A haggadah can make or break your seder. Don't believe me? Read the standard Maxwell House Haggadah, and I promise you'll be bored out of your mind. The good news is, there are alternatives out there. Here are five tips to help you choose one that will keep you awake and asking deep questions long into the night.
- Know Your Audience: Is your seder going to have countless kids? Numerous boomers? A gaggle of teenagers? Ten vegetarians? Several seniors? Keep this in mind when you’re selecting a haggadah. If you're going kid-friendly, you definitely want something with great pictures, and maybe even activities to keep everyone occupied. If there are mostly seniors at your seder, consider choosing something that emphasizes history, or that’s more academic.
- Check Out the Illustrations: A haggadah with great text but weird illustrations is kind of a drag to use (the Feast of Freedom, for instance). Often the illustrations are a commentary in their own right, so when you’re rifling through haggadahs in the store, check out the pictures: It's a good way of predicting if the interpretation is going to speak to you.
- Keep Length in Mind: If you’re looking to be in bed by 10:30, you probably don’t want seventy pages of reading during the Magid section. Of course, you can pick and choose what you’ll read, but you don’t want your guests to be overwhelmed. On the other hand, if you like epic seders, then look for a haggadah that’s got plenty of commentary on every page.
- Look For Themes: If you’re going to be hosting a crew of vegetarians, mostly women, people of many faiths, or tons of tree-huggers, don’t be afraid to check out haggadahs geared specifically to your guest list. Yesterday we told you about ways to make your whole seder themed, but it really all starts with a haggadah.
- Feel Free to Mix and Match: There’s no rule that says you have to go around the table taking turns reading paragraphs from the same book. If you can’t decide on one haggadah for everyone to use, get an assortment and let people choose the one they like best. You can also copy specific pages you like from different haggadahs (if you’re on a budget, try your local library, where you can check out haggadahs for free) and assemble your own haggadah made up of different parts from different books.
Related: 5 Alternative Seders
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