Rabbi Nachman Seltzer – Haggadah With Stories

[Music] Welcome to Inside Arts Girl, where the books that we read and the people that write them come to life. It's a true pleasure to welcome all the way from Ramape, Shemesh, Rabbi Nakman, Seltzer, Sha Alam, and thank you so much. Thank you so much for having me. I feel like I was just here. It's great to be back. It's wonderful to have you as well. We're here to discuss a Rabbi Nakman Seltzer first time book, the Nakman Seltzer Hagada. Uh the book is called Hagada with stories. It's Hagada with fantastic and amazing stories. Rabbi Seltzer, I met a guy who collects old and he has the most fascinating connection collection in the whole world. He doesn't have a single haga in that collection. And I asked him why and he said his mentor taught him that once you start collecting hagas there is no end because it is the most commented on topic in Yiddish in our history. So my question Rabbi Nahmed Seltzer is another hagada. What were you thinking? Look if we honest so our scroll likes to put out at least two or three new autist every year. So Mrs. Zika came to me. He said, "You know what? How about if you were to come out with take your unique uh brand of stories and tora like maybe something akin to what we do within and like apply that to the Hagada." So that's the the idea behind it. It's like the truth is it wasn't my idea. I'm going to I have to be give credit where credit goes. And that's Mrs. Zeon, my editor. It was her idea for me to do this. And she said, "I think it would be good for you to do it." I and I raidal agreed and once they came and they and they liked the idea so I said oh you know what okay I'm going to I'm going to go for it so that's what that's the background over here now the question of I there's so many but you know I don't I don't ascribe to that because there's so many books so if we go with the with the with the there's so many books why write new books but the answer is everybody adds their own twist and their own and there's a lot of in this a lot of beautiful toyra I took from really from all over the place. There's no there's not one it's not it's not a brisk but you know there's there's there's from all over from the rash to vder to to really old and cabistic things and and just great story I went through all my old archive of pes stories and I and I from 20 years ago and I combined it with new stories from today that just happened and it's really something ragdal said like this let's try to write a user friendly hag. And I have to tell you, I got to tell you that if I got a present, if somebody gave me this as a present, I would be very thankful to them because there's so much. It's so beautiful. You don't have to work hard. It's not It's not a a hag where you have to work hard. What does he mean? What does he say? It's beautiful. It's like delicious. It's like It's like somebody gave you a a delicious meal to eat. It just happens with tora. It's a delicious meal of tyra and it enhances your a your aad your seder experience but it's not just for the seder. You have a whole week of you can't finish a sed. So you have the whole rest of and then you're gonna pick up a everyone comes home from a trip and you have a meal with the family. You pick it up. You read a story. You read another story. You you you have some free time. You pick it up. You you read uphat. You learn another story and you wait next year you'll come across new things that you didn't. So it's it's not just for the seder but it's it's very beautiful for the seder. And I personally would would have would would have been very happy to get a go like this for myself. Anyways, that's that's where the background of the of how this came to be. And I concur because I got it in manuscript form and I read it and it's beautiful and magnificent. And I said to myself, I'm not going to settle for the manuscript. I want the Haga. I want to use it for my family on Pesak. So, thank you so much. I shared with one of my kids about this and he's like, "Everyone loves seltzer on Pesak." That's what he said. You have a little plug for your hag. That's good. That's good. I like that. Somebody said, I was at a hotel now with Shuvu. Uh Shuvu came they they had a mission in the So and I was on that mission with them writing about it and so somebody came over to said to me, "Is it true that there's 70% water in the world?" The world is 70% water. I said, "Yeah." He goes, "Is it carbonated?" I said, "No." He goes, "Then that means the world is the earth is flat then." Ah, here is a very good. And he told it to you obviously. He told it to me. Well, if you're going to go with everyone why I love salsa and pes then Yeah. No, you have to contend with these jokes. Um, Rabbi Sal, can I ask you about your own seder? Do you share stories that are not part of Mitzime to bring out the Hagada or do you stick to the storyline of Mitzime? How does your seder run? So, my Seda runs where I there's one thing I try to always include and that is something which I I I'm still not 100% sure if they're going to put let me keep it in, but I I really want to keep it in. And that's a piece that Rabbi Liansky wrote, which to me sums up what the Seder is. And I always try either the beginning or the middle to say this piece. And I I see you're nodding so you know which piece