For Passover 2024, Yeshiva University is pleased to announce the publication of Haggadot and Pesach-related resources written by YU faculty and students.

Haggadah Companion

Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration

This yearly Haggadah companion, produced and updated by the faculty and students of the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, focuses on the journey of the Jewish people from tragedy to triumph by providing activities and prompts that adults can use to engage children and teens to enrich the seder experience.

“For preschoolers, the activities provide focus on journeys, the roadblocks that may delay us and the help we can depend on from G-d,” explained Dr. Rona Novick, dean of the Azrieli School. “For elementary school learners, there are games and prompts to explore how we deal with difficulty and how chesed [acts of kindness] can help. For tweens and teens, we explore the idea of covenants, promises, and how the journey of Passover relates to promises to the Jewish people and our responsibilities to do our part.” 

The Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks-Herenstein Center for Values and Leadership

New for this year, the Center has compiled a 4-page insert for The Jewish Link “that links the Haggadah to the current situation in Israel, so we can keep our brothers and sisters in Israel on top of our minds during the Seder,” said Dr. Erica Brown, Vice Provost and Director of the Center.

 

The #QuietingTheSilence Haggadah

Max Hollander, semicha student at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS)

This fascinating new Haggadah comes from the Blue Dove Foundation, an organization that provides Jewish communities across the globe with educational resources about mental health and wellness that combine Jewish ideas and modern psychology.

In this Haggadah are short commentary, prompts, and activities connecting Passover themes with mental health, and true stories of people overcoming mental health challenges from the foundation’s book, #QuietingTheSilence: Personal Stories.

“Telling stories of people living with mental illness helps de-stigmatize conversations about mental illness and helps others feel less alone in their mental health journeys,” said Hollander. “This is an attempt at creating an experience that helps participants feel a sense of freedom from their own challenges or at least helps them start to talk about them and #QuietTheSilence surrounding mental illness.”

To learn more about the Haggadah, download it for free and/or purchase a physical copy to bring to your Seder table, visit https://thebluedovefoundation.org/resource/the-quietingthesilence-haggadah/, or purchase a copy on Amazon.  

Batei Yosef Pesach Volume 1, Inyanei Chametz 

This highly anticipated edition is the latest installment in the groundbreaking Batei Yosef project, generously sponsored in loving memory of Rabbi Joseph Karasick z”l. The series, edited by the RIETS Press leadership of Rabbi Daniel Z. Feldman and Rabbi Joshua Flug, as well as RIETS Rosh Yeshiva and interim Dean, Rabbi Michael Taubes, aims to bring the Torah scholarship of The Rav z”l, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, to the world. This new volume contains analysis on the halachos [laws] of chametz as well as discourses and essays on the topic from current RIETS roshei yeshiva. It is sure to provide new insights and novel approaches to these timeless topics.

Haggadah Shel Pesach Yesamach Av

Rabbi Eli Baruch Shulman

First published in 2017, this updated edition of Rabbi Shulman’s popular Haggadah contains original analysis of the halachic logic of the seder based on shiurim he has given over the years as a Rosh Yeshiva at RIETS and as rabbi of the Young Israel of Midwood in Brooklyn, New York.
 

Haggadah Shel Pesach Am Mordechai

Rabbi Mordechai Willig

Haggadah Shel Pesach Am Mordechai is the latest volume in the Am Mordechai series by RIETS Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Mordechai Willig. Like the previous volumes of Am Mordechai, this Haggadah contains Rabbi Willig's halachic analyses on relevant Pesach topics and adds new depth and insight to the seder. Additionally, this Haggadah contains 12 of Rabbi Willig's Shabbos HaGadol derashos [sermons], each of which contain a halacha section and a matching aggada [discussion] section to complement it. The Haggadah also contains English language insights into the Haggadah as well as English language essays.

This volume is lovingly dedicated in memory of Rabbi Willig's sister, Chava Willig Levy, a polio survivor who served as an inspiration to so many people and whose spirit continues to inspire and guide us on our spiritual journeys. Eulogies delivered by Rabbi Willig and his brother, Rabbi Dovid Willig, as well as essays by Ms. Levy, are also included in this volume.

The Promise of Liberty: A Passover Haggadah

Rabbi Dr. Stuart Halpern

Rabbi Dr. Stuart Halpern, deputy director of the Zahava and Moshael Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought, co-authored The Promise of Liberty, an innovative Haggadah that collects primary sources and essays to highlight the impact of the Exodus story on American history. The book includes contributions from YU faculty such as Straus Center Director Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik, Dr. Erica Brown, and Dr. Tevi Troy, as well as other distinguished scholars such as Dr. Jonathan D. Sarna.