Tikkun Magazine, March/April 2008

BOOK

Activist Seder 

A MYSTICAL HAGGADAH: PASSOVER MEDITATIONS, TEACHINGS AND TALES

Commentary and Translation by Rabbi Eliahu J. Klein, North Atlantic Books, 2008

Note for our non-Jewish readers: The word Haggadah ("telling" in Hebrew) comes from the scriptural commandment to tell our children about the Jewish liberation from slavery in Egypt, as described in the book of Exodus in the Torah. This story is told every year at the Pesach Seder (the family ritual meal for Passover). Eds.

Review by Kennard Lipman

DO WE NEED ANOTHER HAGGADAH? Do we even need another 'mystical haggadah'? After all, we can find Haggadot with titles such as The Chassidic Haggadah and The Secrets of the Haggadah. The answer is definitely 'yes,' for Rabbi Klein brings us deeper into the ways of tikkun according to Kabbalah and Hasidism, than any other Haggadah in English.

As far back as 1989, Lawrence Fine, a scholar of Lurianic Kabbalah, showed how much our contemporary understanding of tikkun olam (including that of this magazine) has been influenced by the Lurianic notion of tikkun and its correlative notion of shevirat hakelim (shattering of the vessels of creation). Although tikkun olam has come to mean little more than 'social action' in mainstream American Judaism, the understanding that repair of our contemporary world must go deep and deal with the foundations of society will resonate with Tikkun readers. But how 'deep' and what are the 'foundations' that must be transformed?

Rabbi Klein's Mystical Haggadah is an ambitious undertaking. It has two goals. The first is to present a fresh, egalitarian, and soulful translation of the traditional Haggadah text. He does this based on the advice of his teacher, Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, pioneer of contemporary teaching and translation of Jewish mysticism: "First translate exactly word by word, and then, throw everything away and write the way you, and only you, would communicate these sacred words." To have only accomplished this task would have been reason enough for another Haggadah. One example will suffice to give the reader a taste (in this case the beginning of the Kiddush): "Blessed are you, Hashem-Adonai, our Creator-Eloheinu, Divine Steward of the universe, who has given us the opportunity to transcend our egos through free choice, above all those who lack this sublime view, and who has made us whole with Your divine rituals." Although the Hebrew sources are all traditional, this is not your grandfather's Haggadah.

The second goal is to present Kabbalah in practice, especially as it was practiced by the Hasidim of Brooklyn, among whom Rabbi Klein grew up. One of the great strengths of this Haggadah is that it reflects Rabbi Klein's personal experience. He is particularly adept at weaving more abstract kabbalistic commentaries with stories and personal advice from Hasidic rebbes. But what does this practice teach us about the essential message of the Haggadah, liberation, and how it can be achieved today?

Once again, just one example will give you the distinct flavor of a Passover Seder conducted with this book. It is a kavanah, an intention with which we break the middle of the three matzot and hide away a piece for the afikomen: "I heard from Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach (of blessed memory), 'We break this matzah and hide a part of our selves. Only we know which part we are hiding. It is the part that is our broken heart that we hide and protect as we travel through the Haggadah. At the end of the Seder, we bring out this precious part that has become healed. At that moment we eat this broken piece.'"

In the work of transforming the world we need to acknowledge our broken hearts. Our hearts are broken, and not just by those who suffer so much more than we do, in Iraq, Kenya, Mexico or the other side of town. We too are broken. Tikkun olam is an inner and outer process, a restoration of wholeness. Depending upon our personalities we may feel more comfortable starting with either process, but eventually the work needs to include the part that is hiding.

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel said of the famous march from Selma, Alabama with Rev. Martin Luther King, "I felt as if my feet were praying." Rabbi Heschel came out of the same background as the sources used by Rabbi Klein. Do we read these words as just a poetic flourish or as a deep truth? They contain a truth that those engaged in tikkun olam need to learn in order to avoid the demons of egotism, bickering, burnout, vengeful anger, resentment, or despair. The Kabbalistic and Hasidic commentaries in A Mystical Haggadah can help teach us how to pray with activist feet, or at least rehearse the steps on Passover night.

Rabbi Ken Lipman lives in Berkeley, California.

Lipman, Kennard. 2008. Activist seder. Tikkun 23(2):75-76.