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Newly Released ‘Harry Potter’ Haggadah Parallels Biblical Exodus With Hogwarts Journeys, Messages
by Shiryn Ghermezian
The book jacket of the Harry Potter-inspired haggadah. Photo: Amazon.
A new Passover haggadah inspired by J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter illustrates an analogy between the global best-seller’s main character and the biblical story of the Exodus, the holiday prayer book’s author told the UK’s Jewish Chronicle on Thursday.
Rabbi Moshe Rosenberg, who leads a synagogue in Queens, NY, said of his self-published work, Unofficial Hogwarts Haggadah, “There are so many parallels between Harry Potter’s journey from unwanted orphan to the savior of wizardkind…uplifting the downtrodden, sharing our current wealth and prosperity with others, education, different learning styles, parent-child relationships, unconditional love and kinship with one another…”
Rosenberg said he was inspired to write the Unofficial Hogwarts Haggadah — categorized by Amazon as a “Jewish holiday best-seller” — after he saw the success of the Fantastic Beasts films. He also recounted hosting “Harry Potter Nights” for students he teaches in the Bronx. At those events, he said, he sorts the kids into the different “Hogwarts school houses” and they play Quidditch, a sport that features in the novels.
“It’s always been a gift to have a common language with which to communicate with anyone that you’re teaching,” Rosenberg said. “And ‘Harry Potter’ has been exactly that. I can make references and illustrate points though the story or through the characters and instantly everyone knows what I’m talking about. It’s like a shorthand and a code that almost everyone understands.”
The haggadah, read aloud at Passover seders, is the story of the Jewish people’s freedom from ancient Egyptian bondage. This year, the holiday begins on April 10.
