34—Friday, April 9, 1971

Radical Hagadot Competing for Influence

Hagadot. I have in my collectio
one of the limited number of
facsimilies of the famous Sarajev
Hagada, a magnificent master
piece of art, treasure of medieva
culture, that originated in the 14t h
Century, some 100 years before th
first Hebrew book was printed.
I also have part of a facsimil
of the first printed Hagada. I
was printed in Guadalajara, Spain.
The unique original is now in th e
Schocken Collection at the Jewis h
National and University Librar y
in Jerusalem.
Included in my collection ar e
the Lubavitcher "Story of Pass
over" in English; the Arbeter Rin g
Hagada in Yiddish; Hagadot
from various kibutzim in Israel
which do not follow the traditional
Hagada text: Hagadot issued b ,
the Israel Army: Hagadot issuer'
by the Jewish Welfare Board fo -
Jewish servicemen in the U.S.
armed forces; and numerous othe-
Contrary to the "Freedom Hagadot that appeared in variou s
Hagada," there is the "Jewish languages.
* *
T iberation Hagada" published by
One
of
the
latest modern Hag-
the Jewish Liberation Project, a
group of Socialist minded and adot in my collection is the
"Israel Hagada," a beautifull y
Jewishly-committed young adults.
illustrated volume. It was printed
This Jewish Liberation Hagada
I is to be welcomed by all those who in Japan and published this year
by the American publishing firm.
want to see the Jewish youth in of Harry N. Abrams, Inc. The text
The worst of the radical
the United States identified strong- of the Hagada is adapted by
Hagadot is the one which ap-
er with Jewish life in all its as- Meyer Levin, the well-known au
-
peared under the title "The
pects. It reflects Jewish con-
Freedom Seder—a New Hagada I sciousness as well as the senti- thor of numerous books publishe d
in the United States.
for Passover." This so-called
ments of American Jewish youth
The service is given in Hebre w
Hagada is nothing but a mish-
ai'ainst different forms of oopres-
with a transliteration in Latin
mash of radical slogans and ideas
sion in this country. It also ex-
characters and a translation in
intermingled with some parts
presses pride in Israel.
Enclish. The 72 illustrations-55
of the text of the traditional
The basic idea of the Jewish of them in full color—are magnifi-
Hagada. It is a chop suey of
T iberation Hagada is that all Jew-
cent and selected with great taste.
radical propaganda cameuflaged
ish history, written and oral—that
They show, among other things .
by passages from the Hagada,
is. the image Jews have forged of
how Jewish families from various,
with lots of propaganda and little
themselves—is constructed or re-
lands conduct the seder in Israel.
of the Hagada.
constructed in the persnective of
Impressive, too, are pages with
Don't look in this Hagada for oppression and liberation. This color photos showing the seder in
the traditional .slogan of "Next view is strongly expressed in the the homes of Kurdistan, Yemenite
Year in the Land of Israel." The material Which the Liberation Persian, Boukhara a n d other
dominating slogan of this Hagada, Hagada contains. This material "exotic" Jews, with all the mem-
authored by Arthur I. Waskow and siipnlements but does not over- bers of the family sitting in their
published by Holt, Rinehart and shadow the meaning of the tradi- traditional richly-colored garbs
Winston, is: "Liberty New! Next tional Hagada. On the contrary. around the seder table. There- are
Year - in a World of Freedom!" it strengthens it by stressing the also color photos of the obser
-vanco
Characteristic of this Hagada is concept of Jewish solidarity that of the mass-seder in kibutzim arid
the fact that the seder opens there made Jewish survival oossihle of the celebration of Passover: - by
practically with the singing of di'ring years of oppression—the the Samaritans.
"Solidarity Forever." Later, in the "Vi-hee Sheamda" concept of the
Levin eliminated certain parts
middle of the seder ceremony, all traditional Hagada.
of the traditional seder but in-
The
"Liberation
Hagada"
does
present sing "We Shall Overcome"
troduced certain explanations for
and "The Times They Are A- not forget also the 6,000,000 Jews today's less traditional Jews that
Changing:" Part and parcel of this who were brutally tortured • and clarify various customs. He also
Hagada also is excerpts from murdered by the Nazis. It carries added a memorial for the martyred
the Black Panther leader Eld- a vow never to forgive the apathy
Jews of all generations—the vic-
ridge Cleaver_ Allen Ginsburg and of the civilized world. which closed
its eyes and doors to the Jewish tims of the Romans, of the In-
/A.."• _,A100 ■ 10011••••••••••••§ victims of Nazism and let them quisition, the victims of the Cru-
sades, of pogroms and the 6.000.-
perish.
Happy Passover to
••
The material in the Liberation 000 Jews annihilated by the Nazis.
•
Our Relatives and Friends •
•
Hagada is well-selected and well- It is regretable that—unlike other
•
EIDELMAN
BROS.
•
clited by Aviva Zucl, off. Itzhal , post-war modern Hagadot — the
•
•
Epstein and Jerry Kirschen, all "Israel Hagada" failed to lay
INC.
•
• • three
•
•
of whom are members of special emphasis on the tragedy
•
Wholesale Floor Covering
of the Jews who were wiped out
• • 5875 Concord
WA 5-4181 • the Jewish Liberation Project, a by the Nazis.
Socialist-Zionist group of young
It will be interesting for many
adults.
to learn that the oldest Hagada
Probably close to 3,000 different in the world—the Hagada manu-
Best Wishes for a
editions
of the Hagada have ap- script which dates back to the
Happy Passover
peared till this year, many of Eighth Century—is, of all places,
them with translations in foreign today in a Soviet institution. This
languages. including Arabic. Per- Jewish tale of oppression and lib-
sian, Kurdish and Greek. In addi- eration can be found now in the
tion, many editions carry transla- famous Saltykov-Schedrin Library
tions in English, French, Russian, in Leningrad to which the general
German, Polish, Spanish, Italian, public has no access.
One can also find in this famous
Romanian, Danish, Dutch, Hun-
HOLIDAY GREETINGS
garian and other '.anguages. The Leningrad library—the third larg-
Hagada is the rn•,st widely trans- est in the world — the first cata-
Edith Eckstat, R.E.
lated Jewish piece of literature logue of Hagadot ever issued.
and
after the Bible, although no trans- This rare catalogue was published
Albert Wolgin, R.E.
lation of it appeared in. the printed in St. Petersburg, the capital of
Hair Removed Forever
editions untie the early part of Czarist Russia, in 1901, by the
WO 3-3047
WO 3-0922
Russian Academy of Science. It
the 17th Century.
1309 David Broderick Tower
......1.=.=.=•=.= ■ =•= ■ ={}=.=.=• ■ =.{.1
One of my hobbies is collecting registers 909 Hagadot that ap-
peared all over the world till 1900.
I was admitted to the Saltykov-
Schedrin Library to inspect the
Geniza there during my visit to
Leningrad in 1968. This exception
was made only because some of
of
my books turned out to be on the
shelves of this library, to my great
surprise and delight. I was even
presented with the library's "hon-
Youth Center
Te1-12-Mall
orary membership card" for per-
manent admission, in deference to
the fact that my books are there,
Extend Passover Greetings For Health And
although they are locked up in
the Judaica section where even
Happiness to 7!_eir Friends & Customers
Soviet scholars are rarely per-
mitted to enter.
■ •• ■ ••• ■ •

