Unorthodox

Ten Very Modern Plagues

Simon Doonan and Jonathan Adler update the classics for the Unorthodox Haggadah

March 29, 2018

How is the seder different from all other nights, you ask? Well, it’s not just the bitter herbs and the excessive reclining. Tomorrow night, Jews around the world, and those who love them, will gather to feast and, more importantly, to tell one heck of a story. And, as stories go, this one, too, only stays relevant because we understand it to be not only the story of some dusty Israelites millennia ago but also the story of all of us. We all have our own Pharaohs. We all have our own Egypt. And we all yearn for an exodus from troubles and dream of a promised land of our own.

This is why we put together the Unorthodox Haggadah, which you can download for free by clicking here. It contains (most of) the original text in Hebrew, English, and Hebrew transliteration, as well as questions, illustrations, and meditations on freedom, community, destiny, and other topics that are easier to discuss once you’ve had those obligatory four cups of wine. Here, then, is a little taste, a thoroughly modern take on those ten ancient plagues by the incomparable Simon Doonan and Jonathan Adler:

Unorthodox is a smart, fresh, fun weekly take on Jewish news and culture hosted by Mark Oppenheimer, Stephanie Butnick, and Liel Leibovitz. You can listen to individual episodes here or subscribe on iTunes.

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