JEWISH WORLD

By STEVE LIPMAN A s publishing of physical books in this online-virtual era has become a risky proposition, the issue of new Haggadot has decreased in number in recent years. With the problems posed by the pandemic (less discre- tionary income for purchases, fewer bookstores open) adding to the risk, a new crop of Haggadot — the most-published book in the Jewish world — seemed unlikely. But COVID-19 has not stifled Jewish creativity. Some new Haggadot — in print- ed form, or ebooks or supplements to be downloaded at/for the seder — are available this year. Here are some of the new Haggadot: Haggadah For The Pandemic Era By Ron Houston A product of the Modern Ortho- dox movement in Baltimore, and a member of a prominent Conservative congregation in Hous- ton, Dr. Ron Moses grew up attend- ing the Passover seders conducted by his Israeli grandfather, a tradi- tional Orthodox rabbi who ran a standard, hours-long “from-cover- to-cover” seder that employed a standard Haggadah. Moses, a physician, has produced a very untraditional Haggadah. His “Express Haggadah,” a card- board foldout — inspired by the “bencher” sheets that contain the text of the blessings after meals, found in many Jewish homes — with simple-but-engaging artwork, is designed for people with short attention spans and limited knowl- edge of the seder night require- ments. In other words, it’s perfect for men and women and children who want to participate in a seder, but in the ongoing COVID-19 era of lim- ited ability to spend yom tov with friends or to invite people who are not members of one’s immediate family, don’t wish to devote the night of the seder to reading every word that most Haggadot contain. In other words, a Zoom crowd, largely not Orthodox. But Moses, a veteran collector of hundreds of Haggadot, came up with the idea of his “Express Haggadah” the year before the pandemic struck. Sensing a decreasing interest in the standard Haggadot that contain many unfamiliar readings and ritu- als and lead to hours-long seders, he produced a limited number of his Haggadah for use by his circle of friends and fellow congregants in 2019. He distributed several hun- dred copies, mostly around Hous- ton, in the early days of the pan- demic last year, and is officially debuting it for wider use, outside of southeast Texas, in 2021. Waterproof and stainproof, fea- turing English and Hebrew and transliteration, it’s a serious but fun pro- duct, designed with children and people who have never led their own seder in mind. Unlike trun- cated versions of the Haggadah that have appeared in recent years, sacrificing essential parts of the text and rituals, Mo- ses’s Haggadah in- cludes references to and descriptions of all 15 steps of the se- der, based on his year of online study with Rabbi Matt Berkowitz, a friend in Israel, and with local scholars. “The basic requirements,” says Moses. T he timing, with the Haggadah ready during the coronavirus out- break, was “sort of accidental, [but pro- vidential],” Moses says — many mem- bers of “North American Jewry” weren’t prepared for a full seder last year, and needed a guide. The “Express Haggadah” ( ex- presshaggadah.com ) was a 2020 hit among the limited number of people who received a copy, many of which were hand-delivered by the author himself and his son Avi. The title has a dual meaning: The Haggadah’s message is to “express yourself,” and to do it in a quick manner. “We’re in the express lane,” with no requirement to read every word of a standard Hagg- adah, Moses says. He adds, “We’re not in a rush.” His Haggadah can take about an hour to complete, far less than many seders — in- cluding those led by his late grandfather. Moses’s Haggadah features help- ful charts and illustrations, Miri- am’s Cup and an orange on the se- der plate, a brief synopsis of the Is- raelite chronology in ancient Egypt, and such thought-provoking questions as “Are you a slave to something? Do we have a responsi- bility to protest injustice, wherever it may exist?” “We want people to ask lots of questions,” Moses says. “I didn’t want it to be boring.” The cover art depicts a seder table crowd that includes Black Jews and a young girl in a wheel- chair. “It needs to be accessible to everybody.” What would his grandfather, who died nearly 20 years ago, think of the “Express Haggadah” Moses penned? He probably would not use it at his own seder table, Moses says. But, he adds, “He would be very excited to know that more people are engaged with the seder.” The Haggadah About Nothing: The (unofficial) Seinfeld Haggadah By Rabbi Sam Reinstein. R abbi Reinstein, the young leader of a small Modern Orthodox congregation in Brook- lyn, spent a few hundred hours in the past year watching every episode of "Seinfeld," the popular 1990s sitcom about four self- absorbed Upper West Side resi- dents. Not that there's anything wrong with that. The result of the rabbi's binge spree is The Haggadah About Nothing , which ties the themes and the characters of the program to the themes of the seder. While the show was only obliquely Jewish, Rabbi Reinstein has found enough in the 180 (coin- cidentally, 10 times chai ) episodes to successfully fill 168 pages with Jewish content. About the book's title... The Haggadah About Nothing is clear- ly about something — loyalty, friendship, faith in God, and other Jewish values. "It definitely is not a Haggadah about nothing. This is a serious, actual Haggadah — it's a real Haggadah," says the rabbi, who has served six years at Congregation Kol Israel in Crown Heights, the neighborhood's only non-Hasidic Orthodox synagogue. Rabbi Reinstein, who was or- dained by Yeshiva University and received a master's degree in philos- ophy from the university's Bernard Revel Graduate School, became a "Seinfeld" fan in college, and decid- ed a year ago to produce a Haggadah centered around lessons he derived from the program, which ran on NBC from 1989 to 1998. Many of those lessons from the behavior of the main characters are nega- tive, he says — behavior not to be emulated, ways not to act; but the scripted actions of Jerry Seinfeld and his friends are realistic enough to strike a chord with many viewers. "I love the sitcom, I love Passover, and I started to map out a surprising number of overlapping themes and undercurrents between the two," he says. "It tapped into something — what people really are like" if they are not guided and tempered by higher val- ues — in other words, the Torah values that Rabbi Reinstein discusses in his commentary in the Hag- gadah. "These clearly are awful people," while Torah principles, reflected in the readings and rituals of the seder night, indicate ways to behave properly. T he rabbi's Haggadah is a combination of the tra- ditional (the full text in Hebrew and English) and the decid- edly non-traditional (a surfeit of ‘Seinfeld’ references and expres- sions in the Haggadah text and accompanying commentaries). While "Seinfeld may seem to be a resolutely unlikely Haggadah can- didate ... Seinfeld, and the Seder share similar messages in exactly the ways they seem starkly differ- ent," Rabbi Reinstein writes in the book's introduction. "The seder is supposed to change us. We are ... supposed to view the Exodus ... as a 8 JEWISH WORLD • MARCH 19-25, 2021 Haggadot For Our Time A collection that will pique the interest of Jews everywhere continued on page 28 COVER STORY