Reading from the ancient Maxwell House of our people
new york
In 2009 my family started the tradition of writing the name of whoever has that Maxwell House Haggadah that seder on the inside flap of the book. It’s really nice to be able to look back at the people who used the same Haggadah in years past!
tenafly, nj
Friday night, when President Obama joins Jewish guests for a Passover Seder in the White House, he’ll be holding a ritual handbook that’s in millions of U.S. Jewish homes — the Maxwell House Haggadah.
Yes, the coffee company publishes America’s most long standing and popular booklet (haggadah) of prayers, reading and commentary for the ceremonial meal in which Jews retell the story of the exodus from Egypt — freedom from bondage at God’s hand.
Decades ago, Maxwell House wanted to convey that its product was kosher, acceptable under Jewish dietary laws, for the holiday. Jewish homes have piles of these haggadahs, pulled out of the cupboard once a year.
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cathy lynn grossman, usa today 4/5/2012 |
Our Seder is traditional in many ways, from Mom’s brisket to the Maxwell House Haggadah to our rousing rendition of “Chad Gadya.
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Wayne Hoffman as quoted by Marc Tracy, Tablet Magazine 4/6/12 http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/95338/seder-comes-only-once-well-twice-a-year/ |
So do trade up from the Maxwell House version. Those gathered around your Seder table will thank you. And while you’re at it, trade up from the Maxwell House coffee, too. A meal celebrating freedom ought to end with freshly ground beans.
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Benjamin Errett, The National Post 4/6/2012 http://arts.nationalpost.com/2012/04/06/book-review-new-american-haggadah-edited-by/ |
…many in the Jewish community never embraced the seder revolution of the 1960s and ’70s but instead stuck with the old take-turns-reading-out-of-the-Maxwell-House-haggadah model.
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Julie Gruenbaum Fax, “DIYers take on Pesach” Jewish Journal 4/4/12 |
My boyfriend picked this up in the aisle of Stop and Shop the other day when we were buying kosher chocolate to bring to his very first seder (and only my second) with a colleague.
“Is it free?” he said, then tossed it into the cart.
He wants to educate himself about Passover before we go. (Neither of us are Jewish, but I work for a Jewish organization, so have heard a lot of stories about seders.) Though I know my colleague won’t be using the Maxwell House haggadah, there’s no better way to learn about the seder than reading through it!
northampton, ma
