Passover is behind us, Shavuot ahead. But it was only after the seders that we were given a copy of the Canadian Haggadah Canadienne. What a treat!
We own over 50 different Haggadot: a huge facsimile of the Ryeland Haggadah and others from Spain and Ashkenaz, a tiny Maxwell House coffee one, a Ben Shahn one with an introduction by Louis Finkelstein, and the modern Moss Haggadah. Each comes with a wonderful back story.
But to have one published in Canada, with commentary from across the nation in French and English is unique. We received it too late for inclusion in this year’s feasts, but there is always next year – in Vancouver, if not in Jerusalem.
We loved the cover photo “Opening of the Manischewitz Co. Matzah Plant” in Quebec! Although we have noticed that, over the years, the matzot have gotten smaller – but no less, well, effective.
We looked for any photos from “the West.” And there they were: Lipton, Sask.; Lethbridge, Alta.; Calgary, Winnipeg, Victoria, Prince George, Burnaby. And our own beloved Rabbi Pastinsky in Vancouver. Each picture seems to have been chosen to complement the text and commentary.
But the pictures are not the primary thing, although they do span a continent, creating a pictorial history of Jews in Canada. The main event is the commentary.
What a treasure-house. Not only do the pictures tell a transcontinental story, but the commentary spans Canada’s denominational spectrum.
Naturally we looked for Klei Kodesh (community and shul leaders) from Vancouver. There they were.
Our own Rabbi Jonathan Infeld of Beth Israel Congregation had the opportunity to comment on the maror. The pictures symbolized some bitter lives, including a ragged prospector, Marco Zimmerman, in the Yukon c. 1920, who had a bitter life, indeed, but a chosen one. Not so lives of the slaves in Egypt.
As Rabbi Infeld writes, “Many Canadian Jews are Holocaust survivors or direct descendants of survivors [as he is]… But as we move further and further away from the terrible tragedy, the taste of the maror in the midst of a joyous celebration will help us feel the history of our people.”
A favourite picture of mine is a parade in Toronto celebrating the new State of Israel. On the back of a “Reliable Movers” truck stands J.B. Salsberg, a one-time activist in the Canadian Communist party, above a sign that reads: “Greetings on this historical day of our people’s victory… J.B. Salsberg”
The picture introduces the Hallel portion of the seder. Hallelujah!
Rabbi Andrew Rosenblatt of Vancouver’s Schara Tzedeck synagogue comments on the portion of the seder featuring four rabbis discussing the telling of the Exodus story at night (really they are discussing time for the recitation of the evening Shema, but that is not the point here).
There is, he says, a historical Exodus, but also by telling the story we actually can participate in that Exodus: “the narrative of the narration is itself a form of Exodus.”
There is so much more in this edition that we will explore next year, maybe in conjunction with the New American Hagaddah produced several years ago. Each will provide thoughts from current generations of scholars and laypeople.
If the Exodus event is our foundational event, the Haggadah is our most loved guidebook to it. Every year, we can find something new in this document, produced over the last 2,000 years. The Haggadah is itself a commentary on our peoples’ history. Now Canadian Jewry is a part of that history.
Rabbi ben Lakish remarked: “Say not… how much better were the old days than these! Say not… if Rabbi Tarfon were alive, then I should go to study Torah with him. In the end, you only have the sages of your own generation.”
Not that we lack for sages – indeed, we have our own. Canadian ones! And they are much in evidence in this Haggadah, as they should be.
