What story do you want to tell at your seder?
The Israel Story
Another Haggadah that appeared at my childhood seder table for years was an English version of one used by many kibbutzim in Israel. While I’m unable to locate the exact version we used, here’s an interesting essay that tells of the unique contribution of Israel’s kibbutzim to Passover s’darim. For the kibbutzniks, Israel was the culmination of Jewish wandering with their return to the land as farmers and defenders. The pure joy of Jewish statehood was integrated into the Haggadah we used. My family loved the images of Israelis celebrating in the fields of the kibbutzim. That Haggadah went a long way towards building my own and my siblings’ Zionism. (My sister took it to heart so powerfully that she married my favorite Israeli!)
The Israel story is also one that integrates memories of the Holocaust into its telling. If the Holocaust is the story of Jewish powerlessness in the face of evil (as is Passover’s story of enslavement), then Israel is the response: It is autonomous Jewish power to defend a nation and a people. Israel allows us to declare, “Never again.”
What I learned in our house and at our s’darim with Israel at their center is that true engagement with the land and its people requires education, dialogue, and a wide variety of Israel experiences. I’ve studied there, planted bananas, and ridden my bicycle from one end of the country to the other, and of course, I continue to digest newspapers, podcasts, lectures, and more even today.
When we place Israel at the center of our s’darim, we declare our Zionism and we open the door to meaningful engagement with the land that is central to our story of liberation.
Here are some Israel-centered Haggadot.
—Rabbi Ron Stern