I wrote this Haggadah in 2012 because there are many people in all kinds of situations that don’t have time for a long seder. They grab a regular Haggadah and try to find the parts they have time for. Or maybe they would just raise a glass and a matzah and sing Dayenu.
However, what gets lost in those kinds of seders are some of the most important elements that make a seder, well, a seder.
Our ancestors crafted the Haggadah with plasticity, and there are many versions. So I spent time studying what must be retained, rewrote the text in a contemporary style, and included all the elements of the seder are considered truly essential – plus a few fan favorites like Dayenu. Our ancestors believed that skipping the essential seder elements reduces the vibrancy and meaning of the ritual, and they don’t take long at all it turns out.
Originally I created this Hagaddah for use at Coachella and other music festivals where our organization Shabbat Tent runs seders, and hundreds participate.
Then I learned that there are many others who use this two-sided, easily printed Haggadah. Doctors on duty, people in the military, those visiting hostile relatives, use this Haggadah because conducting the typical seder would be impractical or impossible.
Today, to my great surprise and joy, the Ten Minute Seder Haggadah is now used all over the world. And a apparently by Jewish writers who gather at Katz’s deli for a seder. (h/t Jon Kalish)
When the pandemic shut down our communal life in 2020, we made a video to guide folks who may have never led their own seder in how to use the Haggadah.
The emails and the inquires continued, thank God. So we are very happy to present not only the latest version of the Hagaddah, but an entire website devoted to this unintentionally viral publication.
We hope that more people will benefit from the Haggadah – as a framework for their seder, or because they need to do one in record time.
And to dispel the many rumors, I am not working on a Ten Minute Yom Kippur Service.
Happy Passover!
