As Commented Upon by Elie Wiesel and Illustrated by Mark Podwal
February 15, 1993
Passover, or Pesach, as the festival is called in Hebrew, commemorates the deliverance of the Jews from more than two centuries of Egyptian bondage and recalls their mass exodus from Egypt about 3,300 years ago. The seder is the religious service that includes a festival meal on the first night of Passover (the first two nights in the Diaspora), and the Haggadah (Hebrew for "the telling") is the booklet containing the order of the seder service--blessings and prayers to be recited, recounting the Israelite servitude and the exodus. This new translation--in what is much more than a booklet--is complemented with a preface and comments by Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel and 40 drawings by Mark Podwal. English commentaries are by Marion Wiesel. ((Reviewed Feb 15, 1993))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1993, American Library Association.)
March 1, 1993
The Passover Haggadah is a set form of benedictions, prayers, psalms, and commentary recited at the Passover seder. Numerous English-language and English/Hebrew Haggadot are available for home use, including Let My People Go: A Haggadah (Macmillan, 1973), also illustrated by Podwal but no longer in print. So how is this Haggadah different from all others? Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Holocaust survivor Wiesel's wise and compassionate commentary, poetic interpretations, lively retellings of ancient legends, and personal reminiscences, along with Podwal's powerful line drawings (only seen as sketches), make this a very special edition indeed, and one to be treasured for years to come. Highly recommended.-- Marcia Welsh, Guilford Free Lib., Ct.
Copyright 1993 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.