Part 3 of Why is this Night Different from All Others? (Haggadah Study)

Seder and Symposium Tuesday March 29, 2022 Hearkening back to our Aphrodite series, Prof. Visotzky will talk about how the Passover Seder is modeled on the Greco-Roman Symposium banquet. From Kiddush through Hallel, we will trace the Hellenistic aspects of our Passover celebration. Tidbits for Your Seder Wednesday March 30, 2022 We will study stories from the ancient rabbis and Midrashim NOT found in your Haggadahs, so that you can bring something new, yet traditional, to your own Passover Seder. The frogs will be hopping! Haggadah Study Thursday March 31, 2022 We read the Haggadah every year, but few understand how the core of the Seder -- the Maggid section -- actually works. We will study the text to see how the rabbis expand the Exodus story from the thumb-nail in Deuteronomy 26 (and why THAT text?) to the fullness of the redemption narrative. If you ask, Prof. Visotzky will also regale you about his work consulting with DreamWorks on the 1998 animated feature, Prince of Egypt. PROF. BURTON L. VISOTZKY, PhD, serves as Appleman Professor of Midrash and Interreligious Studies Emeritus at the Jewish Theological Seminary. He serves as the Louis Stein Director of the Finkelstein Institute for Religious and Social Studies at JTS, programming on public policy, and directs JTS’s Milstein Center for Interreligious Dialogue. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Prof. Visotzky served as Master Visiting Professor of Jewish Studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome (where just taught two courses this Spring 2022). He is the author of ten books, editor of seven other volumes, and has authored over 125 articles and reviews. His book, APHRODITE AND THE RABBIS: How the Jews adapted Roman Culture to Create Judaism as We Know It, was published in 2016. He is proud to be a “regular” at CSP.