The Telling: How Judaism's Essential Book Reveals the Meaning of Life (Unabridged‪)‬

God didn’t design the Seder to put your kids to sleep.

Instead, the Seder is an experience your family should love, treasure and remember.

Have you ever wondered that there might be something more to Passover, the Seder, and the Haggadah - something that just might hold the secrets to living the life of joy and meaning that you were intended to?

In The Telling, Mark Gerson, host of The Rabbi’s Husband podcast and renowned Jewish philanthropist, shows us how to make the Seder the most engaging, inspiring, and important night of the Jewish year. By using this book, you’ll be able to:


Lead the Seder with wisdom, confidence and fun that guests will remember
Make the Haggadah burst alive with insight for our opportunities, questions and challenges
Show Gentile friends the richness of the Jewish tradition
Instill a lasting love of Judaism within your children
Bring your family closer together and closer to God


The Telling will enable you to see what the Haggadah really is: The Greatest Hits of Jewish Thought. This understanding will enable you to provide your guests with the most interesting, insightful, and practically helpful night of the year - with teachings and lessons that will continue to brighten in the year to come.

What leaders are saying about The Telling:

"In The Telling, Mark Gerson brilliantly illuminates some of the big questions from the Haggadah whose answers can define what constitutes a meaningful life. By showing how the Haggadah enables its readers to deploy ancient Jewish wisdom to help answer the most contemporary questions, this book will help your Pesach to be what it can be: a life-guiding event, every year, for anyone who learns enough to give it the opportunity." (Senator Joseph Lieberman)

"Once a year, shortly before Pesach (emphatically not Passover!), Mark Gerson steps out of his role as a world-class entrepreneur and becomes a teacher of Torah - or more precisely, of the Haggadah. Those sessions have become legendary, and this book helps explain why. Here is Gerson's inimitable voice - passionate, erudite and most of all deeply in love with Jewish wisdom. Read this book to understand why the Haggadah has endured as a seminal Jewish text and why it remains no less relevant today than when it was first written." (Yossi Klein Halevi, author of Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor and Like Dreamers)

"The Telling is the perfect introduction for those desiring to explore this aspect of Jewish life. This book is full of knowledge and thought-provoking questions and answers to the many mysteries that surround this sacred Jewish holiday." (Gordon Robertson, CEO, The Christian Broadcasting Network)

"Just when I thought I knew everything about the Haggadah, I opened up Mark's book, and sure enough, I found myself thinking differently, questioning, and wrestling with big new ideas. I am excited to bring these ideas forward to my family's Seder and meaningful conversations all year round." (Sarah Waxman, founder, At the Well)

"As believers, there is so much we can gain from the story of the Exodus Passover, when God brought the children of Israel out of bondage by His mighty hand. With the powerful book The Telling by Mark Gerson, you will learn from a Hebrew perspective many hidden aspects of the Passover story that will bless your life. Get ready to encounter the God of the miraculous like you never have before!" (Pastor Judy Shaw, Judy Shaw Ministries)

Jacket design: Jonathan Bush