What do you think?
The Kol Menachem Haggadah, Nusach Arizal The Slager Edition
The KOL MENACHEM HAGGADAH adds layer upon layer of fresh insight to the age-old celebration of our journey from slavery to freedom. Its richly textured commentary creatively blends traditional, mystical and life-enhancing insights, while each step of the Seder is explained clearly in simple language. This remarkably handsome volume is adorned with ornate Hebrew typography, gold and maroon highlights, and a luxurious, hand-tooled leather-style binding. Substantial sponsorship has enabled this elegant Haggadah to be made available for an extremely reasonable price. The commentaries have been culled from a vast array of sources, spanning from the Twentieth Century back to antiquity. Special emphasis has been give to the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn, many of which appear in English here for the first time.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published March 7, 2008
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
March 30, 2021
Yes I am apparently now reviewing Haggadot. I used this Haggadah last year and would not let anyone else take it this year, even guests, who looked pretty confused by my insistence on using it. The primary reasons I prefer this one are as follows:
1) The translation won't make you look like a fool. It's accurate, pretty, and easy to read at the Seder table without running into a "Rabbi Jose" or "as the Bible relates" (common problem with the others we were using.) I wish that some distinction had been made between God's name and simply the word "God" or "our God" in the English-- usually I see Lord vs. God, as in, "Blessed are You, Lord our God... etc" rather than the "Blessed are You, God our God" in this one. This is a personal preference, and it's based on reading the English and substituting certain words in Hebrew when I pray, but hey, if the two words are different... Nonetheless, that was my only critique.
2) So much commentary. I often find myself drifting off at the seder table (who doesn't) and used to, in past years, hide actual fiction books in the Haggadah because I could not stand it. This Hagaddah has enough commentary to keep you occupied as your father tries to figure out what blessing to say, your sister switches Haggadot to read a different translation, your uncle struggles to figure out what place he's supposed to read, etc. At any stoppage, I'd sit and calmly read commentary for five minutes. I even bookmarked places I was reading to come back to when we moved on a little 'too' quickly for my taste.
3) The commentary is well worth reading in general. I feel there's a point to separating quantity from quality-- there's a lot of commentary, sure, but I've read the backs of milk bottles when bored. It's worth noting that the commentary is so fascinating that I often sit and continue reading after the seder, just to see what there might be to read regarding any number of interesting topics.
If someone were looking for a single Haggadah to buy, I'd recommend this one! One complaint is not much, and it was extremely easy to follow while remaining entertaining and beautifully formatted. And, well, since when do I review Haggadot? Takes a lot to get me jumping out of my seat for a religious book, and this one had it.
1) The translation won't make you look like a fool. It's accurate, pretty, and easy to read at the Seder table without running into a "Rabbi Jose" or "as the Bible relates" (common problem with the others we were using.) I wish that some distinction had been made between God's name and simply the word "God" or "our God" in the English-- usually I see Lord vs. God, as in, "Blessed are You, Lord our God... etc" rather than the "Blessed are You, God our God" in this one. This is a personal preference, and it's based on reading the English and substituting certain words in Hebrew when I pray, but hey, if the two words are different... Nonetheless, that was my only critique.
2) So much commentary. I often find myself drifting off at the seder table (who doesn't) and used to, in past years, hide actual fiction books in the Haggadah because I could not stand it. This Hagaddah has enough commentary to keep you occupied as your father tries to figure out what blessing to say, your sister switches Haggadot to read a different translation, your uncle struggles to figure out what place he's supposed to read, etc. At any stoppage, I'd sit and calmly read commentary for five minutes. I even bookmarked places I was reading to come back to when we moved on a little 'too' quickly for my taste.
3) The commentary is well worth reading in general. I feel there's a point to separating quantity from quality-- there's a lot of commentary, sure, but I've read the backs of milk bottles when bored. It's worth noting that the commentary is so fascinating that I often sit and continue reading after the seder, just to see what there might be to read regarding any number of interesting topics.
If someone were looking for a single Haggadah to buy, I'd recommend this one! One complaint is not much, and it was extremely easy to follow while remaining entertaining and beautifully formatted. And, well, since when do I review Haggadot? Takes a lot to get me jumping out of my seat for a religious book, and this one had it.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review