Having trouble finding the perfect haggadah? Make your own
These DIY tips help customize your own Exodus narrative that will keep your seder guests on the edge of their seats
MyJewishLearning via JTA — Making your own haggadah is not just a money saver but also a great way to educate yourself about the Passover seder, add a unique twist to the festive meal, and have a more meaningful and satisfying holiday.
For generations, enterprising seder leaders have been sticking Post-It notes in their favorite parts of existing haggadahs, adding in photocopied readings, or even cutting and pasting from multiple haggadahs and combining it all in a loose-leaf binder.
The Internet makes the project of creating a personalized haggadah infinitely easier — and tidier, even if your tech and graphic design skills are minimal. Plus, you can do it with a clean conscience: Whereas the old-fashioned technique of photocopying pages from copyrighted, published haggadahs is technically illegal, the websites we list below provide only material that is in the public domain.
While a seemingly infinite trove of Passover-related blessings, readings, songs and images are available online, don’t forget (if you are so inclined) that you can also incorporate your own (or your guests’) writing, art and family photographs into the finished product.
Many DIY haggadahs are copied and stapled, but you can make yours more durable (and spilled wine resistant) by laminating each page or putting them in a photo album, loose-leaf binder with plastic sleeves or art portfolio.
Or, if you are reasonably tech-savvy and want to go paperless — and your guests are OK with using electronics on Passover (when traditional prohibitions similar to the Shabbat rules apply), keep the whole text digital. You can email a PDF, PowerPoint or other document to your guests to download on their mobile devices, or even create a password-protected website. We can’t promise no one will spill wine on your iPad, however.
Below are some resources for DIYers.
Haggadot.com
Haggadot.com is the most comprehensive and user-friendly resource for haggadah makers — and it’s free. After registering, you can choose from a constantly growing library of readings and images.
The site guides you through the process with templates and an outline of all the steps/sections of the seder. You can search by section, theme (i.e. social justice, history, family and education, different denominations/streams of Judaism) and media type (text, video, image). In addition to letting you search by themes (including family/kids) the site also provides templates with recommendations for family-friendly and other specific needs/themes.
You can invite friends, or even all the seder guests, to log in and participate in the haggadah-making. When you’re done, you print it out as a PDF file and photocopy, or download to your guests’ mobile devices.
DipTwice
DipTwice is not free, but it will print out a bound, official-looking book in hardcover or paperback, as opposed to something you need to staple and bind yourself.
The site provides a template featuring standard Hebrew and English text (including translations and transliterations). You choose design and layout, and add your own images and other materials, or select from DipTwice’s library.
PunkTorah.org
Go to “Make Your Own Haggadah for Kids” and print out this free (suggested donation of $10) downloadable PDF and have your children fill in the spaces and blanks with words and pictures.
While this somewhat irreverent haggadah was originally designed for use in Hebrew schools, it is self-explanatory and can be used anywhere. Highlights include “The story of Passover: in comic book form” with panels where kids can put their own illustrations/comic; activities like puzzles and lyrics to original songs like “Take Me Out of Mitzrayim” (sung to the tune of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”) and “Passover Things” (to the tune of “My Favorite Things”). (“Mitzrayim” is Hebrew for Egypt.)
Sefaria.org
Sefaria, a growing online library with many major Jewish texts in Hebrew and English, offers everything from full haggadahs to supplemental readings to sources/additional commentary. Not only can you print out these texts or cut and paste them into your haggadah, but you can also embed them onto another website or digital document. Each selection is hyperlinked to the full text from which it was excerpted.
Looking for something a little simpler? You can download the haggadah text in English as a Microsoft Word document at LivelySeders.com and add to it (or cut) as you see fit.
You also can download an array of haggadah sections and readings free on JewishFreeware.org.
Julie Wiener is managing editor of MyJewishLearning.
