Seforimchatter SmallTalk: Haggadah Shel Pesach B'Damayich Chayi (with Rabbi Yehoshua Forgy)
Mar 19, 2026
Rabbi Yehoshua Forgy, a rabbi and author of a new Haggadah, explores chosenness, antisemitism, and Jewish identity. He discusses how October 7 spurred the project and rethinks Jewish place in exile. He treats Pesach as national birth and reads the Haggadah with close textual methods. Themes include communal belonging, the Rasha, Vayareo sanu as early conspiracy, and the plagues as divine protection.
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Haggadah Born From October 7th Reckoning
- Rabbi Yehoshua Forgy began the Haggadah project after October 7th as a response to rising anti‑Semitism and a shaken sense of Jewish place in the world.
- The world’s hostile reaction prompted him to reexamine Jewish identity through Pesach’s themes of chosenness and otherness.
Pesach As The Birth Of Jewish National Identity
- Forgy argues Pesach uniquely explores Jewish national identity because it marks Am Yisrael's birth and emergence from being subsumed in Mitzrayim.
- He learned the Haggadah with rigorous textual method, treating it like Mechilta and asking sharp kashyos to reveal identity themes.
Testing A Hypothesis By Learning The Maggid Piece By Piece
- Forgy recounts testing his hypothesis by studying the Maggid section piece by piece to see if identity themes emerged.
- He found the approach revealed unexpectedly strong, illuminating connections and resisted mere shoehorning.
