The Family Haggadah
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This Haggadah was created because we needed to make Passover more interesting to our children and grandchildren. The traditional Passover seder did not engage them, The Passover experience became a chore, which defeated the purpose of the seder – teaching our children about the Exodus from Egypt. A change was needed.
First and foremost it had to be in English.
Second, modern day children have difficulty listening to only words being read out loud, because of TV, movies, video games, and the Internet. Children must have their thoughts, feelings, and imagination constantly involved, or they will leave the table, or worse – stay and cry.
We began by taking the existing haggadah, one page at a time, and outlining the ideas and the actions. The outline showed a methodology and a powerful symbolism, and the story of the Exodus was rich in human terms. The 10 plagues and the interaction between God, Moses and Pharaoh was dramatic. We also wanted to retain as many of the blessings and rituals as possible, while we modernized.
Much credit is given to my wife, Tziporah, who during our last “traditional” seder surprised us by having the grandchildren rain down little rubber frogs and locusts, and then put on masks of animals and growl, to animate the plagues. The interest of everyone at the seder, children and adults alike, perked up.
So we added more symbols for the plagues, more questions for the children besides the traditional four, and a role playing dialogue between Moses and Pharaoh for the adults. Our goal was to get everyone at the seder involved. Now, everyone looks forward to Passover – Thank God.
Please accept “The Family Haggadah” with our love and appreciation of the Jewish religion and our Torah.
Zalman Velvel ben Yisrael Yaakov
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