6 Interesting Facts You Didn’t Know About the Haggadah

The haggadah is the central text of the Pesach seder and a document that most Jews across observance levels are familiar with. Detailing the order of events and often including insights and commentary, the haggadah has a host of interesting facts that many are unaware of.

1. Murky origins

Surprisingly, the origins of the Haggadah are not so clear. The earliest full haggadah text was that of Rav Amram Gaon from the 9th century CE, and part of his siddur, which is actually also the first recorded full siddur. Parts of the haggadah are recorded in the Mishna¹, leading some to believe that it was Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi (compiler of the Mishna) who wrote it. Some parts are attributed to Rav and Shmuel², and, of course, the central four verses of maggid come directly from the Chumash³. All this to say that the Haggadah was a mosaic of many rabbinic influences and, as such, one single author cannot be credited. 

But why is this the case? Almost every work of Torah is credited to a single author, and it is even an established custom that Sages are known by their most popular work instead of their names, such as the Chafetz Chaim or the Tzemach Tzedek. Clearly, the author and the work are intrinsically connected. But this is not the case with the haggadah, and one answer is in its name. The word “haggadah” means “telling”, as its purpose is to recount the story of Yetziat Mitzrayim and the order of events at the Seder. Every family will read from the same book, telling the same story over, but no two sedarim are ever the same. The haggadah spells out the basics, and the Jewish people do the rest. It is an interactive text where we all add our own commentary, making the authors of the haggadah the entire Jewish people, every year. 

2. Over 3000 versions

Today, over 3000 versions of the Haggadah exist. What distinguishes one from the next is the additional commentary from its author/editor, as well as unique illustrations. The central text usually remains the same, though some denominations have adjusted parts to better suit their audiences. Famous versions include the Sarajevo Haggadah (c. 1350), one of the oldest extant Sephardi haggadot, produced in Barcelona, Spain, and the Bird’s Head Haggadah (c. 1300), thought to be the oldest surviving Ashkenazi Haggadah, from the Upper Rhine region of Germany. The latter gets its name from the peculiar depiction of Jews with the heads of birds performing a variety of activities such as baking matzah. 

The Rebbe’s Haggadah, published in 1946 under the title “Haggadah for Passover with Collected Customs and Reasons”, includes insights from Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, a few years before he assumed the position as the Lubavitcher Rebbe. Notably, the Maxwell House Haggadah was printed by the coffee company of the same name as a marketing campaign in 1932, and has continuously been in print since then, making it one of the most popular editions of the haggadah, despite the publisher having no religious connection to the text. 

3. In Any Language

For many people, the default assumption is that Lashon HaKodesh, Hebrew, is the ideal language in which to recite the Haggadah. While there is a lot of merit to this idea, the Shulchan Aruch⁴ actually makes it clear that the Haggadah should be recited in the local language. The reasoning is that everyone, including those who did not receive an extensive Torah education, should be able to understand what is happening at the seder and the story of Hashem redeeming Am Yisrael from Egypt. Men, women, and children over Bar and Bat Mitzvah age are obligated in the mitzvot of Matza and Maggid, and therefore everyone should be able to understand in order to fulfill their mitzvot with the utmost kavana. 

Just as the Jewish people collectively author the haggadah, we also collectively star in it. The story of Pesach includes individuals but it’s about no one in particular. It’s about the relationship between Hashem and Am Yisrael and how we transitioned as a people from servitude to freedom. We are commanded to feel as though we ourselves were actually there. That is why the haggadah only really summarizes the events and doesn’t discuss them in detail – that’s our job.

Today, it is possible to find the Haggadah translated into virtually any language thanks to technology, but long before this the central Pesach text had been printed in any vernacular in which there were Jews, emphasizing how the Jewish people have always clung to it, regardless of poverty and persecution.

4. Lots of Fours

If you pay close attention, you’ll notice the recurrence of the number four throughout the Haggadah; four sons, four cups, four pesukim from Devarim relating and summarizing Yetziat Mitzrayim, and four expressions of redemption in the Chumash. Dalet, with the gematria of four, is the same root as the word “delet”, meaning “door”. Four symbolizes entering into a new state, exactly as Am Yisrael exited Mitzrayim, crossed the Yam Suf and entered the Midbar to assume their role as the Jewish people, Hashem’s nation. 

The four expressions of redemption in the Torah state, “I will take you out”⁵, “I will save you”⁶, “I will redeem you”⁷, and “I will take you to Me as a nation”⁸. The first three expressions, while important, don’t make sense without the fourth. It is only the last expression that puts the puzzle pieces together as to why it is so vital that Am Yisrael leaves Mitzrayim. It was not that Am Yisrael deserved their exit based on their own actions, else this would have been stated as the reason. The transition of Yetziat Mitzrayim happened at the end of a 400-year journey for Am Yisrael (another ‘four’ often overlooked in the context).

5. Where are Moshe, Aaron, and Miriam?

When reading the story of the exodus in the Chumash, it would be impossible to overlook the roles of Moshe, Aaron, and Miriam. So why does the Haggadah appear to do so? In the Torah, we read the full version of events. We see from the start how Moshe reluctantly accepted the mantle of Am Yisrael’s leader⁹, how he and Aaron argued over and over with Pharoah¹⁰, how Hashem unleashed the makkot on the Egyptians, and how Miriam joined by leading the women in song out of Egypt¹¹. But the haggadah makes an important appeal, it tells us to recount how Hashem redeemed us from Egypt. So Moshe, Aaron, and Miriam are out of the haggadah but we’re in? 

Yes! Just as the Jewish people collectively author the haggadah, we also collectively star in it. The story of Pesach includes individuals but it’s about no one in particular. It’s about the relationship between Hashem and Am Yisrael and how we transitioned as a people from servitude to freedom. We are commanded to feel as though we ourselves were actually there¹². That is why the haggadah only really summarizes the events and doesn’t discuss them in detail – that’s our job.

6. The Story of the Exodus from Sefer… Devarim?

You would assume that if the haggadah is going to recount the story of the exodus, that Sefer Shemot would be a good resource. However, the haggadah actually draws its central summary from Sefer Devarim. Years after Yetziat Mitzrayim had happened, Hashem reminds the Jewish people about this formative event as He is instructing them on how to offer Bikkurim, the first fruits, at the Altar in Jerusalem. One reason for this is that the point of Bikkurim is to instill gratitude in us. We have to take the first fruits of our labor and not consume them ourselves or make a profit off of them – they are a symbol that everything we have is from Hashem, and what greater kindness did He do for us than redeeming us from Egypt to give us the Torah?

Another reason offered is that these four pesukim span a longer timeframe than just Yetziat Mitzrayim. It begins with “An Aramean sought to destroy my forefather”, often understood to refer to Lavan and Yakov, and ends with the instructions of offering the fruit in Jerusalem. In the middle of this is the exodus, but in these four pesukim we see the bigger picture. We see how Yetziat Mitzrayim was just a step in Hashem’s plan for us.

1. Mishnah Berachot 1:5 ↩︎
2. Pesachim 116a ↩︎
3. Devarim 26:5-8 ↩︎
4. Shulchan Aruch, Orach HaChayim, 473:6 ↩︎
5. Shemot 6:6 ↩︎
6. ibid. ↩︎
7. ibid. ↩︎
8. Shemot 6:7 ↩︎
9. Shemot 4:16 ↩︎
10. Shemot 5:1-4 ↩︎
11. Shemot 15:20-21 ↩︎
12. Talmud, Pesachim 116a-b ↩︎