Adopting the figures outlined in his opening vision was a fitting way to present the commentary of this Haggadah.
The nesher is the first icon. Some translate this as “eagle” but this may well have been influenced historically by Greek and Roman culture where eagles were symbols of power. A more likely original understanding of this creature is in fact the vulture, which was more frequently referenced in ancient Near Eastern literature than eagles and also more commonly found in the habitats of biblical lands too.
Praised above all other creatures in the Bible and held up as a model of divine love, vultures are idealised not only for their beauty but also because they are not predators. Under the vulture’s guise, the commentary with which it is associated in the Haggadah explores the scholarly dimension of the text; delving into its historical and theological features. In the analysis of the text that it presents, it views the Haggadah as a compilation of sources that took many centuries to fully form.
It reminds us that, even in the story of the Exodus itself, before it has even happened, God instructs Moses how to commemorate the event in the future.
The vulture also paints the theological outlook of the text. It views, for example, the plagues as the nearest that the Torah comes to Greek tragedy with profound thematic and structural parallels, including the role of divine intervention, the consequences of hubris, the escalation of suffering and of course the delivery of moral lessons.
The lion, whose original iconographical meaning in tradition acts as a warning of the self-interested predatory impulse, is incorporated into this Haggadah to reflect the dimension of personal experience among the authors. This element helps to stir one of the sacred duties of the text, which is to awaken the kingdom of memory.
Taking the steer from the line at the heart of the text that “In every generation, a person is obligated to see themselves as if they had personally gone out of Egypt”, the lion commentary alerts us to the opportunity of sharinggthe journeys to freedom that our own families may well have taken in recent times. We remember, for example, my grandfather who escaped Vienna, finding refuge in Malta, shortly after Anschluss in 1938.
It is this voice which also recalls the story of recently released hostage, Gadi Mozes. Isolated in his own personal Egypt, a narrow place of two square metres, where according to his daughter Dalit, he would pace up to 7km a day, ‘’counting floor tiles and doing maths problems in his head to stay sharp’’.The inclusion of such personal testimony encourages our understanding anew of what the long walk to freedom signifies for us today.
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The third unique voice in this Haggadah is that of the ox. Bound to its historic role in ritual matters, the commentary in this area is associated with the laws, customs and practical concerns of the Seder. The main focus of these sections are setting out the how-to of what we display, say, bless, eat and drink during the Seder.
Importantly though, sometimes the ox narrative also seeks to inculcate the appropriate state of mind too. Our joy in the second cup of wine for example is diminished because the redemption came through violence.
The final reason that this haggadah is different is due to its inclusion of the commentary of the mortal being, Adam. From Abraham and Moses until today, our primary experience of God is one of asking questions. The Adam commentary is then purely questions – questions that we can ask of the Seder, the Haggadah and of ourselves as we make our quest from slavery to freedom.
This section is peppered with questions designed to animate the Seder table. There are perhaps three overarching groupings of the questions from these sections.
Firstly - where have we come from? With the text’s messianic thrust there are then those that seek to ask – where are we going? Finally there are those that pose how we might get there?
But plenty do not fit such neat delineation: what are the moral and ethical demands that memory places on us? What is more important - the story or the songs? How do we honour our tradition while daring to question it?
It is the unique combination of voices – the scholarly, the personal, the practical and the questioning – which makes this haggadah distinctive.
There are contributions from across the Jewish spectrum including those of Orthodox, Masorti, Reform and Reconstructionist backgrounds. Our Haggadah hopefully demonstrates that the Exodus itself is not just ancient history but lived experience which each generation must continue to internalise.
Simon Eder is co-editor of A Quest for Our Times; The Louis Jacobs Haggadah, published by The Louis Jacobs Foundation and Izzun Books
