/ In Every Generation

In Every Generation

A Haggadah Supplement for 5784


The injunction, 
Bekhol dor vador chayav adam lir’ot et atzmo keilu hu yatzah mimitzrayim, “In every generation, each person is obligated to see themselves as if they had participated in the Exodus from Egypt,” is one of the most evocative lines in the Haggadah. It is a call to empathy, to feel the suffering and redemption of our ancient ancestors as our own. image from Paul Kor's haggadahIt is also a command to use the story to bring meaning into our own contexts, as we imagine ourselves being lifted out of despair and into freedom. 

Every year, we see ourselves in this story in a different way—this is part of what makes the seder such a lasting and powerful ritual. This year, the reverberating trauma of October 7, ongoing war in Gaza, thousands of Israelis displaced from their homes, rising antisemitism, and weakening bonds of allyship around the world, give us new lenses for understanding the Exodus story. In some cases, the words of the Haggadah feel more relevant; in others, the Haggadah’s proclamations clash with reality. How can we celebrate a holiday of freedom when over 100 people are still held captive in Gaza? How do we call for all who are hungry to come eat at our tables when so many Israelis are not at their own seder tables and millions of Palestinians are on the brink of famine?

While there are no definitive answers to these questions, Passover is a time for us to reenter a generation-spanning conversation and envision ourselves anew in the Exodus story’s themes of persecution, resilience, and redemption. We encourage you to read In Every Generation: A Haggadah Supplement for 5784, developed by the Shalom Hartman Institute and inspired by Mishael Zion and Noam Zion’s Israeli Haggadah.


Cover illustration by Michel Kichka, “Kibbutz Be’eri, Darom Adom: Kibbutz Be’eri, the Red South,” created in Oct. 2023 as part of the Bezalel Academy’s Wrapping Memory project. Inset image: Paul Kor, Kibbutz Be’eri Haggadah. 

Download individual supplement sections below.

In Every Generation: A Haggadah Supplement for 5784

Table of Contents + Contributors

How Will We Celebrate Passover This Year?

  • Introduction to In Every Generation by Jessica Fisher
  • A Guide for Seder Hosts and Facilitators by Dasee Berkowitz

קַדֵּשׁ: Elevate Their Voices 

  • Lift Up a Glass! by Avner Goren

יַחַַַץ: Embracing Brokenness  

  • Inviting the People We Miss to Our Table by Noam Zion
  • Entering the Broken World by Mishael Zion

מַגִּיד: Telling our Story

Let All Who Are Hungry Come and Eat

    • הָא לַחְמָא עַנְיָא: Learning Empathy from the Bread of Affliction by Leah Solomon
    • כָּל דִכְפִין: Inviting the Jewish People to the Table by Yehuda Kurtzer

מַה נִּשְׁתַּנָּה: Old and New Questions 

    • How is This Year Different? by Noam Zion
    • Contemporary Versions of Ma Nishtana from Early Kibbutz Haggadot by Mishael Zion 

Adapting the Story in Every Generation

    • The Mitzvah to Tell Our Story: A Three-Generation Haggadah Project by Mishael Zion
    • The New Ukrainian Haggadah: For Our Freedom by Vlada Nedak
    • A Faithful Girl’s Question: How Can We, Too, Go out of Egypt Tonight? by Tamar Elad-Appelbaum
    • My Mother and Our Family’s Exodus from Africa by Ziva (Tezezew) Mekonen Degu

The Four Children

    • Contemporary Children by Noam Zion
    • I Belong to the Jewish People by Eleanor Harrison Bregman
    • A Rasha (Wicked Child) Roundtable
      • The Wicked Child is All of Us by Donniel Hartman
      • Instead of Pointing Fingers, Cultivate Humility by Sara Labaton
      • Bring the Wicked Child Close by Joshua Ladon and Masua Sagiv

בָּרֵךְ: Pour Out Your Wrath and Your Love

    • A Companion to “Pour Out Your Wrath” by Mishael Zion
    • A Vow by Avraham Shlonsky
    • Hatred Is Easy by Rachel Goldberg
    • Pour Out Your Love translated by Noam Zion and David Dishon

הַלֵּל: Praising God When Our People Are Captives

  • What Blessing Do You Say When You Suddenly Get Your Life Back? by Jacky Levy
  • To Hold onto Hope without Letting Go by Oded Mazor
  •  

נִרְצָה: Next Year in Jerusalem: Messages of Hope 

  • Tikvah/Hope: The Enclave of Freedom in the Human Soul by David Grossman
  • Hatikvah
  • For Weeks I’ve Been Bleeding Poems by Iris Eliya Cohen

In Every Generation is inspired by the Israeli Haggadah: Special Edition (Hebrew, 2024) by Mishael Zion and Noam Zion. Currently available only in Israel, Israeli Haggadah can be purchased online here. Consider sending a gift to an Israeli friend or relative.

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