Rabbi Jonathan Sacks's Haggadah: Hebrew And English Text With New Essays And Commentary

by Jonathan Sacks

In this update of the 2003 edition, the chief rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of Britain and the Commonwealth presents the text of the Passover seder service in a bilingual English- Hebrew version with explanatory notes. While not as attractive as slick color versions, this Haggadeh is arranged to be readily read at the seder table to retell the story of the Exodus of the Jewish people from bondage plus Rabbi Sacks provides valuable introductory commentary on its historical/theological context. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Genres: Judaism, Jewish, Nonfiction, History

256 pages, Hardcover

First published March 4, 2013

About the author

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Henry Sacks was the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth. His Hebrew name was Yaakov Zvi.

Serving as the chief rabbi in the United Kingdom from 1991 to 2013, Sacks gained fame both in the secular world and in Jewish circles. He was a sought-after voice on issues of war and peace, religious fundamentalism, ethics, and the relationship between science and religion, among other topics. Sacks wrote more than 20 books.

Rabbi Sacks died November 2020 after a short bout with cancer. He was 72.

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Pesach I'm using a new (to me) Haggada, including 21 short essays by Rabbi Sacks. I'm dipping in and out of the essays, but virtually every page elicits a sob of joy, astonishment, or clarity. The essay "The Missing Fifth" brought me out of my seat and walking the room in excitement. In "The Art of Asking Questions" we learn that "The heroes of faith asked questions of God, and the greater the prophet, the harder the question." (In response to the questions "Why do the righteous [and the innocent] suffer?" the Great Divine's answer is, in effect, "I was about to ask you the same thing.") In "The Unasked Question" Sacks wonders, why did God want us to experience slavery, and to reenact that experience every year? I could go on. But this won't be to everyone's taste. It fits me like my own breath.

[Alan Zwiren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh how I miss Rabbi Sacks. Although we purchased this Haggadah a while ago, I only finally read it this Pesach. One side is the traditional Haggadah with commentary. The other side are essays on different topics ranging from ancient to modern times on Passover. Sheer brilliance is the only way to describe the insights that Rabbi Sacks provides. Whether he is connecting the Exodus from Egypt to the rebirth of the Jewish State, making commentary on emunah or reflecting on how children are not wicked, the are a mere reflection of their parents attitudes towards what is important, anyone who understands that Judaism is an inheritance that must be handed down through tale and deed must read this book. It is an excellent compliment to another of his works, "A Letter in the Scroll."

I do have to take the time to thank the Applbaum family, who I knew when I lived in the Bay Area, for sponsoring such an important work by one of the greats Rabbis of our generation. The generosity is just one of the many midot of the family!

[Lloyd Earickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was in my teens, I resolved to explore religions other than my own…which, at the time, meant primarily the Abrahamic faiths, and only a few variations thereof, and “exploring” them meant attending a religious service or two.  This included a few denominations of Christianity, Judaism, and a Buddhist service, but I never followed up on or explored deeper tan those initiation exposures.  In my defense, I was only a teenager, and even that much was a valuable exercise.

Eventually, I did explore the Muslim faith more deeply, but mostly in the context of understanding the politics and conflicts of the Middle East over the past eight hundred years or so, and the psychology of radical Jihad.  It was Judaism, though, that most intrigued me during those early exposures and surveys.  After seeing numerous references to Judaism’s unique role in history and impact on philosophy, it still took me until now to pursue that interest in depth, with Sacks’ Haggadah.

Sacks’ Haggadah is a series of essays dedicated to the Jewish recollection of the Exodus which together explore the Jewish faith, its philosophies, its influence, and its interactions throughout history.  Written approachably, so that even someone (like me) who has only a limited background in Judaism can follow the arguments and assertions he makes, many of the essays offer unique insights that are applicable regardless of your religious faith.  And yes, even if you have no interest in religion, you can learn something, and be prompted to some new thought or insight, by reading these essays.

I often mentally link philosophy and religion, because both purport to explore morality, the human experience, and ways of thinking, but Sacks draws a distinction between religious and secular philosophy.  In particular, he notes that the pure implementation of the philosophies of Ancient Greece and the Enlightenment, widely regarded as the two most influential philosophical ages, does not preserve human freedom.  This is amply demonstrated by the difference between the American and French revolutions; the latter, in its strict adherence to purely secular philosophy, devolved into authoritarianism, exchanging the tyranny of the minority for the tyranny of the majority.  This further suggests that the gospel of individual freedom from responsibility in the modern sense may be damaging compared to a doctrine of individual freedom for responsibility.

The essays range in their topics from the historically fascinating, to challenging discussions of the repeating origins of antisemitism, which seems to arise in new forms with each generation, to detailed religious debates about what the proper time is at which to finish dinner.  So yes, some of them are of varying relevance, and I found that a few of the later essays in the collection that delved into what I will call semantical doctrine interpretation were out of place after the insight, penetrating depth, and broad moral and human relevance of the other essays.

Rather than satisfying my curiosity about Judaism, these essays only whetted my appetite, and I wish I had picked them up sooner.  The Jewish faith truly is unique in human history in its endurance and outsized influence, and many of its key ideas underpin American democracy as much as Locke’s.  The role of belief, faith, and religion in society is more complicated than many modern thinkers seem to credit, and its erosion is revealing cracks we never before considered.  It is worth considering that role further, and essays like these make an excellent place to start.  I highly recommend you explore Sacks’ Haggadah soon.

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

My go-to for 5779, and springboard for my own dvar torahs which I shared around the seder table, in addition to the rich one provided by everyone else. Filled with some good, unique insights, and some eye-opening clarifiers concerning linguistic distinctions. Nice addition to my burgeoning haggadah collection - which now includes my own!

[Nechamah Goldfarb · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've reviewed this as I've read and learned this before. Anything by the late great Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks is worth reading, but this is a must before every seder, and even in general to get a real idea of Torah and Wisdom.

If you read and learn one book to prepare for Pesach spiritually, Jewishly, this should be it.

[John Minster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Commentary on the Haggadah itself isn't particularly extensive, but the essays are outstanding.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Haggadah is thoroughly different from what I expected. If you open it from the right (Hebrew-style), you get a traditional haggadah in Hebrew and English as translated by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin (Chief Rabbi of Efrat, Israel), with some commentary from Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks. If you open it from the right, you get a series of short essays which touch on Passover themes.

This is not Rabbi Sacks's masterwork.

The amount of commentary in the haggadah itself is pretty low - it could work as a functional haggadah, except that the essays in the back mean that it won't lay flat on a table, and you can't hold a page open without damaging the (normal book) spine. The essays are okay - many of them return to the same tropes of Jewish survival over the centuries and today, but there are a few lovely insights further into the essays. This dates from relatively early in R' Sacks's career as Chief Rabbi, so he doesn't show the scope of his thinking, but there are glimmers of what will come. I particularly liked his take on Ḥad Gadya, which made the song finally make some sense to me.

So I wouldn't recommend this as a functional haggadah, but as a collection of pesaḥ-themed essays, it's pretty good.

[Alan Menachemson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Readable for ever

[Ayelet · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked his insights into how Jewish and world history interact with the Pesach story.