Richard Codor’s Joyous Haggadah: The Illuminated Story of Passover
On this Passover, the holiday’s meaning will be the same, and yet the form will be quite different from any we have ever celebrated before.
By DAVID GEFFENRichard Codor’s Joyous Haggadah: The Illuminated Story of Passover(photo credit: Courtesy)
‘The message of Pesah is both simple and complex. Passover teaches the evils of slavery and the glory of freedom. ... Hence Passover is the same every year and it is different... across communities and yet it is recognizably the same. The vehicle for continuity and change is the Haggadah.”– Haggadah exhibition, Chicago, 1990On this Passover, the holiday’s meaning will be the same, and yet the form will be quite different from any we have ever celebrated before.Due to the coronavirus, people accustomed to large Seder groups will be in contexts pared down to much smaller numbers. For many, this will present an opportunity to explore and appreciate the Seder in new ways, perhaps including use of a different-than-usual Haggadah.Here we are introduced to a cartoon Haggadah that has been used by a wide range of people, even some who have never been to a Seder. Self-published a few years ago by Richard and Liora Codor, it is now in its fifth printing with 90,000 copies sold. At the Seder table illustration, I felt like I was sitting there with all the guests. When I was young, I was that very diligent young man in the jacket and tie, reading the Haggadah closely. Across from him was the 10-year-old sticking out his tongue at the girl sitting next to him.The tallest figure at the table was a gray-haired relative, with mouth open in the happiness of the moment, whom Codor has captured perfectly. We all know that person and have seen him at many of the sedarim we have attended. These are familiar types drawn humorously with whom we can connect and at whom we can laugh.We have always been proud of our Moses, because with all his impediments, he led the Jewish people out of Egypt. Moses grows physically and spiritually in this Haggadah, finally becoming a giant who confronts a shrunken Pharaoh with the words, “Let my people go.”Next are the illustrations of the 10 plagues and the harrowing crossing of the Sea of Reeds, narrowly escaping their pursuers, led by Pharaoh. Usually we have to imagine these serious events, but Codor has drawn them in a humorous yet humane way.I don’t want to reveal any of the other illustrations – I will let you have that fun.
One of the parents who reacted to the Codor Haggadah wrote, “When my 13-year-old son and six-year-old daughter saw the book on our kitchen table, they picked it up immediately, started oohing over the pictures, and then read the whole thing. I have to say that’s a first for any Haggadah in this house.”Who are the “parents” of this creative Passover Haggadah?Richard Codor is from Wilmington, Delaware. His father, Benjamin, was a social worker and one of the founders of the Jewish Federation. When Richard was five and his sister Janet was an infant, his father died prematurely and Hilda, his mother, was left to raise them as a single parent. For seven years I worked with his mother, Hilda who was the indispensable office manager of Temple Beth Shalom, a Conservative synagogue.The Codor Haggadah is a real treat; take a look at its images reproduced here. This is a publication that can provide you an opportunity to capture the joy of the Seder in a new fashion.Richard Codor’s Joyous Haggadah: The Illuminated Story of Passover is available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. See more at www.joyoushaggadah.net
