The Telling

How Judaism's Essential Book Reveals the Meaning of Life

By: Mark Gerson

Narrated by: Mitch Horowitz

Length: 12 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

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

©2021 Mark Gerson (P)2021 Audible, Inc.

The Book I Was Missing

I found this book after reading an article from Mark Gerson.

I've participated in Passover Seder's several times throughout my life, but have become more interested through the years, to really understand it more. Similar to celebrating St. Patrick's Day for a lifetime, and never actually knowing who Saint Patrick was...I had a real desire to learn what the Seder truly means and how it can bring meaning to my life.

This book is a real gem...one that I was truly missing. The author is sharing decades of experience, study, knowledge, and wisdom regarding the Haggadah. What a small price to pay and short sacrifice of time to gain so much.

I've recommended this book to my special set of friends who are truly interested in learning meaningful things that will shape their life. And, I highly recommend it to you.

Amazing

The insight to life and wisdom in this book are amazing. It increased my deep appreciation fir the wisdom of God.

Review from Catholic

Fabulous book! I learned so much about myself and my own spirituality. I deepened my understanding and appreciation for the awesome contribution Jews make to the world! No wonder God ‘chose’ the Jews to reveal Himself! Now i just need to be invited to a Seder!! It is time to get my Jewish friends to include me. God Bless Mr Gerson. Great job. Steve M

Amazing look into the Haggadah and Judaism.

Great depth but extremely accessible book. It's a deep dive into the Haggadah, Passover and Judaism.
Would easily recommended to anyone interested in Judaism. I not only purchased the audiobook but also the hardcover so I can consult it again and again.

The telling part is good, but some questionable ideas

For the most part I enjoyed this book. The story of the Pesach, and the meaning of this deeply fascinating tradition is worthy of a book and of our attention. Gerson lays out the story and provides extensive and well-researched interpretations of the Haggadah.

However, some specious ideas creep in along the way. The parallels between the emancipation of Jewish slaves and American ones are familiar and relevant. But that Abraham Lincoln was a latter-day Moses, inspired by the desire to free slaves (as Getson suggests) feels like a reach. In the final chapter we see Gerson’s true colors, as he comes out as a creationist, citing a series of familiar bumper-sticker quotes from minds not worthy of quotation in this book. He even quotes Michael Behe (the one who was discredited during the 2004 Dover school trial), and leans on his mosgiided theory of “irreducible complexity” extensively in trying to bring this book to a conclusion. It fails and is a disappointing end to an otherwise creditable book.