Maxwell and
Toilets in the Desert
Post date: Nov 16, 2020 3:32:43 PM
Much has been written about the Maxwell Haggadah. Its origin, its layout, format and cover changes and its recent gender neutral English translation change have all been discussed by researchers and journalists. But few have noticed the small changes in translations from version to version that I discover while comparing the different versions digitally. The Maxwell Haggadah translation has been tweaked 3 times and completely changed once since its first appearance in 1932.
The first changes appear in the mid-1960s when the DeLuxe edition came out. The changes in the translation were small but interesting. This version can still be found in many households. The next changes were make in 1998 when the azure blue version was replaced with the multicoloured cover. The translation changes in this case were more significant e.g. all the thees and thous, he, his and hims were capitalized, the masculine specific instructions became gender neutral passive guidelines, the fourth plague changed from flies to wild beasts, etc. The next change to the Maxwell Haggadah came in 2100 when a completely new gender neutral and modernized English translation was introduced e.g. "king" changed into "monarch"), created by Henry Frisch, a high school English teacher of Teaneck, New Jersey. The latest Maxwell Haggadah, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Haggadah has so many problems that I don't even want to talk about it.
One of the 1998 changes (from DeLuxe to Multicoloured) is in the Dayeinu section.
pre-1998: If he had drowned our oppressors in it, and had not supplied our necessaries in the wilderness during forty years, it would have been sufficient.
from 1998 onwards: If he had drowned our oppressors in it, and had not supplied our necessities in the wilderness during forty years, it would have been sufficient.
What is the difference between necessaries and necessities?
The Dictionary of Problem Words and Expressions by Harry Shaw (1975) explains: "These terms apply to items or matters considered essential, necessary, requisite, or at least important: "the necessities (or necessaries) of shelter and food." Necessities is the stronger and more generally used of the two".
Indeed, in 1975 "necessities" was already much more in use than "necessaries" but that had not always been the case. Google ngrams show us that before 1832 it was the other way around:
The Maxwell Haggadah translation with its thees and thous had always sounded slightly archaic so this original word choice might have been intentional, linguistically going back a century from 1932 to 1832.
But Harry Shaw's dictionary makes another interesting comment:
"Perhaps necessaries is more commonly used in some sections of rural New England where it has the meaning of "privies" or "chamber pots."
So what exactly did G-d provide in the desert for the Jewish people? Shelter and food or privies and chamber pots? Well, the Torah tells us in Devarim 23, 13-15:
"Thou shalt have a place also outside the camp, where thou shalt withdraw thyself: and thou shalt have a spade among thy weapons, and it shall be, when thou wilt easy thyself outside, thou shalt dig with it, and shalt turn back and cover thy excrement: for the Lord the God walks in the midst of thy camp..." (See also: Eruvin 55b)
And Rashi, on Bamidbar 21:5 (based on the Mikhilta) claims that the Jewish People did not even have to go outside the camp because the Manna they ate dissolved in their intestines without leaving a trace!
So, ....no chamber pots provided by God for the Jewish People in the desert. Good call from the "Orthodox Rabbis and scholars who have worked so many hours on this book" (Introduction to the 1998 version)
Thanks to the great people at the Ask the Beit Midrash Facebook page for providing sources.