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Passover Haggadah
The Haggadah shel Pesach (Hebrew, Passover
Story) is the story of the Israelites' flight from Egypt under their
leader Moses. Read during each seder, it is not only the description of
the Jews' most important escape from captivity to freedom, but also
remains a living link between Biblical times and the present.
Reading the Haggadah aloud together-along with the age-old order of
prayers, blessings, and eating of traditional dishes-is meant to enable
each family to understand and reenact the story of the Exodus for
themselves. The religious significance of this text comes from the
commandment in the Bible that the history of this holiday should be
told: "On that day tell your son, 'I do this because of what the Lord
did for me when I came out of Egypt.'"(Exodus 13:8)
The Haggadah is comprised of extensive passages from the Book of
Exodus, as well as psalms, rabbinical sermons, blessings of the matzoth
and charoset (a spread made of apples, nuts, honey and wine), and also
folk and children's songs-such as Chad Gadya and Dayenu.
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The seder evening meal customarily takes place
at the home with the family. This is also why Haggadah shel Pesach has
always been present in every home. The Haggadah is one of the few Jewish
religious books that may be illustrated. This privilege has been used
since the Middle Ages to create richly illustrated works of art, both
manuscripts and printed. Among the most famous illustrated Haggadoth is
the Birds' Head Haggadah (Germany, ca. 1300). Its name comes from its
one-of-a-kind drawings of human figures with birds' heads. This was
supposed to deflect accusations that the ban on representing human
beings had been broken. Another famous Haggadah is the Sarajevo
Haggadah, from the fourteenth century. Even today, viewers are awed by
its beautiful illustrations depicting the story of the Exodus, texts of
the parables and songs are on a gold background, and the richness of
colors and the precision of the drawings.
Originally made in Spain, it arrived in the Balkans with Sephardic
Jews after they had been exiled from the Iberian Peninsula. During the
war in the former Yugoslavia, it was saved by Sarajavan Muslims who
protected it during the entire duration of the city's siege. After the
battles ended, in 1996 the leader of the Bosnia Muslims, Alija
Izetbegović, returned it to the Sarajevo Jews in a ceremony which took
place on Passover.
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The illustrations in Haggadoth that are
currently published often allude to historical models�such as the
illuminations of medieval manuscripts, Baroque wood-cuts, or the soft
lines of the ornaments in Secession (art nouveau) graphics. Contemporary
Haggadoth very often have parallel texts in Hebrew and other languages,
to help facilitate understanding of the idea behind the seder.
(kw/cm)
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