<p>I need to buy a new Haggadah for Passover next year as the one I have is really geared for younger children. Unfortunately, the only store near me that sold Judaica has closed, so I can’t flip through books and see what looks good. I am probably going to have to order something online. </p>
<p>So, can you please tell me what you like and/or dislike about your Haggadah? I’d love some recommendations so I’m not just blindly purchasing something. Oh, and I don’t know if it matters, but we are Reform Jews.</p>
<p>Actually, I prefer the family friendly ones to the others. If you ever have friends who are not Jewish join you, it is FAR easier to follow a family friendly Haggadah than the others.</p>
<p>The “Look Inside” feature on Amazon will give you a chance to preview many Haggadahs. That said, we tried a new one this year and no one liked it, so I’m in the same predicament for next year. It’s hard to balance the preferences of the traditionalists with those of modernists at our table. But one thing I know is that I am never going back to that horrid Maxwell House Haggadah.</p>
<p>I haven’t seen the inside of it, but noticed that, in Great Britain, the Reform Movement is coming out with its own Hagaddah in the coming year.</p>
<p>Published in 2002 by the Central Conference of American Rabbis (Reform), the Hebrew is all in tact; it’s not trendy or abbreviated for the core text. </p>
<p>Plus you might enjoy the sidepanel interpretations and progressive gender language in the translations. </p>
<p>The color illustrations are pretty nice, with some progressive interpretations there too to consider (e.g., they show four children not just sons on the page with that segment). For me, I like to read the traditional text, but stare at a new drawing that enlarges my thoughts about it, drawing my own conclusions. For children, the artwork is very important, especially if you are going into a more mature text. It doesn’t have to be babyish art to engage them, either. You’ll see. (Good for you for upgrading, by the way.)</p>
<p>There’s a large music section, beautifully indexed by page throughout the spoken text. In that section, unusually, traditional songs are all written out with full musical notation on a scale. That way, if you want to learn some melodies, you CAN; and those who can read music will sing along more with the melodies.</p>
<p>I grew up using the version by Abraham Regelson, illustrated by Sigmund Forst, published by Shulsinger Brothers. We had a zillion little paperback copies for the Hillel seders my dad ran. Then many years ago I found a giant blue velour copy, as did my brother a few years later. Finally we learned that DH had grown up using a mid-sized hard copy. So that’s definitely our family haggadah! It’s very conservative, though, and the illustrations are extremely old-fashioned. But we love it anyway.</p>
<p>A new one came out last year by Jonathan Saffran Foer, with some mind-bending new interpretations. However, at our seder, trying it out last year from one reader, we agreed we liked it as a side-commentary to add spice at some sections, rather than the main text for every reader at the table.</p>
<p>Still, you might enjoy buying just one of Saffran’s books, and adding some things in from his new volume as special readings here and there. Really, he has some excellent additional ideas that will wake everyone up. Lemony Slicket is in there, for example.</p>
<p>He was also careful with the translations, and chose Nathan Englander - a great young Jewish writer - to ensure that it read elegantly in English. Since every translation is an interpretation, Englander’s choices are very interesting to consider, too. </p>
<p>New American Haggadah, by Jonathan Saffran Foer, newly translated by Nathan Englander.</p>
<p>I’ve used Herbert Bronstein’s “A Passover Haggadah” with lovely illustrations by Leonard Baskin for many years. It’s Reform, which means that it has transliteration of much of the Hebrew, which is helpful depending on your guests; very nice commentary. Family seders usually use the Conservative “Passover Haggadah: The Feast of Freedom” by Rachel Rabbinowicz, now evidently sadly out of print; it’s also got great commentaries, but not a transliteration in sight.</p>
<p>I’ll second p3t’s recommendation for The New American Haggadah for side commentary. The book is too large and unwieldy and awkward (and expensive!) to use as a Haggadah for everyone, but being able to pull a bit of Lemony Snicket commentary into the ceremony is a great way to engage elementary school aged kids (and older kids and adults, too). I very much enjoy reading political writer Jeffrey Goldberg, who’s another of the featured commentators. There’s been some controversy over the gender-specific language used in the translation; your call if that’s an issue for your family.</p>
<p>If you don’t end up going with “A Different Night”, get a copy of the full (non-compact) edition, because that’s also full of short digressions and commentary, all written in an easily accessible style, that can add to your service. I started out with the full edition just for my own personal use in preparing for Seder, and realized that it was a great fit for our (casual, wandering) style of Seder. Our guests, especially those who’ve never been to a Seder before, especially enjoy being able to read something that catches their eye if what we’re saying/singing out loud isn’t catching their attention.</p>
<p>And now I’ll add the Bronstein Haggadah to my list on Amazon; I like to get a new Haggadah every year to get me in the mood and force me not to obsess about just the cleaning part of prepping for the holiday. :)</p>
<p>I grew up with the very traditional red and yellow Haggadah published by KTAV. This is what everyone in our extended family still uses with good reason. We are closely related to the author/publisher. We add commentary as necessary from outside sources. We sing many songs from this Haggadah, including those following the Grace after the Meal. We’re not switching Haggadahs.</p>
<p>Great discussion! Was thinking about looking for another Haggadah now that the kids are grown – we’ve been using Shoshana Silberman’s A Family Haggadah since they were in our local Jewish preschool, which taught them the songs we still sing today (though with much more hilarity).</p>
We add commentary as necessary from outside sources. We sing many songs from this Haggadah, including those following the Grace after the Meal. We’re not switching Haggadahs.</p>