Women as bitter herbs in historical Haggadot: Family strife as portrayed during the seder

Time Capsule - Each Generation and its Haggadah

The Passover Haggadah, which in the recent past was an integral part of the annual prayer book, earned a special status over the generations and became an independent and extremely important book. No other Jewish book has been printed in so many places as the Passover Haggadah. Since the invention of printing, there was hardly a Jewish country or major city with a printing press that did not publish its own Haggadah.

Rabbi Naftali of Ropshitz offered a deep moral reason for this: "Due to the decline of generations, last year's wise son might become this year's wicked son, and therefore each generation needs its own Haggadah."

In contrast, the "Pnei Menachem" of Gur offered an opposite explanation, in the spirit of "starting with degradation and ending with praise." According to him, the special holiday lights of Passover elevate and exalt the Jewish people more and more from year to year, so that last year's wicked son might rise and become wise in the current year. Therefore, a new Haggadah is printed every year.

As we will see in this article, significant improvement has occurred, and things that once appeared on the printing press would today be considered unacceptable by both paper and intellect.

Haggadah Illustrations - The Printers' Testimony to Keep Children Awake

Even after the spread of printing, printers continued to preserve the ancient tradition of illustrations and printed Haggadot adorned with artists' drawings.

In the 15th century, when printing was in its infancy, woodcuts dominated. The artist didn't draw on the page – he carved the image on a wooden board, removed the white parts by hand, smeared ink, and pressed with a printing press. This was an exhausting, slow process, and the lines came out thick and simple, as in the earliest Haggadot. In the 16th and 17th centuries, they moved to copper: engraving on metal plates, sometimes with acid, which gave finer details. Beyond their visual beauty, these illustrations had a dual purpose.

Many printers took care to explicitly state on the title pages of the Haggadot or in their signatures the purpose for which the drawings were intended. Thus, Gershom Cohen, who printed an illustrated Haggadah in Prague in 1526, explicitly wrote: "Beautifully illustrated, awakening children from their sleep."

Similarly, a printer from Fürth who printed an illustrated Haggadah after 1737 wrote: "With beautiful and pleasant illustrations... especially for the little ones seated at their father's table, so they won't fall asleep and will ask about the changes."

This Bitter Herb - Between Custom and Visual Interpretation

It's no secret that the period preceding Passover is among the most tense of the year – the chase after leavened bread comes to its conclusion and nerves are frayed. An old joke tells of a husband whose wife told him she had finished cleaning and burning the chametz, whereupon the husband, with sparkling eyes, asked: 'And what about this chametz?' while pointing to his astonished wife. The woman, knowing her merchandise, recovered immediately and replied: My father already sold it to a non-Jew long ago. But as we'll soon see, the matter of quarrel and contention between him and her received a very specific expression in Passover Haggadot throughout the generations.

The Prague Haggadah - A Breakthrough

The first illustrated Haggadah that has reached us in its entirety is the Prague Haggadah, printed in 1526. This Haggadah was printed by Gershom Cohen in Prague with the assistance of his brother Gronem Katz, and it was completed on the last day of 1526. The Prague Haggadah is the first surviving printed illustrated Haggadah, and since its appearance, it has been printed many times. Its uniqueness lies not only in its abundance of woodcuts, numbering over 60 illustrations, but also in the letters cut especially for it, the arrangement of its pages, its decorations, the initials, and the ornaments at the beginnings of paragraphs. Every detail testifies to exceptional aesthetic and artistic precision, and it is still considered one of the most beautiful Haggadot ever printed.

In that wonderful Haggadah, a note appears next to the words "This bitter herb": "There is a custom in the world that the man points to the woman, because it is said: 'A bad wife is more bitter than death.'"

No trace of this custom is found in the books of legal jurists or among the custom-bearers – neither in positive reference nor in explicit negation. However, visual documentation of this idea can be found in several illustrated Haggadot from the period of the Rishonim (early medieval sages), most of them Ashkenazi, and a few from Provence and northern Spain.

The Sassoon Haggadah

The first hint of this custom appears in the Spanish Sassoon Haggadah, written in the 14th century (around 1320) in Catalonia. In fact, this is a Provençal Haggadah from the time of Rabbi Jacob Ba'al HaTurim. Above the words "This bitter herb," a man and woman appear sitting together on a padded stool:

The man, sitting on the right, wears a soft hat, while the woman, sitting on the left, wears a hair net tied under her chin and adorned with three tassels at the back. The man holds a bunch of large leaves (bitter herbs) in one hand, and with his other hand points toward the woman, who raises her hands toward him. The illustration style in the Sassoon Haggadah includes elongated figures and various decorations.

