Editing The Rebbe's Haggadah (section)

== Haggadah of the Alter Rebbe ==
During the Seder night of 5704 (1944) at the Rebbe Rayatz's home, after eating the maror, one of those present asked the attendants to begin serving the meal so that immediately after eating the 'korech' they could proceed directly to the 'shulchan orech' (the festive meal). The Rebbe Rayatz was displeased with this change and remarked then: "My father, the holy Rebbe, said that on these nights—the two Seders of Pesach—before doing anything related to the Seder, 'darf men a kuk ton in siddur' [one should look in the siddur]." The meaning of these words is to examine those concise instructional sentences that the Alter Rebbe placed between sections of the Haggadah, in which he provided guidance necessary to know during the actual performance. These sentences are solely meant as practical guidance for those conducting the Seder, but the Rebbe, faithful to his reverent approach to everything written by our Rebbeim, was meticulously precise about these sentences and extracted from them remarkable pearls and insights.

As is known, the Alter Rebbe selected and refined a prayer text from sixty siddurim of different versions. This included the Pesach Haggadah, which, like the prayer book, had many different versions.

In the work before us, the Rebbe elaborates extensively on every textual change or rare version chosen by the Alter Rebbe, and does not cease to cherish it until he reveals how this version is indeed the perfect, superior, and universally acceptable one from every angle. The most famous example is the order of the Four Questions in 'Mah Nishtana'—dipping, matzah, maror, reclining—which differs from the 'common' version. The Rebbe begins with a rare abundance of primary sources for this version and continues to demonstrate how specifically this version "corresponds to their order on this night" and even to "the order of the worlds from below to above..." But he does not stop there, and in sharp, concise words he debates with additional opinions dealing with the general development of the Four Questions throughout the generations. He concludes with an original idea that simply explains the reason for the variations in custom regarding this text.

This is in addition to other changes where the Rebbe is content to indicate a series of versions identical to the one before us, and in the way of Torah truth—he is always careful to also cite all those sources in which the version appears differently from the Alter Rebbe's.