30 Minute Seder: The Haggadah That Blends Brevity With Tradition
This book, more of a pamphlet than a full-sized Haggadah, claims to have “saved seders” by including only the highlights of a traditional seder yet keeping its meaning. It markets itself as “rabbinically approved” and appealing to “just about every” branch of Judaism, but from looking through the text it is obvious that it does not cater to the Orthodox. Its format, design and marketing as well as the text itself implies an almost desperation to convince minimally- or unaffiliated Jews that yes, your seder can be fun (as if the regular-sized four or five-hour seder was not fun!) and its introduction almost reads like a movie trailer. The book also advertises a link to the publisher’s website, www.30minuteseder.com, which contains songs to download, games and other things to make the seder interesting. There are a few assorted details about the order of the seder that are inaccurate, one example being the meal coming after the afikomen, when the afikomen, as the seder dessert, is supposed to be the last thing eaten. However, based on the simple yet meaningful and attention-grabbing way this Haggadah is written and laid out, it is very possible that someone who was not planning to make a seder at all would see this and decide that it wasn’t such a hassle after all. Recommended for Reform or general Jewish libraries and public libraries; also may be a good choice for children’s sections.
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