Passover

My relationship to the religion I was raised in is somewhat mixed, while also being mostly totally angst free on my side.  For those who don’t know, I was raised Jewish, in a heavily Jewish community (well compared to most of the rest of the country), went to temple fairly regularly, and went to sunday school till I confirmed. I never really went to hewbrew school and I did not bat mitzvah.

As an adult I have mostly vacillated between paganism and well – being lazy.  But one piece of my Jewish heritage I cannot leave behind is Passover. For this holiday, I have a possibly unreasonable and not very explainable attachment and enjoyment.

Over the years I have co-written the haggadah that is now used by my family. My co-authors have been friends, family and published strangers that have written bits that felt like they fit in with what we were trying to express. One of the things that really pleases me is that family and friends who have used the haggdah have grabbed copies for themselves and now use it with their families. We have had a fair amount of folks from outside the family, Jewish and non-Jewish join us and so far even the non-Jews have come away feeling like they had a good experience and didn’t get lost.

Where this is all going (tl;dr) – Our haggdah as wonderful as it is, really needs an overhaul. It needs to be pulled into a cohesive whole, but also needs some refreshing so that the content doesn’t get old.

What I would like to hear about – from both Jews and non-Jews – is what parts of the seder really speak to you, or hold the most meaning? Is there an overall theme you like to address? If you were writing your own what would you consider critical, or just what would you want added in besides the traditional elements?

I am hoping to get some added inspiration from hearing about other families, other seders and other memories.  Please feel free to send folks over if you think you know someone who might have something good to share.

Note: Of course when I am done with this years edit I will make it available for anyone who thinks they might want a copy.