'For This We Left Egypt?': A humorous parody Haggadah for Passover - review

• Published date: 20 April 2024
• Author: BRIAN BLUM
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

We haven't given up on Passover, but we've tried over recent years to inject some humor into the proceedings

That's why I was delighted to discover the parody Haggadah For This We Left Egypt? by humorists Dave Barry, Alan Zweibel, and Adam Mansbach.

A humorous Haggadah for Passover

Published in 2017, For This We Left Egypt?: A Passover Haggadah for Jews is both loving and irreverent. It covers the entire narrative, not just a portion, and as such can be used as a "straight" Haggadah, although it's entirely in English, as the authors admit they can't read the Hebrew themselves.

"For all we know, it's a Hebrew repair manual for a 1972 Westinghouse dishwasher," they quip.

As an affectionate parody, For This We Left Egypt? is full of jokes. Not every attempt at Haggadah humor works, but there are a few zingers worth repeating in this belated book review.

For example, For This We Left Egypt? concurs with our family's distancing from Passover. "Many young Jewish people today would rather undergo amateur eyeball surgery than sit through a lengthy and boring Seder."

As someone who has had actual eyeball surgery, I can attest that the Seder is not that bad.

As an Israeli reader of For This We Left Egypt? some of the quips were a tad too American for me. When the Israelites made camp in the foothills of Mount Sinai, this new Haggadah relates that it was "hard because Jews are not into camping. Our idea of roughing it is a hotel where the breakfast buffet does not have an omelet station."

But we Jews of Israel love sleeping under the stars (although we wouldn't say no to a lavish breakfast buffet).

Guilt plays well, no matter which Jewish community you're in. So, when Moses learns he won't be allowed into the Promised Land, he takes it stoically. "I'll just go up on Mount Nebo and die. Alone. After all I've done for you. It's fine. Really."

Barry and his co-writers clearly are not fans of cleaning for Passover, at least not by their definition of chametz as "bread, pizza, crackers, fortune cookies, soft drinks, vodka, tooth whiteners, certain tropical fish, and all IKEA furniture." Fortunately, "not all breakfast cereals are chametz. Froot Loops, for example, are made of compressed medical waste, so they're fine."

Good thing I don't like Froot Loops.

For This We Left Egypt? has some other food recommendations. Make sure your gefilte fish is "wild and sustainably caught. Avoid farmed gefilte fish if possible." Also, make sure to have on hand "a carafe of Long Island...