A Night to Remember: The Haggadah of Contemporary Voices by Mishael Zion & Noam Zion
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Book Reviews of A Night to Remember: The Haggadah of Contemporary Voices
Book Review: Comprehensive and Contemporary
Summary: 5 Stars
It's great to find a haggadah with a contemporary twist that doesn't sacrifice the "traditional" content. The authors incorporate readings from a variety of relavent sources in a creative manner. It works well now that my kids are in elementary and middle school and can tackle a little more of the extra material. They really enjoyed the colorful animated images, too, which we found to be scarce in our haggadah shopping! Book Review: excellent
Summary: 5 Stars
This was a wonderful addition to my Passover celebrations this year. I co-led 2 seders (one for 9 people and one for 90) and found plenty of fresh, rich material to share with participants on both nights. I also highly recommend Noah Zion's "A Different Night" haggadah. If you don't own it, I would buy that one before this one. The contemporary perspectives in this one are great, but I think it's also valuable to incorporate traditional commentaries, and Zion does a great job of choosing good ones in the other haggadah.Book Review: help make your seder "A Night to Remember"
Summary: 5 Stars
I try, each year, to find some new insight, comment, or voice to make our Seder not just a repetition of the traditional text. This year, this was my new source and it's a real winner. It has the entire traditional text plus explanations of things I didn't know - and I've read a lot - plus information on customs from other communities, and, of course as advertised, comments about every subject touched on in the Haggadah from many sources ranging from Mark Twain to Rabbi Joseph Solevechik to fascinating modern voices you might not know but will appreciate. Filled with lighthearted illustrations that fit perfectly. You COULD use that at the seder, but I recommend spending the time to read it first and selecting some of its content for your seder. Should be a good source for several years.Book Review: A wise- and whimsical - haggadah
Summary: 5 Stars
For anyone seeking a modern voice speaking towards the classical text, this haggadah is a gem. "A Night to Remember" was based on the all-Hebrew "Ha'lailah Ha'zeh," the authors' efforts to provide a work for contemporary Israelis. The best elements of that volume have been transferred into "A Night To Remember," including the creative illustrations from Michael Kichka, whose pictures provide both a sense of whimsy and substance. Illustrations vary from the humorous (the ox in "Chad Gad Ya" is a man in a Chicago Bulls shirt and cap) to of political caricatures, e.g. Ben-Gurion. The humor and warmth in the illustrations adds to the inviting nature of the book, which is further strengthened by a methodical layout and inviting directions.
This Haggadah provides contemporary commentaries and readings from a stunning array of sources; Rabbis Telushkin and Potok are nestled alongside authors Milan Kundera and Phillip Roth. Primo Levi's words follow Golda Meir's. Even those well versed in the sources of the Haggadah will find items of interest, with thoughts from kibbutzniks and refusniks. There is the occasional comment from the "touchy-feely" department, but some people need that in a seder, and they are provided for here.
The entire Hebrew text of the classical Ashkenazi Haggadah is provided, although not every word is translated into English. The commentaries and instructions do deviate from "black hat" Orthodoxy from time to time, but not in any way that even remotely effects the essential content of the seder. Only those rigidly ultra-Orthodox in their thinking should avoid this book. The illustration "The four daughters," with its Talmud carrying wise daughter, is enough to give such folks a fit of apoplexy- and that's just one picture.