A Haggadah is the script for the seder ritual on the first nights of Passover. The word means “telling,” and the seder is a ritual for the telling of the Passover story—the Exodus from Egypt—in a particular rabbinic fashion. 

This Haggadah, produced in Italy by the scribe and artist Joel ben Simeon in 1454, is an exceptional sample of a decorated Haggadah manuscript. Its fine decorations and illustrations are a testament to the wealth of its patron and his concern for beautifying the tradition.  

The page before you is the beginning of the actual “telling” (as opposed to preparatory rituals). The words are the beginning of the Aramaic invitation to those who are in need to join your seder; notably, almost all Haggadah manuscripts emphasize the importance of this moment. The decorative frame of the “Ha” (“This” is the bread of affliction) portrays a variety of unexpected types and characters, representing the diversity of “Jews on the street” in northern Italy at this time. Their clothing or costume is of the age, and none are immediately identifiable as Jews, as Jews and their neighbors mostly dressed in the same fashion.