By BORIS SMOLAR
(Editor-in-Chief Emeritus, JTA)
(Copyright 1971, JTA, Inc.
The Passover Hagada is a story
of social significance. It tells a tale
of oppression and liberation. Deep
rooted in Jewish tradition, it has
been recited year after year—for
hundreds of years—at the seder by
millions of Jewish families.
The oldest preserved Hagada
dates back to the 8th Century.
The first printed Hagada dates
back to 1482. It appeared in Spain
seven years after the first book
in Hebrew letters was ever printed
and 10 years before the Jews were
expelled from the country. The
first Hagada on the American
continent was printed in New
York in 1839.
Because of the increased in-
terest in social justice in general,
Jewish radical and liberal groups
in the United States have during
the last few years begun to com-
pete with the traditional Hagada
text by publishing texts of their
own. Their Hagadot are merely
a 'semblance of the traditional
Hagada. Parts of the old text of
Hagada used by them serve
as 'a nucleus for injecting their
own views into their Hagadot.

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

---,
Season's Greetings

others who never dreamed of find-
ing themselves participating in the
the Hagada.
The radicalized Hagada utilizes
the ancient feats of Jewish libera-
tion from slavery in Egypt to in-
ject radical views covering them
up not only by passages from the
traditional Hagada but also by
teachings coming from Pope John
XXII, "prophet" Ghandi and other
liberal-minded non-Jews. It thus
aims to make its political con-
coction more palatable. It claims
that its text is "deeply Jewish"
but at the same time stresses that
it is 'not only Jewish.' Christians
are urged to use it on Holy Thurs-
day. Blacks are advised to use
it on the Martin Luther King
Memorial Day. The assertion is
that the Hagada is both radical
and religious. The first it definitely
is. Whether it also is the second
is very-very questionable.

'

KAY DANZER
FLORISTS
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Passover Greetings

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• mu EN or EN I= =I EN mil INI I 1JULASSISIMILSULSULWASULSir
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Happy Passover

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ASA BUILDERS SUPPLY CO.
28811 JOHN. R STREET
Madison Heights, Mich.
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Happy Holiday

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6 OFFICES
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Member Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

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