Monday, Apr. 18, 2011

Haggadoth for All

As boisterous as some seders may get — seder is Hebrew for order, and the Haggadah (the telling) is the book that attempts to maintain it — that doesn't mean you can't have variations on the freedom theme. There are thousands of Haggadoth available, and even if you know several, there are bound to be some you're not familiar with. Interfaith, lesbian, secular/humanistic, vegetarian, a recovering alcoholic? There's a Haggadah for that (i.e., Haggadah for the Liberated Lamb and The Anonymous Haggadah: A Synthesis of the Passover Ritual and Liturgy with the Twelve Steps of Recovery).

In 1946, Holocaust survivors put together A Survivors' Haggadah; in the 1970s, The Women's Haggadah was first published in Ms. magazine. While some may prefer The Santa Cruz Haggadah, which has a hippie-inspired figure on its cover, others may long for the pre–printing press days of the illuminated Birds' Head Haggadah. Some may be content with Maxwell House editions, published since the early 1930s. Of course, you can always compile your own version, and today you can do so online, using sites like the Open Source Haggadah.