The Venice Haggadah of 1609 is one of the most beautiful early printed Haggadot.  The compositional conception of this edition differs from its precursors in the monumental layout of the page.  The decorated frame consists of two columns crowned by a pediment, and a text illustration at the bottom of the page.  Framing each lower illustration are the figures of Moses and Aaron on one page and David and Solomon on the other.  Several pages feature two larger pictures with a picture at the top in place of the arch.  Sadly, it is not known who the designer of the Venice Haggadah was but one thing is for sure, he was a great artist as well as a great scholar of biblical and rabbinic literature.  The printer, Israel ben Daniel Zifroni, however, was a well known publisher during the last quarter of the 16th century having printed books in Basel, in Freiburg, and in Venice from 1588.  The haggadah was printed for him in the printing house of Giovanni da Gara.  It appeared simultaneously with translations in Judeo-Italian, Judeo-Spanish and Judeo-German, the languages of the Jewish communities living in Venice at the time.  The renowned rabbi Leone da Modena, prepared the Judeo-Italian translation.  His tomb can be found today in the old Jewish cemetary on the Lido.

In terms of the range and depth of its wood-cut illustrations, the Venice Haggadah had no peer.  It included newly conceived images of scenes that had been traditional in the medieval haggadot such as scenes from the lives of the Patriarchs, the plagues, and the crossing of the Red Sea, but it also included images of biblical and midrashic themes that had not been part of the Haggadah iconography of the past.  In the illustrations that adhered to the accepted conventions, the artist of the Venice Haggadah added details that made the image unique.  For example, the depiction of the Israelites crossing the Red Sea shows them carrying the remains of Joseph.  No other image of that scene in previous depictions had included that detail which alludes to the biblical passage which tells us that Moses took Joseph’s bones along, thus fulfilling the vow the Israelites made to Joseph before he died (Gen. 50:25, Ex. 13:19).  This added detail adds immediacy and depth to the illustration and also serves a pedagogic purpose.  It emphasizes the theme of keeping the faith in the story of the redemption from Egypt.  As God kept his vow to Abraham that He would redeem his descendents after 400 years (Gen. 15:13), so did Moses and the Israelites keep their vow to Joseph that they would not leave him behind when they were redeemed.

Among the scenes that had not been depicted in previous haggadot are Abraham with his wife and concubines, Laban and his army catching up to Jacob and his camp, a husband and wife sleeping in separate beds so as not to conceive children whose fate would be to be drowned by Pharaoh’s men.  An illustration that accompanies the Hallel service after the meal is a tableau of three battles fought by Joshua and the Israelites during the conquest of Canaan.  This too is an illustration unique to the Venice Haggada.

The meaning of the word seder is order. The ceremony follows a specific order of activities all of which are meant to arouse in the seder participants a sense of having themselves been part of the redemption. On this page we see the illustrations for each activity. The seder leader sits at the head of the table and performs all the prescribed activities together with the other participants.

The illustrations on this page accompany the text that begins the seder. The leader points to the matzah (unleavened bread) and recites in Aramaic, “This is the bread of affliction that I forefathers ate in Egypt. Whoever is in need may come and join our meal.” The two initial letters on the top depict the head of the household holding a piece of matzah while the other displays the various foods that comprise the seder plate. The image on the bottom shows a family at the seder table inviting a poor man join in its seder celebration.

The four sons appear in the initial letters with their father who is preparing the pascal lamb for roasting.

The upper image on this page depicts Joseph and his brothers. It accompanies the biblical passage which states that the Israelites did not come to Egypt in order to remain there permanently. The lower image illustrates the biblical passage that the Israelites “were fruitful and increased abundantly” (Exodus 1:7).

The upper image relates to the Haggadic passage that the Israelites cried out to God in the suffering. We thus see the Egyptian taskmasters beating the slaves while a man in the background lifts his hands while pleading to God for help. The lower image illustrates the rabbinic passage that the Israelites refrained from conjugal relations so as not to bring children into the world only to have them be drowned by Pharaoh’s men. The background picture shows infants being drowned in the Nile as their parents cry out to God.

The Venice haggadah is the first of the printed haggadot to depict the ten plagues on one page. Notice that for the plague of darkness on the bottom of the page, there is darkness everywhere except in Goshen which appears in the background in the light.