April 2000 - אֲדָר ב׳ .. נִיסָן תש״ס Adar II..Nisan 5760

I

Last year we conducted an unusual Passover Seder at our home. We invited family and our children invited their college friends that could not be with their own families. Admittedly, this was a Jewishly knowledgeable crowd. Instead of reading from a single Haggadah, we passed out different Haggadot to everyone there. Most of the Haggadot had commentaries. One Haggadah was based on archeology, one on the Israeli traditions, one with Orthodox commentary and one was created by the Hillel Foundation for college students.

Another Haggadah was from the Conservative movement and one was Reform. Some of the Haggadot had different orders, and one of the old Reform Union Haggadot omitted the Ten Plagues. I even brought the Shomeir haTza'ir (socialist Kibbutz movement) Haggadah that does not mention God. (It was so very different that it could not be used in this setting.) I also have the commentaries of the Medieval rabbis, such as Abarbanel (who financed Columbus), the Maharal, and others.

[Barbara and I have been collecting Haggadot for many years. Last year we added the Beta Yisrael (Ethiopian Jewry) Haggadah and the recently published Scholars' Haggadah. We have multiple copies of some for use at a more traditional American Jewish Seder, and we have coffee-table editions of others. Our preference in past years was to modify either the old reliable Maxwell House Haggadah that we grew up with or the Reform Gates of Freedom with the incredible Baskin art and modern liberal commentary.]

Last year, we went around the table and read what each of us thought was the next section. We discussed the differences in translation. Every once in a while someone would determine that a given section should be read in Hebrew, and then he or she would translate it apart from the Haggadah's text, (remember Barbara and Rinat, as well as several of Rinat's friends who also studied in Israel are fluent in Hebrew). We also had a few of my sons' non-Jewish friends, so we had to explain a couple of the basic traditions as we went along. That Seder was anything but boring. There were new ideas and controversial thoughts. There was study and there was the opportunity to teach.

The Passover Haggadah was created to fulfill the commandment “And you shall relate to your child on that day saying, this is on account of what the Eternal did for me, when I went out of Egypt.” In other words the Passover Seder intention is for us to teach our children about God and the Exodus. We have all the teaching tools, foods to taste, songs to sing and hear, symbols to see and touch, and profound meanings to ponder. Whether our children are thee or fifty three we can teach, learn and study together on an appropriate level. For my favorite line of the Haggadah reads “and all lengthen their telling of the Exodus from Egypt are accounted praiseworthy.”

Chag Pesach samayach!

—Rabbi Harry A. Manhoff, Ph.D.

II

I just returned from one of the most important moments in my life. I had the honor and privilege to induct my father, Bert Manhoff, into the New Jersey chapter of the National Football Hall of Fame. My dad was honored for his career as an outstanding coach.

My father was one of the most creative and successful high school coaches during his years at East Side High School, Newark, NJ. I had the unique and wonderful experience of growing up in his locker room. Like so many fathers of his era, my dad had three and more jobs at a time. He was a popular Physical Education teacher, (called gym teachers in those days). He was certified to teach English and History, but sports were his love. After school he coached football or baseball, and he refereed basketball in between. My father gave Saturday to football, but for thirty years he taught the High School department class at Congregation B'nai Jeshurun on Sunday mornings. The rabbi's wife had tapped him to teach her daughter (before I was born and I am the first born) and he guided several generations through discussions of ethics and contemporary issues. At least two future rabbis went through those classes and attribute no small part to his influence. (I am only one of the two; the other is my older colleague, Rabbi Peter Knobel of Evanston, IL.)

I returned to B'nai Jeshurun as a student rabbi and director of education, during my final two years at the Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion in New York City. After ordination, I was to leave my synagogue to take my first rabbinic post. My father decided that he too would retire after thirty years. Our rabbi, Rabbi Barry Greene, quipped: Just like all of the parents, when his kids are done with the Religious School, Bert is retiring.

My brother coached for a number of years. My mother and daughter know more about the game of football than most men I know. So jokingly, I have said that I am the black sheep of the family for not going into football coaching. But the truth is I learned many important and elemental lessons in my father's locker room. I learned about sportsmanship, teamwork and perseverance. I learned that there were no differences between the black, brown and white athletes. And I learned that a caring coach could coax more out of a player. Most of all I learned that there was no separation between the rules of the game of football and the rules of the game of life. The Jewish values in my home were the same that we discussed in Religious School and the same that we were taught to bring to the games of football, baseball, basketball, tennis, golf, etc., etc., all the way to my boys playing hockey (of all sports).

My father was friends with the legendary Vince Lombardi who said: Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing. For my father winning on the score board was only one kind of victory. The most important winning for my dad, was winning friends, and living a winning life before God and people. I had the honor and privilege to induct my father, Bert Manhoff, into the New Jersey chapter of the National Football Hall of Fame. My dad was honored for his career as an outstanding coach.

—Rabbi Harry A. Manhoff, Ph.D.

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