The Problem:

You want to lead a seder where everyone participates and enjoys the proceedings.  No matter what you do side conversations start and there is pressure to skip sections of the haggadah in order to finish quickly.

The Solution:

Creating your own haggadah is an option and it is easier than you would think.  Everyone observes Passover a little different.  Even when using a standard haggadah different portions may be emphasized more than other portions. The goal of creativeseder.com is to serve as a resource to share ideas on how to easily customize your haggadah to meet your needs.

Background

My name is Barry Bergman.  In 1994 after spending years as guests at other seders we decided to run our own.   We used a standard haggadah and decided that in order to make it more interesting we would go around the table asking each guest to read a paragraph.  The problem was that the guests at the other end of the table would start talking and would lose their place by the time we would get to them.  The seder broke down into a lot of people talking.  The next year I decided to write my own haggadah.   Using the text of the haggadah I created roles that were assigned in a cast of characters list.  The text of the haggadah was wrapped into a larger story in order to keep everyone’s interest.  It was, in essence, the haggadah presented within a play.  Everyone likes to be in a play and everyone paid close attention during the seder.  I have created eighteen haggadahs over the years.  Creativeseder.com outlines the lessons learned during this process.