The New Haggadah For the Pesah Seder Quotes

“Let it teach us to find delight not in selfish luxuries that excite the envy of our neighbors, but in acts of helpfulness and kindliness that inspire their respect and love. Luxuries when shared by all are good to have; they add to our enjoyment of life and help to make us happy. But when the few have more than they need, and the many have not even life's necessities, then the plea of the Prophets must be heard. Let us strive to bring about equality and justice for everyone.”
― Mordecai M. Kaplan, The New Haggadah For the Pesah Seder

“But the Pharoah that our ancestors pictured, each and every year, for century after century, when Pesah was celebrated, was more than one man: he was for them every tyrant, every cruel and heartless ruler who ever enslaved the men, women and children of his country.

For our forefathers, Pharoah was the symbol of all those tyrants who ever acted as though they were gods, and whose will had to be obeyed without question, on penalty of torture or death.

And that is why Pesah means more than that first emancipation the Israelites won from Pharoad when they left Egypt. It means the emancipation the serfs in the Middle Ages won from their overlords; the freedom the slaves won from their masters; the freedom the common people of countries won, when their kings were overthrown; it means the guarantee of the sacred rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

The first emancipation was thus only a foreshadowing of all the emancipations that were to follow, and which will yet follow in the days to come.”
― Mordecai M. Kaplan, The New Haggadah For the Pesah Seder

“We have dedicated this festival tonight to the dream and the hope of freedom, the dream and the hope that have filled the hearts of men from the time our Israelite ancestors went forth out of Egypt. Peoples have suffered, nations have struggled to make this dream come true. Now we dedicate ourselves to the struggle for freedom. Though the sacrifice be great and the hardships many, we shall not rest until the chains that enslave all men be broken.

But the freedom we strive for means more than broken chains. It means liberation from all those enslavement that warp the spirit and blight the mind, that destroy the soul even though they leave the flesh alive. For men can be enslaved in more ways than one.”
― Mordecai M. Kaplan, The New Haggadah For the Pesah Seder

“On this night, long years ago, our forefathers hearkened to the call of freedom. Tonight, that call rings out again, sounding its glorious challenge, commanding us to champion the cause of all the oppressed and the downtrodden, summoning all the peoples throughout the world to arise and be free.

Let us raise our cups in gratitude to God that this call can still be heard in the land. Let us give thanks that the love of freedom still burns in the hearts of our fellowmen. Let us pray that the time be not distant when all the world will be liberated from cruelty, tyranny, oppression and war.”
― Mordecai M. Kaplan, The New Haggadah For the Pesah Seder