The Haggadah, which is reproduced here, was printed in Venice in 1716. It is richly illustrated and includes a Judeo-Italian translation of the text and the Seder instructions as well as Tzli Esh, an abridged version of Isaac Abarbanel’s commentary, called Zevah Pesah. Both were prepared by Rabbi Leon Modena (1571-1648), rabbi in Venice and one of the most colorful Jewish personalities of his time.
Modena originally prepared his translation and the abridgement of the Abarbanel’s commentary for the Haggadoth printed in Venice in 1609 and 1629, respectively.
In his introduction to Tzli Esh he writes that he chose to abridge—for printing with the Haggadah—Abarbanel’s commentary because it is the best.
Almost all the illustration of our Haggadah—which is basically a reproduction of the often reprinted Venice Haggadah, 1629—are already found in the Haggadah printed in that city in 1609.
The captions of the illustrations are in Judeo-Italian.
The larger woodcuts show the preparations for Passover, the Seder meal, the story of the exodus from Egypt and other biblical scenes. Some of these are based on the Midrash. In addition to numerous vignettes, the Haggadah also features two series of smaller illustrations: the various stage of the Seder and the Ten Plagues.
The illustrations of the Venice Haggadah, 1609, were widely copied and imitated.
The version of the Grace after Meals in our Haggadah is that of the Italian ritual which differs from both Ashkenazi and the Sefardi texts.
The last page contains the songs Ehad Mi Yode’a and Had Gadya, generally sung by the Ashkenazim, as well as the Judeo-German version of Adir Hu.
The format of the original Haggadah is 9 x 13 inches.
Rabbi Munish Weintraub, director of the Diskin Orphan Home, who published various Haggadoth—including a reproduction of that printed in Venice in 1609—was instrumental in the preparation of this facsimile edition.
This new edition of a beautiful, old and now rare Italian Haggadah is presented by Diskin Orphan Home of Jerusalem to its friends as a token of appreciation for their continue support.
Tovia Preschel, 1991