The cover of “The Rock ‘N’ Roll Haggadah: Your Guide to a Seder That Rocks!”
If you are looking for an engaging, music-oriented Haggadah to accompany this year’s Passover Seder, writer Meredith Ochs and illustrator Kay Miller have created one for you with their recently released “The Rock ‘N’ Roll Haggadah: Your Guide to a Seder That Rocks!” (Simon & Schuster, 160 pp., $17.99).
For those not familiar, a Haggadah is a text read by those who celebrate the Jewish holiday Passover at a Seder (ritual dinner).
My family and friends gather every year relying on a Haggadah written by my husband with references to many people’s struggles for liberation, along with protest songs and quotes by activists, philosophers and other deep thinkers. My favorite quote from his Haggadah, relevant for today’s circumstances, is by German theologian and pastor Martin Niemöller:
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out — because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out — because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out — because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me — and there was no one left to speak for me.
So I was delighted to see this unique and creative take on a blessed tradition by Ochs and Miller.
April 6 at noon, Ochs and Miller will discuss their Haggadah at Little City Books as part of the store’s Hoboken Literary Weekend. There will be live music with songs referenced in the Haggadah by guitarist Dave Schramm, singer-guitarist Kate Jacobs, drummer Ron Metz and keyboardist Ed Horan. Visit littlecitybooks.com.
At 3:30 p.m. April 6, they will discuss their Haggadah at The Museum at Eldridge Street in Manhattan, with Passover crafts for children and live music with Schramm and Metz. Visit eldridgestreet.org.
Dayenu is a Hebrew word that means “it would have been enough” and it is also the name of a song traditionally sung during Passover. When I read this inventive Haggadah, I thought it would have been enough to offer us Miller’s beautiful illustrations, traditional biblical stories and rituals found in most Haggadahs, but we get the added bonus of stories about the influence of Judaism on artists and music.
Lenny Kaye, co-founder of The Patti Smith Group, opens the book with a foreword that sets the tone for an unusual tour through Passover’s plagues, and tales of destruction and liberation. He writes that the Seder, with its many rituals, provides comfort, “like singing along to a song you’ve heard many a time.
“My chosen calling happens to be rock ‘n’ roll … I’ve spent a lifetime within its Psalms and Solomonic Songs, more than I’ve davened in shul; but then I’ve always aspired to be my own cantor, to recite the Torah of arcane artists and forgotten B-Sides. … To come into direct contact with the emotions of a ceremony that harmonizes our desire to be free, to divine our own judgment and path in life, and then perhaps, in contemplation, lean back and rest, for we are no longer slaves …”
Attending this annual Jewish ritual as a guest? This book would be an entertaining house gift; it even has a soundtrack to add a musical backdrop for the traditional story of the Exodus from Egypt. Ochs and Miller have created a Spotify “Seder Jams” playlist (listen below) that includes songs from a range of artists, including Bob Dylan, Funkadelic, Billy Preston, The Bangles, Kiss and Madonna.
KATE JACOBS
Kay Miller, left, and Meredith Ochs.
What inspired this new Haggadah?
“I was talking to a friend on the phone who had worked a catering job at a Seder,” Miller said. “He told me he got a kick out of seeing the Egyptian centerpiece with its matzah pyramids.
“I’m a big fan of matzah pyramids and after the call ended I was thinking, ‘Passover is a fun holiday, how can it be more fun?’ Within a few seconds the light bulb lit up: a rock ‘n’ roll Seder (with) a rock ‘n’ roll Haggadah. I immediately called Meredith because I knew she’d be the perfect collaborator. Every year of her life she’s attended a Seder and she’s a rock ‘n’ roller like myself, as well as a brilliant writer and a dear friend.”
“Seders were fun at our house,” said Ochs, who, in addition to being a writer, is also a musician, a DJ and a commentator for National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered.” “Everyone read from the Haggadah and we sang all the songs together. We had little ’10 plagues’ toys, like leaping frogs and mooing cows. My parents took ‘welcoming the stranger’ seriously, so there were always interesting guests at the table, some of whom hadn’t experienced a Seder before. There was a lot of discussion about the holiday and our traditions, and how it all connected to the world.”
Ochs said the research was intensive, adding that “I had to dig deep to find rock ‘n’ roll Passover stories. Hanukkah seems to get all the love; it’s much harder to make a Seder and observe Pesach. To that end, I included a lot of exposition on the holiday in the book — a step-by-step guide to the rituals, along with explanations of why we do them and how they evolved over millennia.”
Did she deeply connect with any musicians while conducting her research?
“Yes, early in my research, I spoke with Peter Himmelman, a singer-songwriter and composer who is observant Jewish,” she said. “His spiritual arc is the opposite of mine. He started out not religious and became Orthodox as an adult. I grew up observant and moved away from it as I got older.
“We both lost our dads in our 20s and it had a profound, if contrasting, effect on us and the way we participate in religion. He really understood the project; I liked his perspective on how Judaism, like rock ‘n’ roll, challenged great societies and their belief systems. Also, Michael Rosenblatt, who discovered Madonna, had many amazing stories about her and the music and art scene of the 1980s. And Adam Weiner, who goes by the nom-de-rock Low Cut Connie, gave us a fantastic take on Passover … as he points out, we don’t celebrate holidays, we ‘observe’ them, which speaks to the internalized drama that a lot of Jews (myself included) carry around with us.”
Ochs has also penned “Rock-and-Roll Woman: The 50 Fiercest Female Rockers,” “Aretha: The Queen of Soul – A Life in Photographs” and “Bruce Springsteen: An Illustrated Biography.” She added that currently, “I’m writing a novel and a children’s book. I’m also working on a play, which is a very different kind of writing for me. It’s sort of rewiring my brain and helping me with the other projects.
“Jewish history is long and complex and erudite. We’ve been writing things down for almost 6,000 years. I found myself reading the Old Testament and The Talmud, then working forward to the ways Judaism is a part of America’s cultural architecture.”
Jewish identity is expressed in diverse and flexible ways, and that seems to be the case for Miller and Ochs.
What will your Seder look like this year?
“It’s going to rock ‘n’ roll even more than usual,” Ochs said. “We’ve got four generations of family and friends of various faiths. After all the work we put into this Haggadah, I’m looking forward to reading it, as opposed to writing it.”
“I haven’t attended a Seder since I was a kid,” Miller said. “This year I’m hosting a rock ‘n’ roll Seder at my house and I’m really looking forward to it. I feel a bit more Jewish since the recent rise in anti-Semitism. Our book is very inclusive and that’s important to us. We are also into shattering stereotypes of Jews and other people as well.”
Ochs explained that “I’m not deeply attached to practicing religion, but I am deeply Jewish, and the book includes the things I think are most beautiful about Judaism.
“It’s mystical and existential — there isn’t much agreement on an afterlife, so we prioritize this one, but we still pray. There’s an emphasis on lifelong learning, and a constant re-evaluation of our tenets. As society and science evolve, we do, too. I think that’s why we’ve survived so much, for so long. And this philosophy is exemplified by the artists whose Passover stories are in the book.”
For more on “The Rock ‘N’ Roll Haggadah: Your Guide to a Seder That Rocks!,” visit simonandschuster.com.
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