I'm a Footnote in History

As some of you may know, I've got a goal to earn my own Wikipedia page. I keep applying, and they keep rejecting me. Now, as *all* of you know, rejection never stops me. I'll keep writing until I deserve it (speaking of rejection, my next Jeopardy! test is 3/31; the popularity of the show means my chances are now 0.2%).

However, getting mentions of my work sprinkled throughout Wikipedia might help my cause a bit.

Wouldn't you know it, I finally got some in, via footnotes. Started from the bottom now we're here, I recall a famous tzaddik once saying.

First up, I made it to a Dr. Seuss page, who, B'H, remains 90% uncanceled. I'm the very last word here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_K._Mooney_Will_You_Please_Go_Now!

Next up, The Festivus Haggadah made it to the Festivus page. See the "Wider Adoption" section: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festivus

Now The Emoji Haggadah got a bit jealous, but I told it to be patient, and the patience paid off. It doesn't appear in Wikipedia yet, but earned a footnote in this book: https://www.amazon.com/Future-Text-2020-Vision/dp/B08N5PRDB2. The quote footnoted reads "...there’s a translation into emojis of the entire, long text Jews read at the Passover meal..." And the footnote reads "2. Martin Bodek, The Emoji Haggadah (Lulu, 2018)." (Ktav is the publisher now; Lulu was my home-baked version before Ktav found me)

Finally, I put The Coronavirus Haggadah up in a more proper "archive" for posterity, because even though it's still with us, I do believe this Pesach will be a lot more inclusive, and a lot less lonely for more of us (also, I can keep track of downloads): https://archive.org/details/coronavirus-haggadah

May Covid-19 become a footnote in history soon. Have a wonderful, Kosher, sweet, elevating Pesach!

Wait, you're still here? Cool! if you're still reading, thank you for your attention. I've had an amazing lead-up to Pesach, which I'm happy to share with you, and to sorta record the following as a time-capsule:

A Brooklyn Rabbi named Sam Reinstein wrote The Haggadah About Nothing: The (Unofficial) Seinfeld Haggadah (https://www.amazon.com/Haggadah-About-Nothing-Unofficial-Seinfeld/dp/0578832828), which exploded interest in The Festivus Haggadah. The JTA noticed: https://www.jta.org/2021/03/09/lifestyle/from-seinfeld-to-wwii-morocco-these-new-haggadah-options-will-spice-up-your-passover-seder

This prompted me to write this article: https://jewishlink.news/features/42710-what-is-the-deal-with-all-these-seinfeld-haggadot

Karma, noticing I’m looking out for myself, gave me (physical) front page coverage for the first time in my life, and coverage for all three of my haggadot: https://www.northjersey.com/story/life/2021/03/19/passover-2021-nj-authors-put-modern-spin-ancient-haggadah/6918681002/

Then, The Emoji Haggadah continued to always be part of any kind of discussion concerning creative/alternative haggadot of recent vintage. I'm very, very proud of that. Some samples:

https://issuu.com/jewishlifemagazine/docs/orjl_march_april_2021final/s/11832127 (declaring The Emoji Haggadah as part of haggadah *history*!)

https://forward.com/culture/466028/after-14-years-reviewing-haggadahs-our-expert-dishes-on-the-good-bad-and/ (a backhanded-ish-esque compliment?)

https://www.tachles.ch/artikel/kultur/haggadot-fuer-jeden-geschmack?fbclid=IwAR2a5vZVOiYMlgzut3XWcGc_7M23-UfhVGmpcR5rxA9nGh5RzK4bd6iUU_s (they love me in Germany!)

Finally, acharon acharon chaviv. It seems Rabbi Reinstein and I will be orbiting each other for a long time. I achieved an interesting publishing milestone, albeit a Möbius-stripped one: An Amazon review of mine made it in to a Jewish Press article about this new friendly Seinfeld-ian "competition," but my inclusion had nothing to do with my Festivus offering. The writer presumably simply liked my review, and stuck it in. In essence, I unknowingly gave a quasi-official proto-public haskamah to a person from whom *I* should be seeking a haskamah, because Sam is a Rabbi, of course. As it happens, he already did, on Amazon: https://www.jewishpress.com/news/jewish-news/the-haggadah-about-nothing-and-other-jewish-american-curiosities/2021/03/21/

I can't believe you're still reading. You deserve to be rewarded. How about a free Krispy Kreme donut? Just walk in with your vaccination card. (wink!)

-Martin (Mordechi) Bodek

P.S. Oh yes, you better believe I'm working on another haggadah. A) I've got to stay relevant. B) I've got to break my three-haggadah tie with Dave Cowen (https://linktr.ee/davecowen). C) Moshe Rosenberg (https://rabbirosenberg.substack.com/) is gaining on me.

P.P.S. Still proud of this one, which is print-worthy for your seder table: https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/pb-daily/a-brief-history-of-the-haggadah

The Coronavirus Haggadah - Still Free!

Last year, I put The Coronavirus Haggadah up on Dropbox for people to download for free. Dozens downloaded it and enjoyed at their seder, but I have no idea how many.

So I've put it up in a more proper place that can track views and downloads:

https://archive.org/details/coronavirus-haggadah/mode/2up 

This year, of course, Pesach will be slightly more normal and a bit less lonely than last year, so if you'd like to look back at the Pesach that was, with a dose of sarcastic humor, this is the place.

And if you'd like to purchase a sleek, bound version that's almost stain-proof, you can find that here:

https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/martin-bodek/the-coronavirus-haggadah/paperback/product-186jdv5v.html

I'm a Part of History!

In this nice, concise article on the history of the haggadah, I get name-dropped, as do The Emoji Haggadah and The Festivus Haggadah.

Thank you for the love Mala Blomquist and Oregon Jewish Life.

Did you know I also wrote The Coronavirus Haggadah?:

https://issuu.com/jewishlifemagazine/docs/orjl_march_april_2021final/s/11832127?fbclid=IwAR2onpW8JNtNFX2Swuuj1swg_AA7QnfWg44_9sYF9mKCCzDXaAkq5yg3qXg