I'm talking about. And this the letter to his son. That letter that is the most incredible letter and I share with my students every year and they want to make copies to take home. This encapsulates what we're trying to do at the seder. What are we doing at the seder? And that's the question. What are we doing here? We're reading these things and a lot of it we don't understand exactly why they included it. But what are we trying to accomplish? And the answer is that we're trying to accomplish one very important thing and that is that is the night to say tonight's the night when we give to our children. We hand over the baton from one generation to the next right he says there's 133 people from you know matra till today that means it's not that many people and every single one of them wherever they were in their world wherever nanis they had they had one job and that was to give over the msra to the next generation today they'll say in our time they had October 7th they had to give over the msra this October 7th they had to give it over a a father who lived down south he has to give over the miso to his children. Someone who went through the Holocaust, someone who went through the concentration, someone went through Russian Russia Siberia, someone who went through the Inquisition, someone who lived in a beautiful life in in France and was rich, someone and and but what's the job? The job is to give over the Messiah. That's what we're doing tonight. And he says, "Sometimes I think I'm not doing it well enough." He says, "It's tough when you have 132 people balancing on your shoulders." It's it's very meaningful. I want you to know something. After I read that the first time many years ago, my children were still younger. Um, right before the seder, I got into a little huddle with them and I shared mamish that message with them and I said to them, "One day you're going to be the tati and you're going to be at the top at the top of the seder. You need to ask the questions. You need to understand the experience because I'm passing it on to you mash. I'll be around for many years, but one day you're going to be the father and one day you'll be the grandfather." And it was really interesting to see even my little children really, you know, they they were Macabo. They they took it and the seder was very different after that year and I do it every single year. So I'm so happy you brought that up. We're on the same page. 100%. We could just keep smoozing. Um but just back to the question. Do you share stories that are not part of the story of UTS Mitrime to bring out how do you do it? Yeah. So I use Rab Zashin's aada and every year I find new things in the Hagada that are beautiful and I and I new stories and I and I always do I I I enhance I believe we need to enhance the Tory and stories and and your own ideas and your own questions, your own answers to bring out the this this what what you want to do this night because again it's not just about it's not just about that. It's about it's it's about taking everything that you're reading and making it part of you because you're giving over to your children. So, how do you do that? You have to find a way to to translate everything into something that everyone around the seder appreciates and comes out with something. It's an experience. It's a Pak experience and and and that's the thing that every that everyone in even if you're not from they still feel connected. They want to be part of the Sedra. It's something unique. It's something different. Maybe that's the reason why you know it's been more written about than anything else. It's because that's the essence of cla. You're bringing up a good point because I think that I think most people have this but I don't know that everyone does as a father as a grandfather you know it's an aaras on us to really make the sed as meaningful as possible. It doesn't happen by itself you need to prepare and you need to think it through before and if it's the kadusha man it's learning it etc etc. I feel a great way actually that I'm gonna prepare for the seder this year is by actually using your Hagata if you let if you let us bring please use my ATA this year. Um and I know Archel's come out with another fantastic one all-time favorite as well. So buy those Hagatas if you're a father and spend time going through them. Highlight them what however you do it but make sure that it's meaningful and like you say in your introduction to this to this Hagada there's nothing that piqus people's interest like stories. Um, and those stories are all in there. Um, Rabbi Seltzer, as as I was reading through many of the Perushim, there were a lot of things that jumped out at me, but I think one very important thing to talk about at the Seder, which you highlighted, is the concept of freedom. You know, in America, let freedom, you know, ring. Um, and freedom is a big thing and the western world freedom is a big thing. But say nights about defining what freedom is because we went from a to share with us like what you arrived at in your discussion of freedom. So there was uh something I originally included which um was editorially they didn't they chose not to put in but it was the original it was a letter that a talmet of a yeshiva I one of the yeshivas for guys who struggle a struggling guy you I'm sure you