A central element in the Passover Seder is the asking and answering of questions. In addition to the series of four questions beginning with the words Mah nishtanah "Why is this night different from all other nights," there appears at the end of the Haggadah a hymn which takes the form of questions and answers based on numbers. The answer to the question, "who knows four?" is the four Matriarchs: Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah. In this Haggadah, produced by the Central Conference of American Rabbis of the Reform Movement, the artist, Leonard Baskin, presents his vision of the four Matriarchs.

The American Jewish community sees itself as part of a long chain of diaspora Jewish communities that attempted to build a home for themselves in a new environment while at the same time retaining attachments to Jewish traditions and values. The yearning for freedom and justice which is at the core of the Passover festival coincides with founding principles of our nation, and thus a Haggadah which combines Jewish pride in its ancient beliefs with its deep attachment to its new home is most appropriate.

The photo above of a Jewish family at the Seder table in San Francisco one year after the 1906 earthquake, encapsulates the spirit of the Passover festival. It commemorates the Israelite liberation in ancient times, but also symbolizes the spirit of hope and renewal in all generations. And in this particular case, for the survivors of the San Francisco earthquake.

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The creators of this Haggadah undertook a most difficult and wrenching project in attempting to link the memory of the destruction of European Jewry during World War Two with that of the ancient redemption from Egypt. They achieved this goal by juxtaposing images from the European Holocaust with the traditional text of the Haggadah. The text thus resonates not only with Israel's ancient enslavement but with the catastrophe of the recent past as well.

On the left, a concentration camp uniform appears with the passage that "in each generation one is obligated to regard him/herself as though he/she personally left Egypt." The uniform in the context of this statement gives this passage an entirely new meaning, reminding the reader of Israel's latest experience of oppression and liberation.