Let My People Go

By (author) Jeffrey Cohen

Publication date:

18 April 2002

Length of book:

192 pages

Publisher

Jason Aronson, Inc.

ISBN-13: 9780765762047

Let My People Go: Insights to Passover and the Haggadah offers an analysis of ancient and modern perspectives on the themes of slavery and freedom. Rabbi Jeffrey M. Cohen provides an original interpretation of the central biblical sources of Passover, with particular focus on the Haggadah and its manifold rituals. Topics discussed include, Why We Were Slaves in Egypt, Is Freedom a Jewish Concept?, The Symbolism of the Paschal Lamb, The Four Cups of Wine, The Challenge of the Omer Period, and more. Rabbi Cohen brings to the reader indispensable insights of this festive holiday, while he enriches the celebration of the Seder and enlightens the reading of the Haggadah. Rabbi Cohen currently serves as rabbi of the Stanmore Synagogue in London, England, the largest Orthodox congregation in Europe, and is a past member of the Chief Rabbi’s cabinet.

Table of Contents

Preface
Foreword

1. The Fertility of the Early Israelites
2. Why We Were Slaves in Egypt
3. Is Freedom a Jewish Concept?
4. A Nation of Survivors!
5. Searching for the Chametz and the Origin of Pesach
6. The Symbolism of the Paschal Lamb
7. Why Moses is Not Mentioned in the Haggadah
8. The Four Cups of Wine
9. Four Sons or One?
10. The Son without Questions
11. Dislodging the Wicked Son’s Teeth
12. “Not Just Once, but in Every Generation…”
13. R. Eleazar’s Dispute with the Sages
14. A Problem Verse in Dayyenu
15. Rabban Gamaliel Used to Say…
16. The Message of Hillel’s Sandwich
17. The Spirit of the Shirah
18. Marital Lessons from Shir Hashirim
19. The Challenge of the Omer Period
20. Lag b’Omer and World Reconciliation

Index

“Rabbi Cohen has written an engaging companion to the Haggadah that is at once original, thought provoking, erudite, and humane. A modern sensibility meets an ancient text, and the result is a series of interpretations that will give every reader something new to think about on the timeless yet always timely themes of exodus, freedom, and responsibility.”
-Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of Britain and the Commonwealth