This is what Mosaica, the publisher, has to say about the
book:
The Healing Haggadah: Passing
Over Trauma offers a unique, experiential, and therapeutic approach to
the Pesach Seder, guiding individuals and communities in processing collective
and personal trauma. Through the lens of the Exodus story, Rabbi Michael
Friedman, M.Ed., LPC, weaves psychological insights with Torah wisdom, making
the themes of yetzias Mitzrayim deeply personal and transformative.
Rooted in traditional Torah
commentary and modern psychology, this Haggadah empowers readers to identify
their inner struggles, confront their personal Mitzrayim, and find redemption
through the timeless lessons of the Seder night.
As one might expect from a book that is relatively slender
and comfortably affordable, it is not a learned heavyweight tome addressed to
scholars. Nor is it a list of superficial suggestions and generalised prescriptions
for brushing off trauma and getting on with life as if trauma has had no
effect. Rather, its function is to alert and sensitise readers to the way the
text of the Haggadah alludes to the collective trauma of the Jewish people and
offers paths by which our long-traumatised people can develop a resilience and
a positive attitude that transforms us from victims to lead actors in the
unscripted drama that is the history of the Jewish people.
Rabbi Friedman has kindly donated a copy of The Healing
Haggadah to Beit Knesset Hanassi. You can find it downstairs in the library
of our Beit Midrash.
