Velveteen Rabbi's Haggadah for Pesach!
Purim sameach! I hope everyone's having a marvelous Purim.
Last night was the full moon of Adar II. From here, the moon will wane...and wax...and before we know it, the full moon of Nissan will be upon us, which means Pesach! Which means it's time for me to joyously announce:
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The Velveteen Rabbi's Haggadah for Pesach, version 6.0 [.pdf download, 2.6M]
Praise for the haggadah:
I made my first Passover tonight. I frantically searched the internet over the last couple of days to find an alternative haggadah which would speak to my heart and soul. I found yours... Your words and vision made this Passover the most meaningful and enriching I've had so far. -- Robin, New York
I used your haggadah this year and wanted to let you know how meaningful it was. It struck the right chord of being feminist without excluding men. Rather it brought the importance of women into the ceremony in a lovely balanced way. -- Merlinda, Nova Scotia
I used your haggadah as my foundation for leading the second seder for my family... They told me afterwards it was the most meaningful seder they had ever attended -- actually they told me it was the FIRST meaningful seder they had ever attended. -- Rhonda, Massachusetts
Your haggadah may be THE best haggadah I have seen in a very long time. It has all the social justice things in it that I want to be there, but it is not sententious, it is joyous in spirit, the illustrations are wonderful, ditto the poems. -- Alicia, New Jersey
It's been two years since I last released a new version of my haggadah, and I'm really happy with how the text has evolved. You'll still find great poetry here, and a creative and heartfelt set of responses to the holiday and its traditions; that's as true now as it was seven years ago when this haggadah first took form.
But this year you'll also find
some new strengths. I've revamped the Hebrew text, which is
both more complete and more readable (now, with vowels!) In
addition to adding contemporary and creative readings and poems,
I've also folded back in some of the traditional texts which were absent
from former versions.(Though there still isn't a full traditional birkat ha-mazon in these pages; if you want one, I can point you to a good one online
here.) One way or another I hope the haggadah enriches your Pesach.
My deepest thanks are due to everyone who helped midwife this year's version of the haggadah into being, most especially Natalie d'Arbeloff for this year's cover image and R' Megan Doherty for proofreading; any remaining errors are mine alone. Thanks, too, to the artists who donated artwork two years ago, whose work still graces these pages.
And thanks to all of you who've used the haggadah over the years and have sent me emails or comments to tell me what worked, what didn't, and what resonated most for you. I appreciate all of you more than you know.
Technorati tags: religion, Judaism, JewishRenewal, Pesach, haggadah.
Rachel, I'm very happy to see my design on your Haggadah cover and send you and yours my love and good wishes for these holidays.
Posted by: Natalie | March 21, 2008 at 12:45 PM
Yay! an updated Haggadah! Thank you kindly!
Posted by: cynthia | March 21, 2008 at 07:13 PM
Rachel, you are AWSOME!
xo
Aliza
Posted by: Aliza | March 21, 2008 at 09:41 PM
thank you, dear Rachel! looking forward to reading it over Pesach (especially reflective one for me, as i am away from family and friends this year)
hope your preparations will not drain you of energy completely;)
K.
Posted by: K. | March 23, 2008 at 12:46 PM
Yay! It's done. I'm so glad I was able to help.
Posted by: Megan | March 24, 2008 at 11:07 AM
My Adult B'nai Mitzvah class loves your Haggadah. Can you check page 10? Does the Hebrew match the transliteration?
Posted by: Dr. Tim Mooney | March 29, 2008 at 07:05 PM
Thank you for the great work.
Posted by: Ilana-Davita | March 30, 2008 at 03:44 PM
This is beautiful (as was the last version). I'm looking forward to sharing it with my partner's family, who are collectors of haggadot, and with whom I'm spending the seders for the first time.
Posted by: Kate | April 02, 2008 at 04:27 PM
Congratulations on writing your own haggadah. I especially like your explanatory notes, such as the notes on God's Name and on the origins of the holiday.
You might be interested in looking and what I've written, found here:
http://biblicalpassover.com/
Thanks.
Posted by: Ami Hertz | April 13, 2008 at 01:47 AM
Rachel - this haggadah is truly amazing. Passover has always been my very favorite holiday, but as my political sensibilities have evolved, the celebration has become tinged with the constrictions of patriarchy and culture-boundness. I have longed for newer traditions that might challenge my family to collectively expand our understanding of oppression, and what our role is in interrupting it for not just Jews, but for all who suffer.
Thank you so much!
Posted by: Bree | April 14, 2008 at 09:30 PM
I am unable to download your updated Haggadah and am very interested in using it for Saturday's seder. Is anyone else having technical difficulties? Please respond back and advise. Thank you so very much.
Posted by: Karen | April 14, 2008 at 11:20 PM
Thank you all for the kind words!
Bree, I just posted here asking whether anyone else has experienced similar troubles downloading; I'll let you know what I hear from them.
Tim, I'm so glad you're reading this with your adult b'nai mitzvah class! In the version I have printed here page 10 doesn't have any Hebrew on it. Page 9 does, and I've just checked the Hebrew there against the transliteration and it seems okay to me. Is there something in particular that looked off to you?
Posted by: Rachel | April 15, 2008 at 11:07 AM
Thank you for the transliterated Haggadah, our passover seder is going to be wonderful. My grandfather passed away last year and he would always do the blessings in hebrew. But since I haven't read hebrew since my Bar-Mitzvah this was going to be a difficult year. Thank you.
Posted by: Robert M | April 20, 2008 at 04:09 AM