Bourgeois Passover (Domestic Judaism)

Setting aside all that theo-political stuff, all the high-minded talk and ideas that lend themselves to the public performance and moral didacticism, the social form of the actual Passover seder is intimate; a small scale familial rite, familiar and inward-looking in essence. Make of it what you will, but it’s probably a mistake to pretend it is anything much more than that. While I don’t exactly remember if he put women at the table and I’m assuming he did not, Rosenzweig understood at least that much in the Star of Redemption. The simple image here is from the Barcelona Haggadah, Spain (Catalonia), c. 1340. It says a lot about “Jewishness” or “Judaism.” Not really universal, it’s a modest table-thing.

About zjb

Zachary Braiterman is Professor of Religion in the Department of Religion at Syracuse University. His specialization is modern Jewish thought and philosophical aesthetics. http://religion.syr.edu
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1 Response to Bourgeois Passover (Domestic Judaism)

  1. dmf says:

    likely even more so in this age of the nuclear family, my christian friends wouldn’t like to hear it but I think Jesus sharing the wine and bread with his disciples was also just proposing a modest
    table-thing, so much for authorial intentions…

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