A year ago, when we—two crazy-busy rabbinical students—started working on Hamilversions of the PassoverPassover is a major Jewish holiday that commemorates the Jewish people's liberation from slavery and Exodus from Egypt. Its Hebrew name is Pesakh. Its name derives from the tenth plague, in which God "passed over" the homes of the Jewish firstborn, slaying only the Egyptian firstborn. Passover is celebrated for a week, and many diaspora Jews celebrate for eight days. The holiday begins at home at a seder meal and ritual the first (and sometimes second) night. Jews tell the story of the Exodus using a text called the haggadah, and eat specific food (matzah, maror, haroset, etc). story, we had no idea that our work would reach so many folks. We were humbled by the opportunity to add a little value to an inherently valuable Jewish experience, and of course we had a lot of fun seeing how y’all took our work and ran with it, just like we did Lin-Manuel Miranda’s original masterpiece.
It’s hardly a surprise that, a year later, Hamilton continues to be a central work in the American art scene. Even when (in a decade or two) the initial fervor around Hamilton dies, it will live on as a classic in the same vein as Les Miserables and Harry Potter. It’s for this reason that we’ve decided to expand last year’s work into a stand-alone haggadahLit. "Telling.” The haggadah is the book used at the seder table on Passover to tell the story of the Exodus, the central commandment of the holiday. It is rich in song, prayer, and legend. There are many different version of the Haggadah produced throughout Jewish history., a book you can use to complete a sederLit. Order. The festive meal conducted on Passover night, in a specific order with specific rituals to symbolize aspects of the Exodus from Egypt. It is conducted following the haggadah, a book for this purpose. Additionally, there an ancient tradition to have a seder on Rosh Hashanah, which has been practiced in particular by Sephardi communities. This seder involves the blessing and eating of simanim, or symbolic foods. The mystics of Sefat also created a seder for Tu B'shvat, the new year of the trees. from start to finish without anything else on the side (although, really, what’s a seder without at least 3 competing haggadot)?
We want our haggadah to be accessible for everybody, so we’ll let you download for free, but we’d love you to offer a donation that will be given to a worthy organization.
Download the haggadah below. Learn more at https://hamiltonhaggadah.wordpress.com/. Listen to recordings of songs from the Hamilton Haggadah on SoundCloud.
One Response
Dear Emily and Jake: I am a little late getting around to it, but I would love to interview you both for an article about your “Hamilton” Haggadah. Please let me know if that is a possibility.
Respectfully, Len Lear
Features editor
Chestnut Hill Local, Mt. Airy Local & Wissahickon Magazine