
  • Check out additional recommended Passover resources.

One of my professors, Rabbi Larry Hoffman, had a teacher who asked why even “the wise” are obligated to tell the Haggadah story anew, every year. “And,” recalls Rabbi Hoffman with delight, “the answer is wonderful: Because it’s never the same story. The story changes as our lives change. It’s a spiritual moment for me, whenever I discover something new in a text that I’ve encountered hundreds of times before, and suddenly think, ‘I never thought of it that way before.’ There are these secrets in Torah that God hides and wants us to find — like a divine afikoman that God has hidden away.”
 
A zissen Pesach — may your Passover be sweet and filled with dreams of a world redeemed. 

*Please visit https://nmajmh.org for more history on Jewish American GI’s during World War II.

Thu, March 28 2024 18 Adar II 5784