The Passover Haggadah

Reflections for Pesach and Easter 5785 / 2025

The foundational event that transformed the Benei Israel into a people was their liberation from Egypt and the reception of the Torah on Mount Sinai (Deuteronomy 27:9; b. Berakhot 63b). According to the biblical account, it was God Himself who acted to liberate, lead, and deliver the commandments to the people of Israel, thereby fulfilling the covenant He made with Abraham and his descendants. One of the symbols intended to remind the people of this covenant was the sacrifice of a lamb on the afternoon of the fourteenth day of the month of Nisan, which was eaten at dusk during a family dinner that reflected on the history of liberation from Egyptian bondage (Exodus 13:8).

According to the sages of the Talmud, the sacrifice of the lamb—one of the deities worshiped by the Egyptians—represented a rejection of all forms of pagan worship (Mekhilta DeRabbi Yshmael, Bo, Tractate Pischa, Chapter 5; Shemot Rabbah 16:2). Paul taught the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 5:7) that the lamb and its sacrifice allude to Jesus and His message to the world.

During the time when the Temple of Jerusalem stood, the people would travel to the city, where the lamb was sacrificed in the Temple, and its consumption was celebrated as a family tradition.

After the Temple was destroyed, the Sages of that generation established new rules for celebrating Pesach under the changed circumstances. The last chapter of the Mishnah in the Tractate of Pesachim outlines the order to be followed during the Seder dinner. It specifies what foods should be eaten, the blessings that should be recited, and the text to be used for explaining the Exodus from Egypt. As a result, one of the most well-known texts of Jewish liturgy was created: the Haggadah, which narrates and comments the story of Pesach.

The oldest Haggadah texts date back to the first centuries CE. The versions found in the Siddur of Rabbi Amram Gaon (9th century), Rabbi Saadia Gaon (10th century), and the Mishneh Torah of Maimonides (12th century) reflect that basic structure of the Haggadah. Subsequent generations contributed their own elements to this traditional text, including artistic motifs, liturgical poems, and commentaries.

In the foundational text, some scholars identify signs of the conflicts and persecutions that the Jewish people faced throughout the generations. Interpretations suggest that the Haggadah’s story of the sages celebrating the Passover meal in Rabbi Akiva's house in Benei Berak refers to their debate that night about whether to support the revolt against Rome led by Bar Kochba in 132 CE (Rabbi Yehuda Leib HaCohen Maimon, Chagim Umo'adim, Jerusalem, 1950, pp. 207-216). Additionally, some paragraphs of the Haggadah are viewed as testimonies to the disputes between Jews and Christians during the 2nd and 4rd centuries CE (Israel Jacob Yuval, "The Haggadah of Passover and Easter" , Tarbiz, vol. 65, no. 1995, pp. 5–28).

Continuing with the notion that the Haggadah should reflect the afflictions of the present rather than just remember those inflicted by Pharaoh, in 1946, Yosef Dov Sheinson, a survivor of the Shoah, prepared texts highlighting the horrors suffered by the Jewish people. He interspersed these texts throughout the traditional Haggadah. The Jewish-Hungarian artist Zvi Miklos Adler created illustrations for this innovative Haggadah, which was published that same year and used by survivors at their first Seder (Passover dinner) after liberation. Rabbi Avraham Klausner, chaplain of the American army, produced a special edition of this Haggadah for the Seder celebrated by Jewish American soldiers stationed in Munich.

The latest edition of the Haggadah, adapted for the 2024 Seder, was edited by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. This edition ensures that all those in captivity in Gaza are symbolically present at the Passover table of their Jewish brothers and sisters around the world.

Each day, Jews remember in their prayers the liberation from Egypt and the promise of final redemption it represents. May this Passover mark the beginning of a new Haggadah in which the joy of a world free from captive individuals, wars, and destruction is reflected, as well as the sincere and meaningful dialogue between Christians and Jews, who share the dream of a redeemed world.

These reflections extend heartfelt greetings to the entire Catholic community, as this year they will celebrate Easter on the same days that their Jewish brothers and sisters celebrate Pesach. This coincidence serves as a reminder of a story of human redemption that has offered hope for two thousand years.

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Abraham Skorka, Georgetown University, Washington D.C.

Article published in the Italian edition of L'Osservatore Romano on Saturday, April 19, 2025.