if you think about it's a particular yeshiva that was very famous and he wrote a letter about freedom and he well what's freedom and I and I included it but he says he says you know and he was talking about being a slave. He said, "What's we're not slaves today. We're free. We could do whatever we want." He said, "So slavery, it takes on many forms." He said, "Slavery could be your could be a slave to a little bag and a little bottle and pills and you could be a slave to that." He said, "And and one day you recognize, wait a second, I'm a slave." You know, first you think it's Gishmak, you're free. And then you turn around, you realize you're a slave. And then then there's the whole journey to how do I get out? How do I get away from being a slave? And how do I, you know, how do I get out of the bars, my self-imposed bars to become a free man? And I think that's the nud it's it's in every person we're all in a certain sense in in in in our own bars. Every person has things that they struggle with. Every person has things that are hard for them, you know, and the keshbuck comes and gives us what's freedom. Freedom is the opposite of what we think it is sometimes. I give it alum what I'm talking about. I call it the Carlos and Gabby versus the Waldorf. that let's say you know any time I went into Carson and Gabby's there was like 3,000 things on the menu and I always felt like I picked the wrong thing. I never walked out happy. I always felt walked out feeling I got the wrong thing. You go to the wall if there's five things on the menu that's it. You you get the right thing. You got a steak you're done. You go to you know what's the if you're a person who's not Jewish, a person who you have a whole world do whatever you want. And so people do whatever they want because they're free to do whatever they want. So they're actually slaves to trying everything society says is an option and they're not happy about it because you're mugg you're crazy trying this and trying that and am I this am I that what am I who am I don't know who I am if you're aid tells you this is who you are this is what you're allowed to do all of those things are off the table and you have freedom you have freedom to be a normal person without chasing a million things without knowing what who you are you know who you are you're a free person who knows exactly who he is And that's freedom. It's the opposite. People think, "Oh, I can do whatever I want. I'm free." No, you're good. Opposite. Do whatever you want. You're a slave. You're you're a slave to to to freedom. Call it however you want. But that's the and every person needs to find inside themselves, you know, what am I a slave to? How do I free myself from that to be a truly free person? I think that's our goal as not just amazing. And that's we got to figure out our own. That's right. And that's the seder experience. Beautiful. the same experience. Ramin, you go all the way to like, you know, the last last part of the of the Hagara. How do how do we keep our children on fire, excited, enthused all the way till the late night end of our seder? By promising them a trip to Aritus. What do you mean? I'll tell you. I I think what do you do when you live in Aritus? What do you do? You you you know what you do? I you sing a lot of singing. But that's only for people who are musical. But you know what it is? I think what it comes down to again I it comes down to enjoying being together with the family at a special time. It's something very unique. Last year it was the first time I made a seder. I always said I always went to my in-laws and my parents until last year unless I was away at a hotel leading but if I was home I I didn't go I didn't stay home. But last I said I have when I have son-in-laws I'm staying home and leading my sed and now I have two son-in-laws I was home leading a seder and every member of the family enjoyed it so much just being together singing the songs that we know and love talking the Torah saying the stories it's something so special I don't you know we didn't have to try to it was just a beautiful heartwarming experience you don't have to you know I believe you don't have to try hard don't try let it happen let it happen uh Rabbi Rabbi Seltzer, could you uh could you give us a little teaser? One story that jumps out at you such your favorite story that morsel that's going to want to make us long for more. Share something and we'll conclude the interview with that. All right. So, I'll tell you two short two short things. I'll tell you a little ver that I love and it's it's an amazing ver and he goes into it's part of a bigger piece which is all but in his he writes a very interesting thing. He says that there was he talks about the the baker and the butler in prison, right? And he says he has a question. He says, "How could it be? What you know, if you go let's say to a fancy hotel, if you order this the citadel, let's say, and you order a cup of wine. Nobody's bringing you a cup of wine with a fly in it. You're getting a roll. No one's bringing you a roll with a piece of a wood or a stone in a roll. This is a palace of a king. There's a thousand slaves. Their job is to go like this that no flesh should fall into wine." How could it be that in the kingdom of the the kitchen of the king such a thing could happen? And on the