(JTA) — Hours before Jews around the world attend the first Passover celebration since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, many are speaking for the first time about the trauma and pain of the past seven months. I am seriously considering whether we should have this discussion. At their table.
Various Jewish groups and leaders have created materials designed to help with that calculation. The traditional Haggadah, with many new Haggadahs appearing this year, provides a durable framework for Jews to grapple with a world that includes both danger and resilience. The new appendix aims to help Jews connect the story to current events, such as attacks on Israel, Israel’s war in Gaza, and rising anti-Semitic reporting around the world. Supplements come from Jews and Jewish organizations across the political, ideological, and religious spectrum.
Here we will introduce some (but not all) of the many supplements released this year. All can be printed at home.
Under the direction of Rabbi Mishael Zion, the Hartman Institute has produced an extensive appendix, including contributions from those directly affected by October 7th and an essay by prominent Israeli author David Grossman. Ora Horn-Prowser, a Rabbi Menachem creditor and CEO and dean of the Academy of Judaism, compiled an appendix that begins, “I’m at the Seder, but my heart is in October.” The Rabbinical General Assembly of Shechter of Israel has produced an appendix available in Hebrew and English. This appendix contains poems written during a day-long conference on adapting Passover to the present time. A digital supplement by New York City’s Reform Central Synagogue focuses on poems written by Israeli poets since October 7th. Meanwhile, the reform movement announced its own movement. The Hostage and Missing Families Forum has produced a complete Haggadah featuring hostages who remain hostages in Gaza. Donations from digital sales benefit advocacy groups. Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Jonathan Sacks Hellenstein Center for Values and Leadership has published a supplement with specific teachings related to Oct. 7 and questions for each step of the seder. The Pardes Institute supplement asks users to directly compare Pharaoh and Hamas. Rabbi Joshua Kulp created an appendix quoting the Haggadah produced by Israel’s early kibbutz communities, some of which were attacked on October 7th. The United Nations, whose members call the “Religious Left,” invited readers to meditate on this. It depicts the theme of the Seder through a left-wing, anti-occupation lens. Beit’s appendix includes several poems, including one that reimagines the four children of the Haggadah as modern Jews. Since its publication, anyone who has picked up a copy of “Kvelah Haggadah” from our family-oriented sister site in the past four years has subscribed to his 10-fold guide, which includes his 7 ways to deal with family crises. You’ll want to get the supplement for the 7th of the month.
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