From: Fred in Tennessee

Dear Rabbi,

What is the Haggada?

Dear Fred,

The Haggada is a book that Jews read on the first night of Passover. It tells about our slavery in Egypt and the miracles G‑d did for us when freeing us. The word “haggada” means “telling”, which comes from the Biblical command: “And you shall tell your child on that day, saying: ‘G‑d did [miracles] for me when I left Egypt in order that I should fulfill the Torah’s commandments” (Exodus 13:8 and Rashi).

As a Jewish family sits around the festive table on Passover night and reads the Haggada, all of its members are not only retelling that formative experience of the Jewish nation, but are reliving it as well. Egyptian exile and the Exodus from it, say our Sages, are blueprints for Jewish history (see Gen. Raba 40:8 and Ramban Gen. 12:6,10). Each generation can find in the Haggada great guidance in understanding its own trials and triumphs. The Haggada is thus simultaneously a crash course in Jewish history and a plan for future redemption.