Passover Survival Kit, Revised Edition [Hardcover]

Apisdorf Shimon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 25, 1997

The Passover Survival Kit is ultra user-friendly and enables people to transform the holiday into a meaningful experience.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Leviathan Press; 3 Sub edition (April 25, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1881927105
• ISBN-13: 978-1881927105
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,990,252 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Passover Survival Kit is sure to please., April 10, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Passover Survival Kit, Revised Edition (Hardcover)

So here it is, Pesach time again. Sure you'll be hiding the afikoman and you have provided all the food and wine. This year, though, after you prepare yourself for the four traditional questions, ask yourself the really big question. "How is this year's Seder going to be different for me than other sedorim in the past. How can I make it more meaningful, spiritual, and exciting so that I can recapture the enthusiasm I once had for it as a child?" Reading the Passover Survival Kit is a very good start. Rabbi Apisdorf, a Baltimore yeshiva educator who authored this book notes that the ultimate success and quality of any Seder will be directly proportional to the effort put into making it so. He states that the three keys to surviving the Seder are 1) educational preparedness, 2) creativity, and 3) a commitment to making it a meaningful experience for everyone involved. He promises, with a 100 % money-back, no questions asked guarantee, that if you accept the challenge of developing your Seder in the ways which this book suggests, that, as the years go by, you will find that your dining room is no longer large enough to hold all the people who will want to be a part of your Seder. First, the Seder host must prepare himself in advance, suggests the author. The Passover Survival Kit is a great start with the book suggesting novel, insightful, and inspirational ways to interpret the events of the Seder. The main theme of the Seder is freedom. "The freedom to grasp our potential as a people, and as a Jewish people. To harness that potential and to creatively direct it towards a fulfillment of our inner most aspirations. Passover is not only the anniversary of our exodus, it is a spiritual rendezvous with freedom. The holiday is a guide, the Seder and the Haggadah a map. and together it is all a fabulous opportunity and adventure." Second, give out assignments in advance of the Seder to your family and guests. Give each person a particular paragraph in the Haggadah and ask them to study up on it. What ideas contained in the paragraph would people find interesting, thought-provoking and insightful. Third, give everyone at the Seder a different Haggadah. Today, there are so many different interpretive versions of the Haggadah, each with its own commentaries and angles. Perhaps this can spark discussions on the different interpretations of the paragraphs you might be reading. Fourth, encourage questions, even dumb ones. Create an atmosphere where everyone feels comfortable to ask questions about what is being said in the Haggadah. Questions of identity are especially appropriate. Since Passover marks the birth of the Jewish nation, ask questions that reflect on the meaning, value and implications of being Jewish. Some examples might be as follows: How important is being Jewish to you? If a relative of yours told you that they plan to raise their child without any Jewish education or identity, how would you react? Is it important for you or your children to have mostly Jewish friends? If you thought the existence of Israel was in danger, would you risk your life to save it? For those who have experienced the Pesach Seder for thirty, forty or fifty years and are starting to find the experience remote and stodgy, this is a book you will be sure to appreciate. For the rest of us who still look forward to the excitement of the Seder but who want to make it an especially insightful, spiritually provocative and relevant experience which enhances our personal growth and appreciation for the rituals and narrative, the Passover Survival Kit is sure to please. The cover illustration is sure to make you laugh too!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars not quite as well done as Apisdorf's High Holy Days book but, April 20, 2003

By 

Michael Lewyn (Forest Hills, NY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Passover Survival Kit (Paperback)

Still well done. On balance, I liked this book because it explains the Seder well and pithily. Apisdorf uses symbolic explanations to make sense of seemingly archaic parts of the Seder - for example, Apisdorf's explanation of what "Next Year in Jerusalem" means. (He points out that "Jerusalem" means "city of peace"; thus, the goal of being in Jerusalem next year means being at peace with ourselves next year, not necessarily physically moving to Israel). As a practical guide to the Seder I didn't like it as much; I didn't see how I could use this book as a Seder guide unless I wanted a ten-hour Seder.