Haggadot in Their Time
Over the centuries, there have been many haggadot compiled, which were influenced by the periods in which their authors lived. Join Rabbi David Sedley as he explores a number of different haggadot, including the historical context in which they were written and highlights of some of their interesting commentary.
Haggadot in Their Time: The Oldest Haggadot
In this class we look at some of the oldest haggadot, from the Cairo Geniza, from Rav Sa’adia Gaon and from Rambam, and see how various parts of the seder have changed over time, and especially the difference between the Babylonian traditions and the Israeli traditions.
Haggadot in Their Time: The Birds’ Head Haggadah
In this class we look at the earliest illuminated haggadah, known as The Birds’ Head Haggadah, because many of the people in the illustrations appear to have birds’ heads.
- We will address a number of issues, including
- Why do most of the people in the Haggadah not have human heads?
- Why do they have birds’ heads?
- Why do some of them wear funny hats?
- What is the historical context of this Haggadah?
Haggadot in Their Time: The Maxwell House Haggadah
The Maxwell House Haggadah is the most popular haggadah in history, with over 60 million printed, and another million copies every year. For Americans, it is the epitome of what a haggadah should be.
So how did a Tennessee coffee company come to produce the greatest haggadah of all time?
In this class I answer these questions and more:
- How did Maxwell House coffee come to be associated with a Haggadah?
- How has the Maxwell House Haggadah changed over the years?
- How do different editions of the Maxwell House Haggadah reflect the changing dynamic in American Jewry?
Haggadot in Their Time: Tragic 20th Century Haggadot
- The Hitler Haggadah, written in 1943 by an anonymous author during the Allied liberation of North Africa through Operation Torch.
- A Survivors’ Haggadah, created in 1946 by Holocaust survivors in displaced persons camps near Munich, Germany.
- The Haggadah of Freedom, written by survivors and families of October 7, 2023
Rabbi David Sedley lives in Jerusalem with his wife and six children. He was born and raised in New Zealand before coming to Israel in 1989. He left Israel temporarily (for eight years) to serve as a communal Rabbi in Scotland and England and returned to Israel in 2004. His latest book is "The Elephant of Deliberate Forgetfulness: and other unexpected interpretations of the weekly Torah reading". He has also translated Rabbeinu Yonah's commentary on Pirkei Avos and is the co-author of Sefiros: Spiritual Refinement Through Counting the Omer (both Judaica Press). Over the years Rabbi Sedley has worked as a journalist, a translator, a video director and in online reputation management. He also writes a weekly Torah blog on the Times of Israel.