Another post inspired...
cellio asked what makes a fulfilling seder. This is in part a response to that, or at least inspired by thinking about that.
So Pesach is my favorite holiday. I started this year working on making my own Haggadah. Part of the way through, I got tired of translating (which can be hard and boring at times, but definitely was fun when I started). This coincided with a Shabbaton in Crown Heights where I was given a Haggada made by Chabad in the style of the Gutnick Chumash (for those unfamiliar: Text, translation, Classic questions with a few famous answers, Comments by R' Menachem Mendel Schneerson, last Lubavitcher Rebbe) So this had lots of comments I wanted to throw in, so I threw them in with my text. I did bring me away from my comments of asking questions (and not including answers) to asking questions and answering them. However, I also tried to include my thoughts on these questions or their answers. For example, some answers seemed to provoke more questions. So I included those too. I fear that by including answers, it becomes: let me teach you what the right answer is, instead of let me provoke thought on this matter.
A rabbi I had in Israel talked about knowing one's place amongst the line-up of speakers and the crowd. His example was speaking at his nephew's Sheva brachot vs at his student's sheva brachot. In the latter it would be acceptable for him to play a more rabbinic role and speak about an insight he has in service of G-d, whereas at the former no one asked him to be the rabbi. As a result, I wanted to stay away from the preachy, this-is-the-rabbi-speaking, role. I knew I'd be having seder with my family and Rebecca's family. While I may be the acknowledged expert on Judaism in such a setting, I am not invited to the seder as the rabbi, or even the rabbinical student. This leads into another discussion about everyone thinking their theological opinion is equally valid, but that is a discussion for another day.
So Pesach is my favorite holiday. I started this year working on making my own Haggadah. Part of the way through, I got tired of translating (which can be hard and boring at times, but definitely was fun when I started). This coincided with a Shabbaton in Crown Heights where I was given a Haggada made by Chabad in the style of the Gutnick Chumash (for those unfamiliar: Text, translation, Classic questions with a few famous answers, Comments by R' Menachem Mendel Schneerson, last Lubavitcher Rebbe) So this had lots of comments I wanted to throw in, so I threw them in with my text. I did bring me away from my comments of asking questions (and not including answers) to asking questions and answering them. However, I also tried to include my thoughts on these questions or their answers. For example, some answers seemed to provoke more questions. So I included those too. I fear that by including answers, it becomes: let me teach you what the right answer is, instead of let me provoke thought on this matter.
A rabbi I had in Israel talked about knowing one's place amongst the line-up of speakers and the crowd. His example was speaking at his nephew's Sheva brachot vs at his student's sheva brachot. In the latter it would be acceptable for him to play a more rabbinic role and speak about an insight he has in service of G-d, whereas at the former no one asked him to be the rabbi. As a result, I wanted to stay away from the preachy, this-is-the-rabbi-speaking, role. I knew I'd be having seder with my family and Rebecca's family. While I may be the acknowledged expert on Judaism in such a setting, I am not invited to the seder as the rabbi, or even the rabbinical student. This leads into another discussion about everyone thinking their theological opinion is equally valid, but that is a discussion for another day.