Thoughts on the Haggadah

The common answer is that the questions are asked to involve the children. But why couldn’t this custom to involve the kids be done during another holiday?

People in trouble don’t have the time or luxury to wait while you quibble over the command structure; they’re waiting for you to rescue them from evil.

We announce on Passover night, "All who are hungry, come and eat; all who are needy come and celebrate Passover." What is the point of making grand invitations when the truly needy can't hear it?

At the Passover seder, the child asks, and we answer. But there is another dialogue taking place -- a dialogue in which we ask, and the child explains

The Haggadah teaches us how to respond to the unique needs of four different types of children, or possibly the same child, depending on the circumstances and the motivation behind the question.

How do we deal with the "Wicked Son"? And who is the elusive "Fifth Son" that's not even mentioned in the Haggadah?

Is it really necessary, more than 3000 years on, to commemorate our ancestors’ freedom from slavery? Can’t we move on to pressing contemporary issues?

What gets me about Schwartz is that he ain't stupid. He has brains, but all he does with them is tickle his own brains. Schwartz' brain stands outside life peering in, like a surgeon examining a cadaver...

Here’s one I always wanted to know: What if you’re living in Jerusalem? Do you say the prayer/wish, “Next year in Jerusalem!” or just leave that line out?

Why is the there hardly any mention of Moses in the Passover Haggadah?

At the seder we discuss the "Four Sons": the Wise Son, the Wicked Son, the Simple Son, and the Son Who Doesn't Know How To Ask. Modern society has produced a fifth son...

Matzah represents the bare necessities of life. The Passover offering represents luxuries whose function is solely to give pleasure. Maror represents a middle ground between these two extremes...

Here is the popular take: The Wise Son is the one who turned out right. The Wicked One? Well... enough said. The Simple One? Alright, not every hamentasch turns out the way you want. The One Who Doesn't Know to Ask? Oy...

Peel away the layers of the “wicked” child and the question is quite chilling. It is not a condemnation of what we are doing. It is a condemnation of what we are not doing.

Behind his wickedness there is a story, a reason why he allowed his innocent soul to become corrupted and his pure mind twisted by lower tendencies. Identify the root cause, and then neutralize it...

What would be the point of going to Mount Sinai if not to receive the Torah? What other point is there in being there? After all, at this particular mountain there is neither food, nor water, nor skiing . . .

I am a wicked person, he's declaring. I enjoy food, I live in order to indulge in the pleasures of the world. It makes perfect sense for me to be a part of this grand feast... but what does it have to do with you guys?

Laban was truly family! Yet, his anti-Semitism was legendary. In other words, attempts to break down the walls between Jews and non-Jews by assimilating and intermarrying will not fix anti-Semitism.

Why is such a strong emphasis placed on telling the Passover story? Couldn’t we simply sit around the table, relax, lean back in our chairs, and enjoy our current state of freedom?

What does Hillel's custom teach us.

The transmission from one generation to the next is the key to healthy Judaism

From reading the Passover text it seems that the wise child and the wicked child pose the same question.

We’re almost finished the Haggadah, and here are two rabbis debating the plague count. Why? Because it makes a big difference. How deeply can human beings affect their environment?

I read in the Passover Haggadah reader that had G‑d not taken us out of Egypt thousands of years ago, we would still be slaves today. Do we really believe that?

Here’s one we argue over every year at our Passover Seder: Why do we spill the wine when we mention each one of the Ten Plagues, and what are we supposed to do with the spilled wine?