The Liberated Haggadah: A Passover Celebration for Cultural, Secular and Humanistic Jews

by Rabbi Peter H. Schweitzer

What makes this Haggadah different than all others?

This Haggadah addresses how nonreligious and cultural Jews celebrate and embrace Passover while recognizing the historical questions modern scholars have raised about the Biblical exodus.

This Haggadah celebrates the will of enslaved people to become free. Historically accurate, it celebrates our forebears, ancient and modern, who made the trip to freedom.

This Haggadah embraces the ancient celebration of Spring, which our ancestors observed long before they added the Exodus.

This Haggadah is realistic about how people observe their Seders at home – they pick and choose the parts that are most meaningful, just as they pick and choose the aspects of their Jewishness to celebrate.

This Haggadah restores the familiarity and fun of our childhood. While it updates the text to satisfy the intellectual honesty of a modern cultural, secular Jew, it preserves older melodies that connect us to our past.

Rabbi Peter Schweitzer is the leader of The City Congregation for Humanistic Judaism in New York City, and member and former president of the Association of Humanistic Rabbis.

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