What Is This? | Passover haggadah by Noraa Kaplan

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The authors of the Haggadah did not hold the simple child’s question “what is this?” in high esteem. This is unfortunate, as the question comes from Hashem themself: “When, in the future, your children ask you, ‘What is this?’ you shall tell them, ‘With a mighty hand, Hashem brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery.’” (Exodus 13:14) The ‘simplicity’ of this question is deceptive, through asking ‘what is this’ the child gets at something deeper: what is possible? The first step to understanding the possibilities a situation affords us is to take stock of what lies before us. It is often the ‘untrained eye’ that is able to reveal a text’s hidden messages and meanings. Every question is valuable, no matter how simple, and every person brings precious insight to the seder table, no matter what their experience with Judaism is.

I’ll be the first to admit that this Haggadah is very dense and at times my writing can be confusing, esoteric even. I refuse to dumb things down for my readers because I have so much faith in them. That being said, accessibility is one of my biggest concerns with any ritual I lead or space that I facilitate. It is of the utmost importance that everyone, regardless of their background or relationship to Judaism, can participate at the seder and have a meaningful, fulfilling experience. Because I’m challenging y’all to delve deep into ancient texts and do difficult work with me, I’ve tried to make this haggadah as user-friendly as possible—adding transliterations wherever Hebrew text appears, including an extensive glossary, writing a trillion endnotes to give more sources and background information, etc. My hope is that doing so will put everyone on slightly more equal footing, so that better conversations can unfold.

To that end, I’m including four questions that people who are new to Judaism or radical Jewish spaces might ask, and providing simple answers. Thank you so much for trusting me on this journey.

what is pesach?

Pesach, פֶּסַח, is the Hebrew name for Passover, the holiday we’re gathered to celebrate. The meaning of the word Pesach is similar to ‘pass over.’ In the Exodus narrative, before sending the tenth plague which killed all of the Egyptians’ firstborn sons, Hashem promises the Jewish people that if they paint their doorposts with blood, פָסַח יי עַל-הַפֶּתַח pasach Hashem al ha-petach, “I will pass over your door and will not let the Angel of Death come into your houses to kill you.” (Exodus 12:23)

Pesach is an eight-day long Jewish holiday that celebrates our ancestors being freed from slavery in Mitzrayim (Egypt.) In the times of the Temple it was one of the three major agricultural festivals during which ancient Jews would bring special sacrifices to Jerusalem. Today, Pesach is by far the most widely celebrated Jewish holiday. While many secular Jews make an effort to go to synagogue on Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) nothing rivals the Pesach Seder in terms of enduring popularity amongst Jews of all stripes.

Pesach is celebrated by eating matzah, unleavened bread. During Pesach it is forbidden to eat chametz, bread or other food that has been leavened. The first two days and last two days of Pesach are sacred days of rest, when we’re not supposed to do any kind of work. Over Pesach, many Jews spend time with family and friends, eat special chametz-free foods, and enjoy the beautiful springtime weather outdoors.

what is a seder?

A seder is a special ritual meal held on Pesach to tell the Exodus story. The word seder, סדר, means “order,” reflecting the highly elaborate structure of a traditional Pesach meal. If you showed up to tonight thinking you were just here to eat, boy are you in trouble. (I kid, I kid.) The seder has 14 steps and each one has an important role in helping us tell the story. Many of the foods we eat are highly symbolic, even the way we set the table is symbolic. The seder is in some ways modeled after ancient Greek symposiums. We are instructed to recline, drink wine, and engage in lively discussion. In many ways the seder was designed with children in mind, to teach them the Exodus story and its meaning. Beyond its symbolism and its educational purpose, the seder is simply supposed to be a fun, exciting meal with delicious foods, rich traditions, games and riddles, and joyful singing. All of these components come together to make something truly special, an experience beloved by observant and secular Jews alike.

what is a haggadah?

The word haggadah, הַגָדָה, means “telling.” A haggadah is a special book that is printed to go along with the Pesach seder, containing the text that we read from at various parts of the night. There’s a difference between a haggadah, like the one you’re reading from, and the Haggadah, which is the standard, traditional text that all printed haggadot (haggadahs) draw from. I often refer to the Haggadah in this book. To be specific, I should say that I primarily draw on the standard Ashkenazi version of the Haggadah. The text of the traditional Haggadah tells us that “anyone who adds to the telling of the Exodus story is praiseworthy.” There is no one definitive Haggadah, as the Haggadah is an evolving document which each generation of Jews leaves its mark on and adds to. Each generation connects the Exodus narrative to their own struggles and victories and introduces their own symbols and traditions to make those connections clearer and unlock new meanings. There has been an explosion of new haggadot over the past 50 years which connect the traditional story to a glittering array of political and social causes. Haggadot and seder rituals have been written about everything from human trafficking to disability justice, from healthy sexuality to Black Lives Matter.

what is abolition?

In many ways this is the most difficult of the four questions to answer. It certainly is the one of these questions the average Jew would be least able to answer. On a dictionary level, abolition simply refers to the act of fully ending or stopping something. Perhaps a better question would be what do we need to end? The answer I and other abolitionists offer unequivocally is police and prisons.

Prisons are an ancient evil. The Tanach is full of references to people being taken captive, incarcerated for various reasons in dungeons, jails, and pits and bound in irons. However, systematic mass incarceration is a new phenomenon. Newer still are police, an institution that has its origins in paramilitary groups founded in the antebellum American south to capture runaway slaves, punish them, and return them to their masters. Police and prisons (along with corrupt court systems designed to mediate between the two) are the primary manifestations of the carceral state.

Abolition would mean fully and literally (not metaphorically) ending the institutions of police and prisons, along with the carceral structures that surround them. Abolition isn't the same thing as reforming prisons or defunding the police. Abolition is not merely firing the ‘bad apples’ in the police force or nationalizing private prisons. Abolition is not merely replacing contemporary police and prisons with similar institutions.

Abolition is radically recreating our world, bringing institutions that police and incarcerate the vulnerable down and never letting them arise again. Abolition is a revolutionary process that will change everything about how we see one another, care for each other, and keep each other safe. Abolition must be fought for, not legislated. Abolition must be material and spiritual. Abolition will change not only the world around us, but who we are ourselves. Abolition is a fulfillment of a divine promise of universal liberation. Abolition is necessary if any of us are to ever be free. Most of all, abolition is possible.

haggadah Section: Introduction

Source: Min Ha-Meitzar: An Abolitionist Haggadah from the Narrow Place by Noraa Kaplan