A beautiful, accessible Haggadah for modern Passover celebrants.
Leven offers an alternative, updated Passover Haggadah.
“I love the traditional Haggadah,” writes the author, but “I’ve actually never understood it.” Despite being known as the “Telling of the Passover Story,” he notes, “it doesn’t tell the Passover story very well.” Rather than centering the historical narrative from Exodus, the traditional Haggadah assumes that listeners already know the details of the story and instead focuses on ancient commentary. Moreover, per Leven, it leaves out important details: Miriam, the elder sister of Moses and Aaron, is identified in both the Torah and Talmud as a prophet and leader of the children of Israel, yet she is noticeably absent from traditional Haggadah texts. Seeking to fill these gaps in the traditional Haggadah, the author gives readers this “new narrative for a modern seder.” Written in a self-described “straightforward, easy to follow…chronological” style, the book eschews arcane, ancient commentary for a back-to-the-basics storyline that outlines the major narrative arcs of the Book of Exodus, from the Israelites’ arrival in Egypt and subsequent enslavement to Moses’ multiple and miraculous confrontations with Pharaoh. The text includes the traditional elements of the Haggadah (“what is to be done and said, and when”) along with useful guides that use pop-culture references for pronunciation (The “ah” sound represented by the Hebrew niqqud Kamatz, for instance, is pronounced like the letter A in Jabba the Hutt). At just over 100 pages, the book’s efficient prose and frequent use of tables and diagrams are ideal for lay readers who find themselves overwhelmed by traditional seder readings. However, the book does not sacrifice brevity for quality, featuring full-page Hebrew texts and beautiful visual images, from historic artifacts, seder plates, and other ephemera to reprinted pages from historic manuscripts and Haggadahs replete with classical Jewish art.
A beautiful, accessible Haggadah for modern Passover celebrants.Pub Date: Dec. 29, 2022
ISBN: 9798986752402
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Leven's Finer Foods Publishing
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.
The veteran actor, comedian, and banjo player teams up with the acclaimed illustrator to create a unique book of cartoons that communicates their personalities.
Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker. So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny.” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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