In this engaging conversation, Dara Horn, a celebrated novelist known for her works exploring memory and Jewish identity, discusses her new graphic novel, One Little Goat. She delves into the significance of the Haggadah in preserving collective memory during Passover, framed within a whimsical tale of a family's Seder caught in a time loop. Horn highlights the balance between tradition and American individualism and the rich symbolism of the scapegoat in Jewish culture. The creative collaboration between Horn and an indie comics artist also shines through, bridging history and modern storytelling.
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One Little Goat Plot
Dara Horn's graphic novel, One Little Goat, centers around a family's Passover Seder.
Unable to find the Afikoman, they're trapped for six months, then a talking goat appears, claiming to be the scapegoat.
insights INSIGHT
Jewish Tradition vs. American Culture
Jewish tradition aims to collapse time, allowing every generation to feel connected to past events.
This contrasts with American culture's focus on the present and future.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Creative Seder Participation
Horn's parents encouraged creative Passover Seder participation through skits and songs.
This fostered a sense of ownership over the Exodus story, making it personally relevant.
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Dara Horn's "One Little Goat" is a graphic novel that reimagines the Passover Seder as a time-traveling adventure. The story follows a family trapped at a never-ending Seder, encountering historical figures and exploring Jewish history. The book uses humor and engaging visuals to make Jewish history accessible to young readers. It's a unique blend of humor, history, and family dynamics, making it enjoyable for both children and adults. The graphic novel format adds a dynamic element, enhancing the storytelling experience.
A Guide to the Perplexed
A Guide to the Perplexed
Dalalat al-Ha'irin
Maimonides
Maimonides' "Guide for the Perplexed" is a seminal work of medieval philosophy that attempts to reconcile Aristotelian philosophy with Jewish theology. The book addresses the challenges faced by those struggling to reconcile faith and reason, offering a framework for understanding religious texts allegorically rather than literally. It explores themes of prophecy, divine attributes, and the nature of reality, providing a sophisticated intellectual defense of religious belief. Its influence extended far beyond Jewish thought, shaping the intellectual landscape of the Middle Ages and beyond. The work remains relevant today for its exploration of the complex relationship between faith and reason.
People Love Dead Jews
Reports from a Haunted Present
Dara Horn
In this nonfiction essay collection, Dara Horn examines why society is more fascinated with the death of Jews than with the lives of living Jews. She weaves together history, social science, and personal stories to critique the public's obsession with Jewish history, particularly the Holocaust, and how this obsession can be a profound affront to human dignity. Horn discusses various topics such as the veneration of Anne Frank, the mythology surrounding Jewish family names at Ellis Island, and the life of Varian Fry, a 'Righteous Among the Nations.' She also reflects on her own family life and the impact of antisemitism on her children's school experiences. The book argues that the reverence for past Jewish tragedies does not translate into respect for contemporary Jewish life and that this disparity contributes to the ongoing rise of antisemitism.
Maaseh ha-Ez
Maaseh ha-Ez
S.Y. Agnon
Zakhor: To Remember
Zakhor: To Remember
Yosef Chaim Yerushalmi
The Haunted Tailor
The Haunted Tailor
Sholem Aleichem
From Foe to Friend
From Foe to Friend
Shay Charka
Later this week Jewish families all over the world will sit down at the seder table and, guided by the text of the Haggadah, recapitulate in a highly ornate and ritualized form the Israelite redemption from oppression in Egypt. The text of the Haggadah itself is fascinating, not only because of its sources and composition and what it emphasizes and how, but also because it references itself. There are discussions of previous seders within the seder. It is a document that structures a holiday designed to help us remember. Memory and the presence of the past is the great theme of the Haggadah, and it is the great theme of Dara Horn’s new graphic novel for middle-grade readers, One Little Goat.
Dara Horn is the author not only of One Little Goat but also of Eternal Life, A Guide for the Perplexed, and three over novels, as well as her celebrated volume of reporting and essays, People Love Dead Jews. This week, she joins the podcast to discuss this theme—the inescapability of the past, the formative nature of the past, the obligations imposed on us as memory-bearing creatures and as a memory-shaped people—and why it is woven into all of her work, including her most recent book.
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