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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