Rothschild Haggadah Facsimile Edition

Written in northern Italy in 1479, this Haggadah is one of the most exquisite sections of the Israel Museum's Rothschild Miscellany, a manuscript unrivalled in richness and scope. Medieval haggadot are among the most extensively decorated of all types of Hebrew manuscript, but the Rothschild Haggadah is exceptional for its elegant and elaborate illustrations of the Passover story. The original owner, Moses ben Yekutiel Hakohen, must have been a prosperous man who commissioned a manuscript to reflect his sophisticated and learned background, because the manuscript is remarkable not only for the fine quality of its illumination but for the richness of its marginal texts. This copiously illuminated and illustrated Haggadah comprises the Ashkenazi Passover-eve service as we know it today (except for Grace after Meals which was deliberately omitted by the scribe) as the main text in the centre of the page. In the margins is Maimonides' Hilkhot Hamez Umatsah, 'Laws Concerning Leavened and Unleavened Bread' a classical survey of Passover and its ceremonies. In addition, the exquisitely illuminated section devoted to the piyyutim (liturgical poems and songs) for all four evenings of the festival of Passover has been included, in the margins of which is a medieval text on weights and measures.