Desert Island Texts: Haggadah
If you were cast away on an island with just one Jewish text for company, which would you choose?
This week Orly Goldschmidt, education programme manager at Tzedek, selects the Haggadah
If I were cast away on an island with just one Jewish text for company, I’d take the Haggadah.
This is firstly because, cast away on a desert island, the Haggadah allows me to remember the atmosphere of the Seder table, and the taste of all the excellent recipes my parents cooked for the holiday – especially my father’s charoset.
But above all, this text for me contains all the tools to make it the educational Jewish text par excellence. The fact that children play an essential role throughout the night, makes the Haggadah a perfect pedagogical tool. Not to mention the lessons of humility and responsibility embedded in the text and, of course, the emphasis on questioning.
After events in Israel in the last month, one can see the importance of educating our children with an open mind, teaching them to always ask questions and never take anything for granted, and teaching them essential values such as justice and respect – notions that we find every year in the Haggadah.
I’ve just started working for Tzedek, and one of the programmes that the organisation supports, School for Life, gives funds to support the education of Ghanaian children in schools and train their teachers.
Having the privilege to be able to see the benefits of empowering children by facilitating access to education has deeply affected the choice of my Jewish text today.
Nelson Mandela once said: “Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.”
Being able to receive an education is not only a privilege, it is a fundamental right. The Haggadah reminds me I need to do all I can to facilitate this.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