same day, what happened to this palace? What's going on over here? So the comes with an amazing and we're just going to go just for he says that the butler and the baker were mortal enemies. They were they were both fighting for the king's favor. They both wanted the promotion. So what did they do? The butler, he sneaks into the bakery and he sticks a piece of wood into the bread and the baker sneaks into the place where they pour the wine and as they're bringing it out, he drops a fly in the cup. So both of them did to the other one, right? It wasn't that it why did it happen? It happened because they were fighting because of he says that's why it happened. So then you have to go into who's worse. Is it worse to stick a piece of wood into bread? Or is it worse to to drop a fly into a cup of wine? And who's worse and par felt obviously that the wine was that the fly in the in the wine was worse which is why he he put the baker to death and he goes all thing but he goes into what he goes with this into and he says all this happened to show Yoseph the power of look you have two people in high positions and they're endangering their lives. They're endangering the job to the king. They're putting the king's life. They're they're embarrassing the king all for what? Because they hate each other. And he says, "What what what was the point that Yseph should learn that when your brothers come back to you and you're released from prison and you're going to become the king and your brothers are going to stand in front of you and they're going to beg for their lives, you have an option. You could say, "I'm taking revenge for what you did to me." And it's not even it's for a good reason. Or you could show them. You could show them you were the son of wasn't you weren't involved in you were the one they sold and he brings out the from this v it's a whole it's a big v and it's a beautiful v I love this v I give it over in class but it's a tremendous v and from there I talk about and different stories you guys I bet you know how she went around doing this and and just unbelievable things but I'll just tell you I'll end off with one other with one other nikud and that is a story that happened to my son-in-law and the story is and I put this in byina know you know that you made Milo basically the story he said over at my grandson's bris he said he said the story he said that he it was Purim and he was at he was by his father's house and it was right after they lost their grandfather Brandman and his uncle was there from Chicago and uh people came in collecting saddaka and this guy comes in he's collecting he just had a baby he just had a baby and uh he's he's collecting for the bris so one of my one of my my son-in-law uncle said to this guy, "I'll make you a deal if you name your son after my father. I'll pay for the whole bris. Not just pay for it. I'll I'll make you a bris and I'll give you money for the kid and I'll I'll give you money for his bar mitzvah. It's going to be amazing." So the guy got excited. He he goes to call his wife. He's like, "Listen, we got this great offer." She's like, "What's the name?" He says, "Smos." She goes, "Nah, I have another name. I don't want that name. I have another name." So uh he comes back all depressed. There's his offer. So my son-in-law went over to his his uncle. He said, "Listen, Sabah's whole thing, he would have dafa wanted to pay if he didn't want to give name after him. That would have dafa been like, "Oh, you don't want it? Great. Let me pay." That was he wouldn't have cared. Come on, kids. In the end, his uncle said, "You know what? I'm going to pay for it." And he not just pay for it. He paid for it. He gave it a beautiful brisk, music, meat, beautiful kids. So my so this guy was so thankful to my son-in-law he made it happen and he called him up a few days later he says you have to come to the bris my son-in-law's in the mirror and he's like you got to come to the bris Abra and it was pouring but he said you have to come I know you're not supposed to invite to a bris but you have to come so my son-in-law said okay what can I do he drove down there and he comes to the bris and the guy was so happy to to see him there he said I'm giving you a bra you should have a baby I'm the ben and I could give brahas. I'm giving you a bra. Okay. So my son-in-law gets up at the bris. He says this story. He goes, I want to tell you something. It is today 9 months to the day of that bra. He said and today we named our son Brandman and the is here and he pointed to stood up and he was smiling and it was the most beautiful story. I put that there. It's like that's the end of the my son-in-law story. my own grandson's story and that's a beautiful beautiful personal story. It's new. It's not from 100 years ago but it's a beautiful heartwarming story that just happened and that's how we cap off the so but there's so much more there. It's a it's a lot I hope everyone enjoys it. It's a beautiful sudo. Thank you so much Rabbi Selzer. We look forward to joining you for the seder lashim. Thank you for your time. It's always great smoozing. Everyone should go out there buy that haga. It'll enhance your pes the entire pes beginning to end and everyone loves a great story. So it's a no it's it's a no-brainer. Thank you so much Rabbi. Thank you so much. [Music]