Close your eyes for a second and picture your seder table.
Who’s sitting there? Children? Adults? Elderly relatives? Does everyone know the haggadah backwards and forwards? Or are there those who struggle – especially with the Hebrew?
Like so many families, we take turns at our seder, reading the haggadah paragraph by paragraph, around the table. Some of our guests (and children) read in fluent Hebrew, some read in halting Hebrew, some default happily to English, while others really wish they could follow along in the Hebrew.
Come to think of it, many of these same seder guests were in attendance at our wedding, which is why my husband and I actually decided to create our own bentcher – one with many of the brachot transliterated into English. That way, those who wanted to follow along in Hebrew could — even if they couldn’t read it fluently.
Over the years, I’ve thought that I should make my own haggadah with transliteration, but somehow in the mad rush to get ready for seder, I never get around to it.
Now I don’t need to! A KOAB reader’s husband, Dr. Joe Lewis, contacted me last month about a haggadah he has published with Hebrew, English translation, and transliterated Hebrew — on the entire seder.
It’s called The Join-In, Participate, Sing-Along Hagadah and I got a copy of it on Friday. I love it — it will surely be a wonderful addition to our collection of hagadot.
The single copy price is $14.95, but thru Pesach, KOAB readers can get their Sing-Along Hagadah for just $11.95 when you click thru this special link.
Shipping is a flat rate of $5 for the first three haggadot, and $10 if you order 4 or 5 haggadot.
In addition to the Hebrew transliteration, Dr. Lewis has also penned some very fun “Singlish” versions of the end-of-seder songs. His rhyming English verse captures the spirit of those songs – if not their word-for-word translation – and are sung to the familiar tunes.
An Inclusive Haggadah
Greeted with worldwide acclaim, the sold-out first edition of this Hagadah brought a bold new concept to Jewish life. The book features full instructions and helpful comments, readable translations in contemporary — and singable — English, convenient Hebrew phrasing, and line-by-line transliteration.
As part of its commitment to inclusiveness, the Sing-Along Hagadah features egalitarian translations. “Egalitarian, non-sexist, and participatory, it’s the Hagadah that invites everyone to join in — and enjoy — the Seder experience.”
Now I know some KOAB readers are thinking, “Right on!”.
And others may be rolling their eyes.
If you’re in the later category, I’ll just tell you that the original Hebrew/Aramaic (and transliteration) have not been changed — it’s just in the English translation that has been made “non-sexist”.
Even still, I know this isn’t for everyone, so I wanted to point it out.
Personally, among our collection of a dozen different hagadot, I think that The Sing-Along Hagadah will add a lot to our seder! And I know it will be especially appreciated by some of our non-(fluent)-Hebrew readers.
Remember: Order your copy of The Sing-Along Hagadah for just $11.95 (reg. $14.95) through this special link.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of The Join-In, Participate, Sing-Along Hagadah to facilitate this review. In addition, this is sponsored post, which means I received compensation for sharing the details of this sale with you, my readers. All opinions are my own. For more information on sponsored posts, please see my Disclosure Statement.
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