New American Haggadah

The fonts and translations are a little challenging for this haggadah. Its commentary doesn't pose questions or even really follow a single central theme. If you choose to grapple with this haggadah there are definite insights to the magid section. I found Lemony Snicket's commentary the most challenging and hardest to rap my head around (He is considered to be "playful" in the commentary and is there for a laugh) but working through those emotions came to new insights to the story that brought this up from a 3 star to a 4 star haggadah.

We purchased and used this Haggadah for the first time this year. Having used many different Haggadahs over the years, here are my thoughts on this one. Pros: really thoughtful and insightful readings; at first I wasn't so sure about the translation Lord our God, God of Us, but it actually grew on me; my history buff college age son loved the historical timeline and notes that appeared at the topmost edge and ran through the entire volume; my middle teenage science nerd son loved that the volume encouraged him to hold it sideways for some readings; we read many of the sets of 4 mini essays that appear throughout the volume, these were terrific conversation starters for older children, teens and college students. Cons: LONG, did I mention LONG; few transliterations to aid those at the table who are not confident with the Hebrew, the Hebrew font is difficult to read, the Hebrew font changes font sizes many times in one paragraph which is very difficult for the older folks at the table, sometimes the Hebrew is printed on top of illustrations that make vowel identification a little tricky in spots; the main sections of the seder are not well marked, often the important notes that identify sections appear as notes in a tiny font on the edges of the sections. This Haggadah would have benefited from better organization and labeling. We like to use supplementary materials and readings from past loved Haggadahs, so when we wanted to tuck out and then tuck back in to this Haggadah, it was often difficult to find well-known sections of the seder. Even for those who know the seder service well, I would recommend spending an hour with the book before you lead a table service with a pen and a pad of yellow stickies to clearly mark sections you want to use, since it is so very long with so very many options for readings, another important preparation step is to mark the pages and readings that you know you don't want to use, we did lose quite a bit of time trying to find our way through the volume, some of our favorite songs were not there (or at least we could not find them) and so we went scrambling for another Haggadah for the after the dinner portion of the service. Our consensus on how we will use this Haggadah in the future is likely as a source of readings and supplements to another Haggadah. The readings really were fabulous and lend themselves to both spirited discussion and personal reflection.

Last week we took delivery of the Foer/Englander Haggadah; my wife and I have been reading it all week long in preparation for the two seders which we host for family and friends.During our process of changing dishes and augering boxes, I found an old newspaper I used to wrap Passover dishes many years earlier. It was the NY Times from April 2nd, 1999 and in front of me was the book review for Mr. Englander's book--'For the Relief of Unbearable Urges', one of his first.I took this as a sign that this review was waiting for me, all these 13 years to re-discover and read along with his co-authored Haggadah.Was this fate? Destiny? Coincidence? Or, was it just one of those things that happen that can change the course of one's mindset?I don't know. But I do recommend both of these works to all who seek a different and indeed refreshing perspective on things.

This book was heavily marketed as something new and interesting that you had to have for Passover. It was way overhyped. It was sold as having an improved English translation, interesting commentary, inspiring images, and an approach that aided you in remembering that you were a slave in Egypt. It accomplished 0.0 of those things.The translation is not better than what I've seen out there.The added commentary is sort of night school philosophy 101 style. I enjoyed it, but that's more of a strike against me.The imagery is just not that inspiring. It's different Hebrew fonts throughout history. The idea is that Jews have been around long enough to develop different fonts. It's cute.It is `traditionally' sexist, as others have pointed out, but beyond that it promised to be moving, poetic, and relatable to the 21st century American and it just plain wasn't. The English text was sort of discombobulated. I must be doing it wrong, but when you read it straight through it does not form a coherent whole, it just sounds like a bunch of prayers strung together. Sometimes the same prayer said in a different way. That's what made me mad enough to write this review. When you heard Foer talking about it, he made it sound like he was revising the Haggadah as a sort of play, where we at the dinner table would all become actors who experienced what it was like to live in Egypt. That idea really spoke to me, because Passover as a kid was when I learned about Jewish history, and making us at the table a part of it sounded like an amazing experience that I wanted to try. I just didn't get that reading the book.

I read this before Passover and found it very well written, with some interesting information and food for thought as well as amusing sidebars. While it is beautifully designed, it would not be suitable for use with my own family during our seders since it does not include transliteration of Hebrew--some of us don't read Hebrew and yet the sound of the Hebrew words is important to us. Still, I found myself interrupting the seder with a few tidbits I'd picked up from this volume--both as launching points for discussion and factual clarification. I noticed that some readers were upset that gender wasn't addressed (or "corrected") in the translation; this didn't trouble me, perhaps because I grew up with it. I enjoyed the frequent commentary from four perspectives and the running timeline of Jewish history. All in all I felt this was a worthy effort and I'm happy to have it. I'll likely reread it before next Passover.

Die Haggada ist eine Sammlung von Gebeten, Liedern, Geschichten rund um den Auszug der Israeliten aus Ägypten und Handlungsanweisungen für den Sederabend, dem Auftakt des Pessachfestes, an dem im Kreis der Familie oder Gemeinde an den Auszug aus Ägypten erinnert wird.Hier haben sich einige der herausragenden jüdischen Intellektuellen Amerikas zusammengetan, um eine gleichermaßen moderne wie traditionelle Haggada herauszugeben. Jonathan Safran Foer hat die Texte zusammengestellt und von Nathan Englander stammt die neue Übersetzung der Texte in die englische Sprache. Diese liturgischen Texte werden ergänzt durch eine Zeitschiene, die von Mia Sara Bruch zusammengestellt wurde und durch kritische und geistreiche Kommentare, die von Nathaniel Deutsch, Jeffrey Goldberg, Rebecca Newberger Goldstein und Lemony Snicket beigesteuert wurden und die immer wieder in den Text der Haggada eingestreut sind.Von besonderem Reiz ist die Gestaltung dieses Buches. Oded Ezer ist einer der führenden Typografen unserer Zeit. Er hat die Seiten mit Mut zu viel freiem Raum zwischen den hebräischen und englischen Texten gestaltet. Oded Ezer füllt diese Flächen mit hervorragenden Interpretationen der hebräischen Schriftzeichen, die ein optischer Genuss sind. Im Kopf der Seiten findet der Leser dieses Buches eine Zeitleiste, die mit der ersten schriftlichen Erwähnung der Juden vor dreitausend Jahren beginnt und bis in unsere Tage einen chronologischen Abriss bemerkenswerter Ereignisse zusammenstellt, die mit dem Pessachfest verbunden sind. Ezers typografische Gestaltung folgt dieser Chronologie und zeichnet die Schrift in ihrem jeweiligen zeitlichen Kontext nach.Auch für alle, die mit den religiösen Traditionen im Judentum und dem Pessachfest nicht vertraut sind, ist diese Haggada ein wundervolles Buch mit hohem ästhetischem Anspruch -' ebenso literarisch wie gestalterisch.

Wonderful text and graphics. Interesting commentaries and poetry. Definitely a "must" for families seeking alternatives to traditional Haggadahs. Creative and thought-provoking.

good deal

I loved the commentaries. Learned, subtle, advancing new interpretations and showing the modern and universal message of the Haggadah. Some were outright hilarious. A refreshing reading of this ancient story

Voilà une édition ou texte sacré, création typo et graphique sont portés au sommet, ou le plaisir de l’œil et de l’esprit se rejoignent.