Haim Watzman “This night is no different from other nights,” says Pharaoh, “True, on previous nights I have had a son, and on this night I do not. But this is not relevant to what I must do now.” “This time sounds different from other times,” says Mozart, “for in previous times I did not [...]
Other Nights — “Necessary Stories” column from The Jerusalem Report
April 20th, 2012 · 5 Comments · Culture and Ideas
Tags: Four Sons·Jerusalem Quartet·Kopytman·mourning·Mozart·Niot Watzman·passover·pesach·Pharaoh·seder·string quartet·נאות ויצמן
The Bitterness of Egypt, in Memory of Niot
April 6th, 2012 · 1 Comment · Judaism and Religion
Haim Watzman My thoughts on the significance of the bitter herbs, on the anniversary of my last night with my son Niot, appear in this week’s “Shabbat Shalom,” the weekly Torah portion sheet put out by Oz VeShalom/Netivot Shalom. It’s available in both Hebrew and English Thanks to Kaddish Goldberg of Tirat Tzvi for giving [...]
Tags: Aish Kodesh·bitter herbs·Exodus·Niot Watzman·pesach·Rabbi Kolonymus Kalmish Shapira·seder
Driving Louella — “Necessary Stories” column from The Jerusalem Report
April 16th, 2011 · 2 Comments · Culture and Ideas
Haim Watzman Thanks to the editors at the Jerusalem Report for permitting me to post this before the current issue reaches subscribers, so that you can read this story before Pesach. This is the story I tell my family every Seder night. When I was about two years old, soon after my little brother Saul [...]
Tags: Celebrezze·civil rights·Cleveland·Jim Crow·passover·pesach·seder
Remembering Slavery
April 6th, 2009 · 1 Comment · Judaism and Religion
Haim Watzman Jews who grew up in the Diaspora and have raised children in Israel face a challenge at the Pesach Seder every year. The text of the Hagadah, and the spirit of the holiday, call on us to remember that we were slaves in Egypt, strangers in a strange land, outsiders. I grew up [...]
Tags: Adi Nes·Judaism·passover·pesach·Rabbi Shalom Yosef Elyashiv·seder·slavery
Rav and Shmuel at the Gym: How Should We Begin the Passover Seder?
April 14th, 2008 · 4 Comments · Judaism and Religion
Between sets of arm curls, Nahum walks over to me and says, “You’re familiar with the disagreement between Rav and Shmuel about the way the Seder should begin?” Nahum doesn’t look like the kind who works on his biceps—he’s a slender guy in his mid-thirties who wears a black kipah and glasses. He resembles a [...]

