{"schema_version":"bf_book_companion_v1","release_id":"20261010T034321Z-reviewed-full-unique-works","book":{"amazon_purchase_url":"https://www.amazon.com/dp/0827615515?tag=bookfrontie00-20","asin":"0827615515","authors":["Marcia Falk"],"book_id":"9780827615519","canonical_url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/night-of-beginnings-9780827615519","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780827615519.jpg?v=4519bcd2ce427093","description":"Night of Beginnings is a groundbreaking new haggadah for the Passover seder from acclaimed poet, translator, and liturgist Marcia Falk, beautifully designed and illustrated with original color drawings by the author. Unlike both traditional and new haggadahs, which do not contain a full recounting of the biblical story, Night of Beginnings presents the Exodus narrative in its entirety, providing a direct connection to the ancient origins of the holiday. This retelling highlights the actions of its female characters, including Moshe’s sister, Miriam; Pharaoh’s daughter, who adopts the baby Moshe; and the midwives Shifrah and Pu’ah, who save the Hebrew male infants. Falk’s revolutionary new blessings, in Hebrew and English, replace the traditional, patriarchal seder blessings, and her kavanot —meditative directions for prayer—introduce a genre new to the seder ritual. Poems, psalms, and songs are arranged to give structural coherence to the haggadah. A new commentary raises interpretive questions and invites us to bring personal reflections into the discussion. Like the author’s widely acclaimed previous prayer books, The Book of Blessings and The Days Between , Falk’s poetic blessings for the seder envision the divine as a Greater Whole of which we are an inseparable part. The inclusive language of Falk's blessings makes room for women to find and use their voices more full-throatedly than they were able to do with the male-centered prayers inherited from the early rabbis. Men, too, will encounter here a spiritually moving and thought-provoking experience.","forthcoming":false,"isbn13":"9780827615519","publication_date":"20220301","publisher":"The Jewish Publication Society","slug":"night-of-beginnings","subtitle":"A Passover Haggadah","title":"Night of Beginnings"},"discovery":{"categories":{"all":[{"bisac_code":"REL034040","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Jewish Holidays","score":0.7932,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"REL052020","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Jewish Prayerbooks","score":0.7863,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"REL040010","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Jewish Rituals & Practice","score":0.7761,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"hint":[{"bisac_code":"REL034040","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Jewish Holidays","score":0.7932,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"REL052020","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Jewish Prayerbooks","score":0.7863,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"REL040010","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Jewish Rituals & Practice","score":0.7761,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"publisher":[{"bisac_code":"REL040010","confidence_band":"high","label":"Jewish Rituals & Practice","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"REL040040","confidence_band":"high","label":"Jewish Scriptures","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"REL052020","confidence_band":"high","label":"Jewish Prayerbooks","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"}]},"genres":[{"label":"Jewish Holidays","score":0.7932,"slug":"jewish-holidays"},{"label":"Jewish Prayerbooks","score":0.7863,"slug":"jewish-prayerbooks"},{"label":"Jewish Rituals & Practice","score":0.7761,"slug":"jewish-rituals-practice"}],"reader_fit":["Readers seeking inclusive Passover prayers that make room for women's voices","Seder participants interested in prayer and personal reflection"],"related_lists":[],"series":null,"similar_books":[{"authors":["Elie Wiesel"],"book_id":"9780671799960","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780671799960.jpg?v=f193887e7c46b93e","score":0.7749,"title":"Passover Haggadah","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780671799960"},{"authors":["Aaron Goldscheider"],"book_id":"9789655241990","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9789655241990.jpg?v=6c88cbac4acd222f","score":0.7698,"title":"The Night That Unites Passover Haggadah","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9789655241990"},{"authors":["David A. Adler"],"book_id":"9780823433049","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780823433049.jpg?v=b20cbf9a0f3fcbe5","score":0.7315,"title":"The Story of Passover","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780823433049"},{"authors":["Deborah Heiligman"],"book_id":"9781426327452","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781426327452.jpg?v=bdeff221832d0282","score":0.7191,"title":"Holidays Around the World: Celebrate Passover","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781426327452"},{"authors":["Mark Gerson"],"book_id":"9781250624246","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781250624246.jpg?v=2e2b581534bcf682","score":0.711,"title":"The Telling","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781250624246"},{"authors":["Bonnie Bader"],"book_id":"9780593563885","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780593563885.jpg?v=9c30f3bb63d6b712","score":0.706,"title":"Passover: a Celebration of Freedom","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780593563885"},{"authors":["Meredith Ochs","Kay Miller"],"book_id":"9781668047446","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781668047446.jpg?v=992edfa9c493f2cb","score":0.701,"title":"The Rock 'n' Roll Haggadah","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781668047446"},{"authors":["Karen Katz"],"book_id":"9781250360427","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781250360427.jpg?v=375a09c83d8e464c","score":0.6948,"title":"My First Passover","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781250360427"}],"topics":[{"evidence_refs":["keyword:bible"],"label":"Bible","score":0.1217,"slug":"bible"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:bible story"],"label":"Story","score":0.0863,"slug":"story"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:religious holiday"],"label":"Religious","score":0.0436,"slug":"religious"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:jewish studies"],"label":"Jewish","score":0.0371,"slug":"jewish"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:jewish studies"],"label":"Studies","score":0.0285,"slug":"studies"}],"what_you_get":["Themes: The Exodus narrative, Women's roles in the Exodus, Inclusive prayer.","Pacing: reflective, voice-and-character forward.","Themes: Bible, Story, Religious."]},"llm_signals":{"confidence":0.91,"pacing":"reflective","reader_fit":["Readers seeking inclusive Passover prayers that make room for women's voices","Seder participants interested in prayer and personal reflection"],"themes":["The Exodus narrative","Women's roles in the Exodus","Inclusive prayer"],"tropes":[]},"source_presence":{"amazon":true,"book_detail":true,"goodreads":true,"llm_signals":true,"similarity_seed":true},"stats":{"amazon_ratings_count":0,"goodreads_ratings_count":21,"goodreads_reviews_count":4,"quality_score":0.8411}}