Secrets Behind The New Passover Haggadah; A Love Story; Part Three

Every Jew Deserves This Jewish Feeling
by Jerry Waxman

All through growing up in America, and living and working in different places in the U.S., being Jewish meant being different from everyone else, and not in a good way. We were victims in the Holocaust. Our holidays reminded us of tragedies and hardships. The stereotypical Jew is an anxious and disturbed weakling with guilt complexes. In America, I had no Jewish heroes. I didn't even fathom such a thing until I came to Israel.

In America, our seders were wonderful family get-togethers. We read a Haggadah that had English translations of a generic Hebrew Haggadah. The obvious intention of the Haggadah writers was to make sure that the people ate certain things at certain times, and said certain things along the way.

Rote recitation and no feeling; that's how our seders were. Why would we want to remind ourselves that we were Jews? What good does it do for us to remember that we were slaves in Egypt? Depressing stuff, especially when we read this liturgy written in King James English. Especially for anxious, guilt-ridden men and superficial princesses.

Enough, already! Through living in Israel, and through visiting the truly Jewish side of things, I learned that Jews really are heroes. I learned that feelings of guilt and weakness and having nervous breakdowns over petty issues ARE NOT the Jewish way. To be different from the masses of non-Jews who surround us is a good thing - a very exciting uniqueness that we own and can be proud of, not ashamed of.

I gained from the Yemenite seder, and from subsequent seders of various traditions in Israel, a true sense of the freedom that Pesach celebrates. I mean freedom from the feelings of guilt, and shame, and weakness. And freedom from this feeling that we earned our victimhood because we are different.

The Jewish feeling of freedom has no place for boring and meaningless rote recitation. If anything it is a passion for who we are and what we stand for. It is a true love affair with our heritage, and pride for what we have accomplished in every generation since Moses.

While delusions of "spreading the word" escaped me, thankfully, I have wanted very badly to share my experiences with other Jews. Not to tell my story, but to tell our story in a way that other Jews might discover what I discovered; that being Jewish is a heritage to be proud of. That celebrating Pesach can be exciting and deeply meaningful to all of us.

Over the years since that first Yemenite seder, a lot has happened, and I have lived and worked in several places outside Israel. My connection to Israel never stopped, though. With everywhere I went, and everything I did, I knew I would one day return to Israel. Just like when we were slaves in Egypt, we knew that a day would come when we'd finally leave and go to Israel.

There really is a secret love story that goes with the Haggadah I wrote. There is also a not-so-secret love story, which I will reveal here. Hard as it was, I loved my life in Israel. I was living as a Jew in the Jewish homeland. Even though I had no other success, no money, no property, no family around, and nothing to be proud of and nothing to look forward to, I think I had something most people lack. I had an understanding of who I am, and how my life relates to the lives of the people in the Torah. And I had a passion for being a part of Israel - its past, its present and its future.

When I came to live in Sderot two years ago, it was for purely Jewish reasons. I still have no family in Israel. No job, and no income. But i do have a sense of belonging. I came to Sderot at a time when many were leaving because of the rockets. This same sense, I think, drove people to leave Egypt.

The same sense of belonging led Jews to leave Egypt and forge a nation in the wilderness. We, all of us Jews, are connected to that story. We need to reconnect as best we can. I wrote a Haggadah in English with hopes that more and more Americans, Australians, and other English speaking people will have a joyful, meaningful Pesach seder, as I have had in Israel.

The Andaman Haggadah in English delivers the passion and meaning of being Jewish. Customers who have read the Andaman Haggadah have commented on how the plain English and simple explanations, along with the exciting images make this their Haggadah of choice for their Passover Seders. Inspired by the story you are reading now, there really is a love story behind the Andaman Haggadah. Get this beautiful English Passover Haggadah now! . Download it today. Print as many as you need. No extra charge, ever. Unannounced bonuses apply.

Secrets Behind The New Passover Haggadah; A Love Story Continues

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