Why Is This Night Different from All Other Nights?

books:


	• Why Is This Night Different from All Other Nights?: "The Four Questions" Around the World Ilana Kurshan Schocken, 2008 - 160 pages average customer review:based on 3 reviews view larger image
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WEI SHEN MO JIN WEN BU TONG YU QI TA YIE WEN?

I LOVE THIS PASSOVER BOOK (but not in a romantic way, I just mean I find it to be a small treasure)... Ilana Kurshan provides insights into the Jewish dispersion around the Earth (she did not include Vulcan or Klingon or other non human languages). Included in this book are the four questions in a variety of languages with a brief note on the Jewish communities in these countries or language regions. Languages that do not use the English alphabet are also transliterated. Languages include Afrikaans, Amharic, Chinese (Mandarin transliteration), Czech, Danish, Dutch, Farsi, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Ladino, Latin, Marathi, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, and even that obscure language, YIDDISH.

Rabbi Telushkin, has a hilarious introduction in which he throws in a few Ma Nishtana jokes (you know the famous one about the Queen of England), and the fact that although most American Jews do not know Hebrew, they all know what "Ma Nishtana" means without a need for a translation.

Seder attendees... I recommend that you purchase this book and bring it to your seders. First do the questions in Ivrit, and then, if a child at the table knows French, let them do the four questions in French. If grandma knows Ladino, let her do it in Ladino, and then tell a story of Ladino speaking Jews or a memory of seders of the past. Did you invite a friend from Taiwan or mainland China? Let them read a question in Mandarin (or Cantonese if from HK). Is there a doctor in the seder? Have them do a question in Latin. This can become an annual ritual in which a question is done in a language and the child or adult must tell a story of the Jews of that linguistic community.

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Why Is This Night Different from All Other Nights?

What a beautiful and enriching book. One you will never tire of reading and one that promotes remembering. It causes you to think outside the box when envisioning a seder or for that matter a Jew. In times where "unity" is the theme that presidential campaigns are run on, this book invites you to unite with diversity and participate in seders throughout the world. Not only will it illuminate any bookshelf, but I would consider it an essential companion to any Haggodot. A truly special gift for any host and or hostess.

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A perfect gift of understanding

This fascinating gem of a book is a welcome addition to the many books about Passover that arrive in the bookstores each year. More than a meal - the Seder is a Jewish ritual that entails prayer, singing, discussion, storytelling, some special ritual appetizers, four cups of wine, a full meal, more singing. The order and meaning of the Seder is presented in a Haggadah. It is customary for the youngest child capable of it to recite or chant four ritualized questions as a start to the discussion of the Passover story.

The questions begin with "Why is this night different from all other nights of the year?" In this book, Ilana Kurshan translates the Seder's Four Questions into twenty-three languages. Each translation is preceded by a black and white illustration from the country from which the language is spoken. For example, the four questions in Russian begin with a very grainy photograph of the Russian-Jewish army officers at a Passover Seder in 1905, during the Russo-Japanese War. Each translation of the four questions is then followed by an informative explanation of how the Jews lived in the country in which this language was spoken. Kurshan gives wonderful yet brief histories of Jewish life from Ethiopia to Holland, China to Ancient Rome.

Rabbi Joseph Telushkin provides a humorous yet educational introduction for this book. He writes, "For many Jewish children, the Four Questions represents their first public performance. I don't know this to be true for a fact, but I would guess that the recitation of the Four Questions might have been the first time that singers such as Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler, and Neil Sedaka revealed their voices in a public setting."

This is the perfect hostess gift to bring to your Seder, which begins this year on April 19th, 2008.

Armchair Interviews says: Very educational and cultural look at Passover.

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This fascinating, informative, and beautifully illustrated books translates the Passover seder's Four Questions into twenty-three languages and provides capsule histories of the Jews in the countries where the languages are spoken.

The recitation of the Four Questions at the beginning of the Passover seder by the youngest participant is one of the highlights of the evening and captures its very essence: to keep the memory of the Exodus of the Jews from Egyptian slavery alive in our minds, and to teach our children about their heritage and history. This unique volume covers a variety of languages of the Jewish Diaspora?from French to Farsi, from Latin to Ladino, from Amharic to Afrikaans, from Yiddish to Swedish to Chinese. For each language a translation (and, where necessary, a transliteration) of the Four Questions is provided, accompanied by a brief overview of Jewish life and culture among the speakers of the language, and an illustrations of either historical or contemporary interest.

The perfect seder gift, Why Is This Night Different from All Other Nights? is also an excellent introduction to Jewish history in the Diaspora for young and old alike.

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