11 Passover Haggadah Supplements to Print If You Want to Discuss October 7 at Your Seder

(JTA) – With just a few hours left before Jews around the world will sit down for the first Passover seder since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, many are for the first time fully considering how to cope with the trauma and discuss pain from the past seven months. at their tables.

A diverse range of Jewish groups and leaders have produced materials designed to help with that reckoning. The traditional haggadah – of which there are many new ones this year – provides a sustainable framework for combating a world that brings both danger and resilience for the Jewish people; the new supplements are intended to help Jews connect that story to current events, including the attack on Israel, Israel’s war in Gaza and rising reports of anti-Semitism around the world. The additions come from Jews and Jewish institutions across the political, ideological and religious spectrum.

Here is a (non-exhaustive!) selection of some of the many supplements released this year, all of which can be printed at home for those who choose to do so.

• Under the leadership of Rabbi Mishael Zion, the Hartman Institute produced an extensive supplement with contributions from people directly affected by October 7 and an essay by prominent Israeli author David Grossman.
• Rabbi Menachem Creditor and Ora Horn Prouser, the CEO and dean of the Academy of Jewish Religion, released a supplement that begins: “I am at the seder, but my heart is in October.”
• The Schechter Rabbinical Assembly in Israel has prepared a supplement that is available in Hebrew and English and includes poetry written during a daylong conference on adapting Passover to the present moment.
• A digital supplement from the Reform Central Synagogue in New York City features poetry written by Israeli poets since October 7; while the reform movement has released its own movement.
• The Hostage and Missing Families Forum has created an entire haggadah detailing those who remain hostage in Gaza; Donations from the sale of the digital version benefit the interest group.
• Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks-Herenstein Center for Values ​​and Leadership at Yeshiva University has released a supplement with a specific October 7-related teaching or question for each step of the seder.
• The Pardes Institute supplement challenges users to draw direct parallels between Pharaoh and Hamas.
• Rabbi Joshua Kulp created a supplement that builds on the haggadahs produced in Israel’s early years by its kibbutz communities, some of which were attacked on October 7.
• An international coalition of what its members call the “religious left” sent a reader meditating on the themes of the seder through a left-wing, anti-occupation lens.
• Bayit’s supplement contains several poems, including one that reimagines the four children of the Haggadah as contemporary Jews: “Today the four children are a Zionist, a Palestinian solidarity activist, a peace activist, and someone who doesn’t know what to even dream . ”
• Anyone who has picked up the Kveller Haggadah from our family-focused sister site in the past four years since its publication will want to sign up for the October 7 supplement with seven ways to address the crisis during their seders.