Musaph LeHagadah shel Pesach

Issued by the Noar Chalutzi Me'uchad ("United Pioneer Youth") in Germany, this parodical Hagadah "reflects the particular passion of the young to free themselves from the shackles of exile and make their way to the Jewish State" (Yerushalmi, pl. 178). The Hagadah contains heart-wrenching illustrations depicting the parallels between Jewish suffering under the German Nazis and the Passover story of Jewish oppression in Biblical Egypt. The Hagadah has a “gallows-humor” and biting wit. For example, the traditional passage "Baruch Shomer Havtachatho LeYisrael" (“Blessed is He who keeps his promise to Israel”) now reads, "Blessed is he who keeps his promise to Israel and composed the White Paper and forbade Aliyah" - an allusion to the British betrayal of the promise made to the Jewish People in the Balfour Declaration. Rather transparent is the message to the "She'erith HaPleitah" in the Displaced Persons Camp in Munich, to resist the temptation of resettlement in the West, but rather focus exclusively upon Aliyah to Eretz Israel. The American Jewish Historical Society recently produced a facsimile edition of this Hagadah, called "A Survivor's Hagadah."