300 Ways to Ask the Four Questions - new edition [Paperback]

Murray Spiegel and Rickey Stein (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Book Description
Two nuts in New Jersey pursued a hobby collecting the Four Questions in different languages since as far back as 1971. Then they met each other. The result (14 years later) is 300 Ways to Ask the Four Questions, a delightful trip round the world. Using languages (with unique alphabets, translations and transliterations) we travel to places Jews have lived, and places they ve never been heard of. We hear the questions in living languages spoken by hundreds of millions, and dying languages spoken by as few as half a dozen. We hear them in ancient languages, click languages, and made-up languages (Klingon, Pig Latin, Lawyerese and others). With over a hundred photos, a CD and a DVD, background on each speaker, language, and language groups, and with games and puzzles to use in the seder, and a lighthearted attitude that enjoys the diversity of our world, this book is a bet-you-did-not-know-you-needed-it but must-have resource for every family.

About the Authors
Dr. Murray Spiegel, with a background in speech research for telecommunications, has established a reputation for innovative Passover Seders. Since leading his first Seder while in graduate school, Murray has led over 30 Seders -- no two alike. With his wife Randi, Murray has transformed their house into settings that enrich the Passover story: a Bedouin tent; a jumbo jet taking the Israelites out of Egypt; and an ancient Egyptian tomb. His car even carries the NJ license plate "Pesach." Rickey Stein is a pharmacist with life-long interests in languages and Passover. He is particularly knowledgeable on the various writing systems used by the world's languages. 35 years ago he started translating the Four Questions and hasn't stopped yet. Both Rickey and Murray's Seders have been written up in The New York Times.

Review
Would one or two languages have permitted us to say Dayenu? Obviously not! The linguist in me takes great delight in this book, clearly the result of painstaking research. How is this night different? On all other nights, we may hunger for the word. On this night, we feast upon it. --Theodore Bikel, star of screen and stage

Wherever Jews have lived they have asked the Four Questions in their native language, and now 300 Ways to Ask The Four Questions makes for a multi-cultural Seder like none before in the history of Passover. Each language contributes to Jewish learning at the Seder. My guests have loved using it and laughed at how it makes this night different. --Noam Zion, author of A Different Night

Amazing! 300 Ways to Ask the Four Questions is a treasure trove of translations for use at your Seder. Dramatically demonstrates a global reach for this most observed ritual of the Jewish people. --Dr. Ron Wolfson, Professor, American Jewish University

Wherever Jews have lived they have asked the Four Questions in their native language, and now 300 Ways to Ask The Four Questions makes for a multi-cultural Seder like none before in the history of Passover. Each language contributes to Jewish learning at the Seder. My guests have loved using it and laughed at how it makes this night different. --Noam Zion, author of A Different Night

Amazing! 300 Ways to Ask the Four Questions is a treasure trove of translations for use at your Seder. Dramatically demonstrates a global reach for this most observed ritual of the Jewish people. --Dr. Ron Wolfson, Professor, American Jewish University

About the Author

Dr. Murray Spiegel, with a background in speech research for telecommunications, has established a reputation for innovative Passover Seders. Since leading his first Seder while in graduate school, Murray has led over 30 Seders -- no two alike. With his wife Randi, Murray has transformed their house into settings that enrich the Passover story: a Bedouin tent; a jumbo jet taking the Israelites out of Egypt; and an ancient Egyptian tomb. His car even carries the NJ license plate "Pesach." Rickey Stein is a pharmacist with life-long interests in languages and Passover. He is particularly knowledgeable on the various writing systems used by the world's languages. 35 years ago he started translating the Four Questions and hasn't stopped yet. Both Rickey and Murray's Seders have been written up in The New York Times.

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Spiegel-Stein Publishing; 1st edition (January 4, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0615150632
• ISBN-13: 978-0615150635
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,461,642 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Almost Too Much Fun, January 16, 2008

By 

Jack L. Moline (Alexandria, VA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: 300 Ways to Ask the Four Questions - new edition (Paperback)

You might argue that getting the four questions asked at the seder is merely a performance moment for the youngest who can articulate them, but that the real business comes afterward. You would be wrong, of course, and nothing proves it more than this absolutely wonderful book. I gave it as a Chanukkah gift (enough lead time to prepare for seder), but having a few of them on the table at Passover is just as good an idea.

If the task of telling of the Exodus is to view ourselves in every generation as if we came out of Egypt, this book enhances the essential experience by making us imagine the many destinations that Exodus did or might produce. What does a Japanese seder taste like (wasabi bitter herbs)? How did my great-great grandparents explain things to a curious Polish neighbor (carefully)? What passes for chametz and matzah on Klingon(don't want to think about it)? If the haggadah is a time trip, Spiegel and Stein are our world-wide travel agents.

And the book is just so much fun, whether I am flipping through the pages or trying to put the sounds in my own mouth. Why is it almost too much fun? Because it might wind up delaying the answer to the fifth question at the seder: when do we eat?

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing!, April 21, 2008

By 

Alexis Vega-Singer (Palm Beach Gardens, FL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: 300 Ways to Ask the Four Questions - new edition (Paperback)

After cooking and cleaning all week, I stayed up late the night before the first seder to read this book. I just couldn't put it down! I brought it to our friends' house for seder, and we spent more than an hour passing the book around, taking turns reading the questions in every language we had even a passing acquaintance with, and many we didn't! We couldn't stop laughing, but it also sparked some interesting discussions of past seders we'd attended and Jewish customs we'd experienced in other countries. I plan to buy several copies for family and friends before next Pesach!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Review, February 1, 2008

By 

Valerie Davia (Steamboat Springs, CO USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: 300 Ways to Ask the Four Questions - new edition (Paperback)

Infused with the great joy the authors take in their subject, 300 Ways to Ask the Four Questions celebrates the universal, liberating message of Passover in unique and wonderful ways. Through 300 languages, plus the puzzles and games, and especially their own absorbing quests into identifying, preserving and enjoying languages and the people who produced the translations, Spiegel and Stein bring us a far greater appreciation of the importance and significance of Passover and its meaning to all the world's peoples.