The Brother Haggadah

A more blatant illustration appears in the Brother Haggadah (Brother to the Rylands Haggadah), written and illustrated slightly later than the Sassoon Haggadah, in the early 14th century, apparently in Catalonia. This Haggadah is an illustrated manuscript from the Middle Ages.

In this Haggadah, two illustrations appear for the words "This bitter herb": 1. A drawing of a large bitter herb leaf – a common motif in Spanish Haggadot. 2. Below it, an illustration of a man and woman next to a set table, with the man pointing his finger at the woman.

In Ashkenaz (Germany), the custom took a new form: instead of pointing at the woman from a distance, the man places his hand on her head. In two Ashkenazi Haggadot, the man holds the bitter herb in one hand and places his other hand on the woman's head.

In one of them, the woman holds a sword in her hand – apparently as a hint that she is indeed "more bitter than death." In another Haggadah, the bitter herb doesn't appear at all, and the man simply places his hand on the woman's head.

The most interesting innovation is found in three Ashkenazi Haggadot where the pointing is not one-directional: the man points at the woman, and she in turn points at him. One of these is the Chileq and Bileq Haggadah (Paris MS 1333). The expression "Chileq and Bileq" is an Aramaic expression mentioned in the Babylonian Talmud and means a dismissal of two worthless anonymous individuals or meaningless things.

In one of them, the man holds the bitter herb in one hand, and with his other hand points at the woman, while she returns an identical gesture.

The illustrated duel is also accompanied by a surprising text: Above the man is written: "The engraver's saying: 'This bitter herb' – I raise my voice, in this and this causes." That is, in saying "This bitter herb," his intention is to two bitter herbs: the vegetable – and the woman. Above the woman is written: "The woman's reply: I considered you as one of them, and let the third come and stink between them."

This means that the woman also sees her husband as a "bitter herb" just as he sees her. However, as a compromise, she suggests that they both agree on a third bitter herb – the vegetable – which will serve as a mediating factor between them.

Smoking Cigarettes on Passover - Tradition or Controversy?

Let's jump forward in time with something somewhat topical. The issue of smoking cigarettes on Passover is a topic that has been widely discussed. Some view it as actual chametz, while others consider it a pleasure of the holiday. It is even told of a person who was reprimanded for his smoking on Passover, and he replied that by doing so he was "burning the chametz."

An interesting example of attitudes toward smoking in a festive environment can be found in one of the first Haggadot printed in the United States, in 1886. This Haggadah features an illustration depicting the four sons – a common motif in illustrated manuscripts and printed Haggadot. The wicked son in the illustration expresses his contempt for the Seder customs by leaning back and smoking a cigarette.

According to many legal decisors, smoking is permitted on holidays, and a few permit it even on Passover, but the illustration teaches that already by the end of the 19th century it was not an accepted practice in certain specific contexts.

At the bottom of the Kiddush page in the Prague Haggadah appears a mysterious image – a figure engaged in hunting rabbits, accompanied by a hunting horn and dogs. This image also appeared in a Haggadah printed by the Katz brothers in Prague a few years earlier.

The obvious question is: What is the connection between rabbit hunting and Kiddush? After all, this is an occupation not associated with the Jewish way of life.

One of the theories about the meaning of the image is related to the order of Kiddush when the Seder night falls on Saturday night. In such a case, the acronym "Yaknehaz" (Wine, Kiddush, Candle, Havdalah, Time) is used to remember the order of blessings.

Interestingly, the pronunciation of "Yaknehaz" resembles the German expression "Jagen Hasen," which means "hunting rabbits." It is possible, then, that the image served as a visual reminder of the Kiddush structure in these cases. Some say that the Haggadah illustrators were not always Jewish, and when the non-Jewish artist asked what was written here, the Jew told him - "Yagnaz."

Some believe that this illustration is a direct influence from Christians who, as is known, in some European countries have a custom where children search for "rabbit eggs" on their Easter eves, and some of these traditions, intertwined in the world of imagination, have been preserved to this day. In the adult world, German knights and nobles used to hunt rabbits in spring, after they recovered from their winter sleep.

Or perhaps it should be said that those long-eared rabbits slipped between the pages of the Haggadah because they responded to the Seder leader's emotional call saying: "Let all who are hungry come and eat," and saw it as a personal invitation.