LimmudFest New Orleans 2018

The Haggadah is arguably the most familiar work of Jewish liturgy—so familiar that in the midst of the Seder, we barely notice what an extraordinarily puzzling text it is.  To take one striking example, can we tell the whole story of liberation from Egyptian slavery without referring to Moses?  When we read “The Lord brought us out of Egypt,” why do we emphasize “not by an angel, not by a seraph, not by a messenger”? Why does the citation for the Lord’s “signs and wonders” come not from Exodus but from the Book of Joel?  Is the hiding of the Afikoman (“the coming one” in Greek) really just a children’s game?  In raising these questions, we will discuss how the Rabbis who composed the Haggadah, after the destruction of the Temple, adapt the biblical account of Exodus with the aim of preserving Jewish identity in a challenging time.