MARCH 25 • 2021 | 13

of Hamilton. The original
is now in the Berlin State
Library.
Finkelman said she liked
the illuminations, which are
almost entirely initial letters
turned into zoomorphic
(animal-like) or anthropo-
morphic (human-like) forms.
She also gained inspiration
from a manuscript from the
Palatina Library of Parma.
Finkelman made sever-
al changes. She added in
portions of the modern
Haggadah that are missing
from the Hamilton version.
Before the invention of print-
ing, written text was enor-
mously expensive to pro-
duce, and creators of Hebrew
manuscripts often omitted
passages that the reader
would probably have known
by heart or had available
in other books. For exam-
ple, the Grace After Meals
appears only by reference in
most medieval Haggadot.
Most also instruct readers
to recite various blessings,
such as those for matzah and
bitter herbs, without writing
them out word-for-word.

MODERN ELEMENTS
Finkelman consulted mod-
ern Haggadot, including the
Maxwell House Haggadah,
before deciding on the final
wording. She also found
some scribal errors in the
original and corrected them.
“In general, I stuck with
the original where the mean-
ing was the same and went
with the modern version
where there was a difference
in meaning,” she said.
Most Haggadot, both
medieval and modern, end
with collections of piyutim,
religious poetry. Finkelman
chose to include the modern
set rather than the medieval
ones that are unfamiliar to
modern readers.
Finkelman’s Haggadah

measures 7.5 x 5 inches. She
wrote with a reed pen and
oak gall ink. Her paint was
mixed from pigment, water
and gum arabic.
“
As I began painting the
illuminations, I was sur-
prised to discover they were
not as vivid as I expected,
“she said. “Therefore I
included more of the most
vivid colors in the palette
and I added decorative
whitework throughout.”
Using parchment like
the original manuscript
did would have been pro-
hibitively expensive, how-
ever, so Finkelman used
Pergamenata, a vegetable
imitation that looks and
behaves like parchment.
The book is covered with
vegetable-tanned goatskin
and cotton paper that she and
her husband made last year.
It is bound using traditional
cord-binding techniques.
The illustrations in medi-
eval manuscripts are “more
fun” than those in modern
Haggadot, said Finkelman.
“The art is telling you, ‘Look
at me!’” She thinks her
grandson, Shmuel Pessah,
will appreciate them because
he has a good sense of
humor.
One illustration in the
Hamilton manuscript stood
out: a miniature of three
women under an arch. The
largest figure is sitting at a
desk holding a pen. In the
middle a woman holds a
ladle in a bowl or pot. The
smallest woman is spinning
yarn with a drop spindle.
Finkelman wonders if the
women represent the artist
or perhaps the woman who
commissioned the work.
Finkelman made
high-quality scans of the
pages before binding them.
Perhaps when the project is
completed, she’ll look into
making printed copies.

Best wishes for a

joyous and fulfilling Passover

Chag Sameach!

A Seder with
Adat Shalom Synagogue

Join Rabbi Aaron Bergman,
Hazzan Daniel Gross,
and Michael Wolf
for an online 2nd night
Seder experience

Sunday, March 28 at 6:30 pm

concluding at the dinner break

Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83816523450

Meeting ID: 838 1652 3450 / Dial in: 1-646-558-8656

Passcode: Seder

We will provide a Haggadah on Zoom for the Seder

www.adatshalom.org

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