Passover, Pesach in Hebrew, begins on April 1 and continues through April 9. Jewish families will gather for a Seder dinner on the first night of Passover to celebrate the deliverance of the Israelites from 400 years of slavery in Egypt. The story is told in the Torah and in Exodus. The formal Passover Seder was introduced after the Roman destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE. Since the annual Passover celebration, when sacrifices made in the temples no longer were possible, rabbis developed the Seder, meaning order, for the home. The Haggadah, a book to be used in the home, was introduced in the 13th century. It was acceptable to decorate it since it was used in the home.
The Golden Haggadah was created in Catalonia, Spain, in c.1320. It was written in Sephardic script, and it is one of the oldest surviving and most elaborately decorated Haggadahs. It consists of 101 leaves of vellum and fourteen pages of miniatures, four miniatures on each page on a gold-leaf background. At the beginning of the celebration a child asks, “Why is this night different from all other nights?”
The first set of stories tells about Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham and Sarah, Jacob, and Joseph, who was sold by his brothers into slavery in Egypt. Beginning at the top right, Noah grows grapes and makes wine to offer at the altar in thanksgiving to God for saving the people from destruction in the Flood. In the same scene, Noah lies drunk and naked. His two sons cover him with a cloth, and they turn their heads to avoid seeing him in disgrace.
At the top left is the building of the tower of Babel by King Nimrod, who wanted to reach “the heavens so that we can make a name for ourselves…” (Genesis 11:4). Having been disobeyed, God will destroy the tower and cause the people to speak different languages and to separate into tribes.
The Israelites in Egypt eventually were enslaved. To regulate the increasing population of children, Pharoah ordered the deaths of all newborn Israelite boys. Jochebed placed her son in a wicker basket and hid it in the bull rushes along the Nile. Pharoah’s daughter came to the Nile to bathe and discovered Moses. She took the baby to raise as her own son and named him Moses, which meant drawn out. Miriam, Moses’s sister asked if Pharaoh’s daughter would like a wet-nurse to raise him. Moses’s own mother was given the job.
In the illustration, a servant has opened the lid of the basket, revealing the child. Pharoah’s daughter sits on the river bank. She wears the habit of a Catholic nun. The other two women are Miriam and Jochebed. The three women in the Nile are nude, a bold move by the illustrator.
Two artists illuminated this manuscript. They were influenced by Islamic and Catholic Gothic art. Andalusian Spain was ruled by Muslims in the 14th Century. Muslims, Jews, and Catholics lived together in what is considered to have been a golden age of art and culture. The background of the illustration is painted in burnished gold with stamped diamond shaped patterns and red and blue borders. The blue areas are decorated with curved Muslim arabesque patterns. At each corner of the frame is a gold box. Black floral arabesques decorate the corners.
Moses was raised by Pharoah’s daughter, and he remained in Egypt for 40 years. He witnessed the hard life of the Israelites. After the brutal beating of an Israelite worker, he killed the taskmaster. Moses fled from Egypt to Midian to escape a death sentence. He married Zipporah and became a sheep herder. At the right side is “Moses and the Burning Bush.’’ Moses tends his sheep and looks up at the bush on fire, but not burning. This artist’s depiction of God seems more like an angel. God calls to Moses. Moses takes off his sandals as he was instructed because he was on sacred ground. Moses appears a second time, hiding his face, afraid to look at God. It was not unusual for a major figure to be depicted more than once in order to tell the story. God directs Moses to return to Egypt and to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.
Moses and his wife and children are on their way to Egypt when he meets his brother Aaron in the scene at the left side of the illustration. God chose them to work together to free the Israelites.
Moses and his younger brother Aaron went to Pharoah between seven to ten times, each time demanding, “Let my people go.” Pharoah refused. Moses called upon God to send ten plagues.
First, the Nile turns to blood.
Then a plague of frogs (top right) swarms over the land and into houses, even into the Pharaoh’s palace. Moses, with his staff in the Nile, causes the frogs to scatter. The seated Pharaoh is depicted as a Medieval king.
Other plagues cause gnats and lice, flies, and disease to kill people and animals.
In the left panel, Moses and Aaron cause painful boils to infect the Egyptians. Moses, at 80 years of age, holds his staff while Aaron holds up his hand. No boils appear on their bodies. The gray tower in the scene is similar to structures with arches.
At the lower right, Moses and the Pharaoh stand in front of a Gothic style building as Moses causes wild animals to invade the city.
Plagues of hail, locusts, and darkness follow.
The final scene at the lower left depicts the beginning of the death of the Egyptian first-born. Moses directed the Israelites to sacrifice lambs and to paint the blood on the door posts of their houses in order to be spared by the Angel of Death. Camels, horses, sheep, and goats also died. At the far left, a first-born man about to die opens his coat.
At the right, “Pharoah’s Army.” depicted as Christian knights with their familiar 14th Century pennants, armor, spears, and shields, follow the Israelites. On the left, Moses uses his staff to part the Red Sea so the Israelites may pass safely. The sea then swallows up Pharoah’s army.
Preparations for the Seder dinner are depicted on this page. At the top right, Miriam, the sister of Moses, joins some women, swaying to the music they are playing on 14th Century instruments. Miriam holds a rectangular timbrel, an ancient percussion instrument made of stretched animal skin on a rectangular wooden frame. Metal hoops were attached to the edges and when stuck or shaken made a jingling rhythmic sound.
At the top left, the master of the house sits under a canopy and distributes matzoh (unleavened bread) and haroset (sweets made of nuts and fruit) to a woman with six children, representing fertility. The Midrash, a Jewish text that was written to fill in gaps in the Torah, refers to Leah, Jacob’s wife, as the mother of six sons.
At the lower right, the house is being prepared for Passover. The floor is being washed and ceiling beams are dusted,
At the lower left a lamb is being prepared in the traditional kosher method. The animal must be healthy and conscious. The shochet, who is trained and certified, cuts the neck to insure a swift and humane death. The lamb is then hung to drain the blood. Finally, it is cooked in a large pot over a roaring fire.
The richly decorated Golden Haggadah likely was commissioned by a wealthy Jewish family. Jews were among advisors to and confidants of the Muslim caliphs during the “Golden Age” of Spain. The Golden Haggadah is a significant work that testifies to this spectacular and exception period in history.
