A New Generation of Haggadah Art

Five Modern Artists Reinterpret the Exodus Story to Include Egged Buses, Stray Cats,
the George Washington Bridge and More...

“In every generation a person is obligated to see him/herself as if he/she had journeyed out of Egypt,” the Haggadah dictates. Since the first known illuminated Haggadah appeared in the 14th century, the story of the Jews’ liberation from bondage has been visualized in innumerable and sometimes surprising ways. For example, the Bird’s Head Haggadah depicts humans with birds’ heads and pronounced beaks. Created in southern Germany, it’s the oldest surviving illuminated Ashkenazi Haggadah, dating to around 1300, and most of its illustrations are found in the margins of the text. On the other hand, the famed Sarajevo Haggadah, produced in Barcelona around 1350, features full-page illustrations of biblical stories. It is one of many lavish manuscripts from the Middle Ages, when wealthy Jews commissioned Haggadahs for use at their Seders.

Manuscript production declined with the rise of the printing press, but Haggadah art flourished. The 1526 Prague Haggadah includes woodcut borders enlivened with the figures of Adam and Eve, Samson and Judith with the head of Holfernes, as well as the Bohemian coat-of-arms. In the 1560 Mantua Haggadah, Abraham crosses the Euphrates in a gondola, and the Wise Son is a replica of Michaelangelo’s “Jeremiah” from the Sistine Chapel. One device that would become standard in later Haggadahs originated in the Venice Haggadah of 1609: 13 separate woodcuts illustrating the order of the Seder. The Amsterdam Haggadah of 1695 was the first to use copper engravings and included a map of the Holy Land following the route of the Exodus.

A new burst of Haggadah creativity came about in the 20th century, as Jewish artists such as Arthur Szyk, Ben Shahn and Leonard Baskin produced their own. “While the artist until modern times was anonymous, with modernity came the full-fledged act of pride,” says Nanette Stahl, curator of the Judaica Collection at Yale University. These Haggadahs enhanced the traditional narrative, reflecting the tragedy and triumph of 20th-century Jewish history, particularly the Holocaust and the creation of the State of Israel. They also brought to the fore changes sweeping the world: women’s liberation, social justice movements and scientific progress. “People felt free to play with the text and art in modern times, something they dared not do before,” says Stahl.

In 1984, David Moss revived the illuminated manuscript, melding sophisticated artistic techniques with a profound knowledge of Jewish history. The popularity of his Haggadah, which marked the relationship between the Diaspora and Israel and his own move to Israel from America, inspired yet another Golden Age of Haggadahs as serious works of art and commentary, with artists taking their cues from subjects as varied as an investment banker’s commute to Israel’s Egged buses. Whether the artist thrives on the interplay between images and words or seemingly ignores the traditional text, each adds a new layer of complexity to the Passover story. Moment has selected five trailblazing Haggadahs created in the past 10 years, each of which extends, distorts and even subverts the meaning of the text.

Next page