Why Is This Night Different From All Other Nights?
by Ilana Kurshan, Introduction by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin
Published by Schocken Books
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Reviewed by Lauren Segelbaum
Subtitle: “The Four Questions” Around the World
This fascinating gem of a book is a welcome addition to the many books about Passover that arrive in the bookstores each year. More than a meal – the Seder is a Jewish ritual that entails prayer, singing, discussion, storytelling, some special ritual appetizers, four cups of wine, a full meal, more singing. The order and meaning of the Seder is presented in a Haggadah. It is customary for the youngest child capable of it to recite or chant four ritualized questions as a start to the discussion of the Passover story.
The questions begin with “Why is this night different from all other nights of the year?” In this book, Ilana Kurshan translates the Seder’s Four Questions into twenty-three languages. Each translation is preceded by a black and white illustration from the country from which the language is spoken. For example, the four questions in Russian begin with a very grainy photograph of the Russian-Jewish army officers at a Passover Seder in 1905, during the Russo-Japanese War. Each translation of the four questions is then followed by an informative explanation of how the Jews lived in the country in which this language was spoken. Kurshan gives wonderful yet brief histories of Jewish life from Ethiopia to Holland, China to Ancient Rome.
Rabbi Joseph Telushkin provides a humorous yet educational introduction for this book. He writes, “For many Jewish children, the Four Questions represents their first public performance. I don’t know this to be true for a fact, but I would guess that the recitation of the Four Questions might have been the first time that singers such as Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler, and Neil Sedaka revealed their voices in a public setting.”
This is the perfect hostess gift to bring to your Seder, which begins this year on April 19th, 2008.
Armchair Interviews says: Very educational and cultural look at Passover.