Whose Haggadah?

There's an article in Slate about new versions of the Haggadah, teh story book Jews read every year at Passover seder.

The author touches on the more than 3,00 versions known to exist, and ponders whether new versions will end up changing the holiday.

Towards the end, he mentions the Maxwell House version "filled with the "little kitschy scribbles" others find objectionable." Maxwell House claims its handed out nearly 40 million of them over the years, and the Slate author attributes its popularity to being "apolitical and middlebrow, geared for mass appeal," as well "clear and concise," as opposed to trendy newer versions that focus on political beliefs or moral codes.

But I think that he, and many others, ignore one reason that the Maxwell House version has remained so popular for so long: it's cheap. Maxwell House gives them away (sometimes you have to buy a can of coffee to get one, but supermarkets almost always hand them out for free).

If, like me, you regularly have 15 or 20 people coming for seder, this is a serious issue. Beautiful new versions of the Haggadah with notes from Elie Wiesel are wonderful, but at $30 a pop, there's no way I can get one for everyone at the seder.