Seder 2024: How Do We Celebrate the Seder in a Time of Crisis? An Israeli Perspective

A virtual event presentation by Noam Zion

About the Event: 

In this class, we will address the question: How will you celebrate your seder in a time in which so much is lo b’seder (not in order), in a time of war, collateral damage to civilians, endangered hostages, and various kinds of worldwide antisemitism? The problems will not be resolved by Seder night, but we must celebrate as Jews have celebrated Pesach in the worst of times. But we must also acknowledge the profound experiences of the last year and the new questions raised. Joy and yet remembrance are essential in this seder. 

To respond to that urgent existential need for Israeli Jews, Mishael, and Noam Zion have issued this new Haggadah. Come and hear how the authors have imagined Seder 2024 and learn about how their new Haggadah may be a valuable resource for your American Jewish seder. Note the new Hebrew Haggadah, published March 17, 2024, was produced to reflect updated issues of Israeli civil and military society with its struggle with the massacre, its ongoing unresolved trauma, and its deep struggle between despair and hope. An English Seder Supplement 2024 will be shared with all participants.

About the Speaker: 

Noam is now emeritus at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem where since 1978 he has been a senior research fellow and educator. He earned a graduate degree in general philosophy at Columbia University and the Hebrew University while studying Bible and Rabbinics at JTSA and the Hartman Beit Midrash.

His popular publications and worldwide lecturing have promoted Homemade Judaism – empowering families to create their own pluralistic Judaism during home holidays – Pesach, Hanukkah and Shabbat. His most popular publications include A Different Night: The Family Participation Haggadah; A Different Light: The Big Book of Hanukkah; A Day Apart: Shabbat at Home; The Israeli Haggadah: Halaila Hazeh; and A Night to Remember: The Haggadah of Contemporary Voices (published together with his son). But his most recent book written with his son came out on March 17, 2024, Haggadah Yisraelit to reflect on the latest events of October 7, 2023.

His most recent academic research encompasses a trilogy on the intellectual history of philanthropy entitled Jewish Giving in Comparative Perspectives (2013) and a nine-part series on Talmudic Marital Dramas (2018). In 2021 Jewish Publication Society published Sanctified Sex: The 2000-Year Jewish Debate on Marital Intimacy.

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