Time for a New Haggadah? This Year There Are Lots of Good Choices

Are you tired of celebrating the Passover seder with the same old Haggadah each year?

This week you can break out of the old routine and liven up your seder with a new look, new points of view, and openings for discussions and lively conversation.

Jonathan Gorfinkel, a cartoonist whose work appears each week in The Jewish Week, and editor of Batman Comics for many years, has published Passover Haggadah Graphic Novel, a 170 page volume that will greatly enhance your seder. 

Illustrated in gorgeous color by Israeli artist Erez Zadok, the Passover Haggadah Graphic Novel integrates a brand-new, modern translation into sophisticated and super-fun sequential art that brings the epic story to life. The result of extensive historical and linguistic research, every gorgeous panel imbues the classic narrative with renewed relevance and excitement. 

The graphic novel pages are presented alongside the unabridged, traditional Seder service text, in Hebrew and transliteration, and accompanied by how to instructional cartoons depicting all of the rituals, as celebrated every year for the last 4000 years in Jewish homes around the world. 

Another Haggadah with a fresh viewpoint is Just One, a Haggadah created for the National Council for Synagogue Youth (NCSY) by Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin, is designed with a clear focus  on "just one" idea, making each page and moment in the Seder come alive. This Haggadah is perfect for a teen, college student, or any family that wants fresh new ideas to inspire their Passover experience.

The outpouring of praise for the Netflix series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel has resulted in a partnership between Amazon.com and Maxwell House to produce Midge Maisel's Haggadah, a limited edition version of the Haggadah that Maxwell House has been distributing for 85 years with the purchase of one of their coffee products. 

The Haggadah, with a pink cover, has illustrations depicting the members of Midge's family and a drawing of her agent Susie Myerson as Elijah the Prophet. It includes the complete traditional text in Hebrew and English.

In this video interview, Jordan Gorfinkel explains why and how he started the graphic novel project and talks about the relationship between comics, superheros, and faith.

Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.

Passover Videos: Do You Hear Our People Sing?

 

Do You Hear Our People Sing? is one of the latest of a string of parodies of popular songs and Broadway show tunes that relate to Passover in general and to the seder in particular.

Barbara Sarshik has written lyrics to many songs from Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, South Pacific, West Side Story, Fiddler on the Roof, The Pirates of Penzance, and songs from the Beatles songbook.

Together with a few other lyricists and with the aid of graphic designer Randi Rose she compiled a songbook that we can all download and use to bring an extra measure of joy to our seder tables this week.

Here's a video of Do You Hear Our People Sing?, one of the 67 songs in the collection, as performed by The Charosettes.

Enjoy!

(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.)