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Haggadah Through the Centuries… JEWISH WORLD The ‘Golden’ Haggadah The extravagant use of gold-leaf in the backgrounds of its 56 Haggadah through the centuries… miniature paintings earned this magnificent manuscript its name: the Compiled from the following sources: jewishmuseum.cz, richardmcbee.com; jewishpress.com; haggadah.ba; jewishagency.org; seforim.blogspot.com ‘Golden Haggadah’. It was made around 1320, in or near Barcelona, for the use of a wealthy Jewish family. The holy text is written on The Haggadah, together with the Mahzor and the Siddur, is among the longest siege in the history of modern warfare). To quell rumors that vellum pages in Hebrew script, reading from right to left. Its stunning most popular liturgical books of Judaism and is the most printed books the government had sold the Haggadah in order to buy weapons, the miniatures illustrate stories from the biblical books of ‘Genesis’ and of Jewish culture. Unlike the Mahzor and the Siddur, however, the president of Bosnia presented the manuscript at a community Seder ‘Exodus’ and scenes of Jewish ritual. visual appearance of the Haggadah has substantially changed in the in 1995. course of more than ten centuries. While prayer books usually contain a simple text without illustrations, the Haggadah has, since the early Afterwards, the manuscript was restored through a special campaign manuscripts and printed versions, been adorned with illustrations financed by the United Nations and the Bosnian Jewish community in that reflect the events of the narrated story in various forms and 2001, and went on permanent display at the museum in December manifestations. The illustrations are intended to provide vivid lessons 2002. and to keep the attention of those partaking of the Pesah meal – especially children, who often found the celebration overly long. This Birds head Haggadah is why modern editions of Haggadot often resemble children’s picture books, and even Haggadah comics have been produced. More than 2,700 various Haggadot have been published since the first printed edition. The Sarajevo Haggadah One of the oldest surviving Ashkenazi illuminated manuscripts, the Bird’s Head Haggadah, was created in southern Germany, c. 1300. The Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out The book’s illustrations depict the crossing of the Red Sea, Moses your hand over the waters of Egypt - over its rivers, its canals, and its This image shows several scenes from Passover. On the right in a domed receiving the Tablets of the Torah, and the preparation of Passover ponds, and all its pools of water - so that they may become blood; and room, the angel of death is swinging his sword at a man in bed. On the matzah. In this Haggadah, many of the human figures have bird heads. there shall be blood throughout the whole land of Egypt, even in vessels left the Pharaoh and Queen are mourning the death of their first born Adult bird-men are shown with conical hats, officially required Jewish of wood and in vessels of stone.’“ son. Below is a funeral scene with six men carrying a firstborn’s coffin. clothing in some parts of Germany throughout the Middle Ages. While the depiction of humans with animal heads was widespread in thirteenth and fourteenth-century Germany and France, the exact The Prague Haggadah In 1998, a colorized facsimile edition of Prague 1526 was published. meaning remains unclear. Many scholars believe that the bird heads Although the publishers took great pains to provide color where reflect medieval Jews’ literal interpretation of the second biblical The Sarajevo Haggadah is one of the oldest Sephardic Haggadahs commandment against representational art depicting humans. The Prague Haggadah was the first Passover Haggadah book to be before there was black and white, they also altered this border. in the world, originating in Barcelona around 1350. The Sarajevo printed in Central Europe after the Jews were expelled from Spain Haggadah is handwritten on bleached calfskin and illuminated in (1492 ). As the first printed illustrated Haggadah book in Central copper and gold. It opens with 34 pages of illustrations of key scenes Europe it was used as prototype for many illustrated editions of the The Rylands Haggadah in the Bible from creation through the death of Moses. Its pages are Passover Haggadah printed afterwards in Europe. stained with wine, evidence that it was used at many Passover Seders. The Rylands Haggadah, created The Prague Haggadah is the first illustrated Haggadah to be The Sarajevo Haggadah has survived many close calls with destruction. in Catalonia Spain sometime preserved in its entirety, and till nowadays it is considered as one of Historians believe that it was taken out of Spain by Spanish Jews who around 1330, is a towering the most beautiful editions of the Passover Haggadah books. were expelled by the Alhambra Decree in 1492. Notes in the margins masterpiece of Jewish Art. In of the Haggadah indicate that it surfaced in Italy in the 16th century. It addition to pages of piyutim Although not the first illustrated Haggadah, it is no doubt the first was sold to the National Museum in Sarajevo in 1894 by a man named surrounded by ornate decorative to have been executed with a care for aesthetic taste and feeling, Joseph Kohen. During World War II, the manuscript was hidden from and figurative micrography, the Nazis and Ustashe by the Museum’s chief librarian, Derviš Korkut, apparent not only in the attractive woodcuts but also in the fine richly decorated Haggadah text who at risk to his own life, smuggled the Haggadah out of Sarajevo. lettering, splendid initials and the general layout. and blessings, there is a 13 page Korkut gave it to a Muslim cleric in Zenica, where it was hidden under miniature cycle depicting the the floorboards of either a mosque or a Muslim home. In 1957, a Printers in different Jewish centers began to produce Haggadah facsimile of the Haggadah was published by Sándor Scheiber, director Exodus story from Moses at the books of their own and drew on the Prague Haggadah in style. of the Rabbinical Seminary in Budapest. In 1992 during the Bosnian Burning Bush to the Crossing of War, the Haggadah manuscript survived a museum break-in and it the Red Sea. was discovered on the floor during the police investigation by a local The Prague Haggadah of 1526 set the tone for many future printed Inspector, Fahrudin Čebo, with many other items thieves believed Haggadah books. It was described by one authority as “among were not valuable. It survived in an underground bank vault during A page in the Rylands Haggadah, where the Israelites are crossing the Red the finest productions of the 16th century printing press in any The original from Haggadah edition A colorised facsimile edition of the siege of Sarajevo by Bosnian Serb forces (Siege of Sarajevo – the Sea. Printed with gold, ink on parchment. language” . of Prague 1526 Prague 1526 (On our Cover) 10 HASHALOM April 2016 April 2016 HASHALOM 11 .
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