Ha Lahma Anya

The Sarajevo Haggadah manuscript.

Fol. 3*r – Opening page of Ha Lahma 'Anya
("This is the bread of affliction.")

The first and one of the most famous pages of the manuscript is the one that opens the text of the Haggadah proper. Here is the beginning of the Aramaic declaration at the opening of the Seder ha laḥma 'anya ("this is the bread of affliction"), which invites everyone present to join the ritual, and provides the first explanation why the matzah is eaten during feast days. According to Haggadah commentary Zevaḥ Pesaḥ by the noted Sephardi statesman and Bible commentator, Don Isaac Abarbanel (1437–1508), ha laḥ ma 'anya should be recited while seated around the table in loud voice and with the door of the house widely open,sothat the poor outside hear the invitation and join as well. The initial two-letter word הא - Ha is majestically set in a decorative panel framed by architectural designs, heraldic crests and vegetal motifs. Written in display Sephardi gold letters, the word is set against a blue field decorated with delicate flowers as well as a golden fleur-de-lis design that appears within the letter He. The panel is surrounded by gilt frames, decorated with symmetric vegetal and fantastic animal motifs, topped by a pair of ornamental gothic pointed trefoil arches, which are flanked on each side by a round castle turret ending in a cone, and each provided with a pair of windows and an entrance. Behind the arches and turrets appears a crenellated wall with a central entrance set between the arches. The central entrance is topped by a heraldic shield featuring four vertical red stripes on a gold background. This familiar device of Barcelona and Catalonia has a long recorded history and is even used to this day. It was originally used by the kings of Aragon and counts of Barcelona and its first visual record is the seal of Ramon Berenguer IV (1114-1162), Count of Barcelona and Prince of Aragon. Subsequently members of his family and other descendants made its usage common throughout the territories ruled by the Crown of Aragon.

The majestic opening word panel and the four lines of text beneath are surrounded on both sides and the bottom border by ornamental stems, decorated with gold and colored leaves and flowers, on some of which (especially at left) are perched various types of birds. Two small winged creatures appear also beneath the bottom line of the text. "Rising" and intertwined at bottom center of the page, the stems are shown here as the continuation of the tails of a pair of opposing fantastic birds, with their beaks wide open and a crouched tiny lion beneath. Flanking the stems at the bottom border are two medallions with additional sets of coat of arms. At left, circular golden frame with a golden shield (only remains of the gold and lower layer of gold are preserved), in the center of which appears a red rose of eight petals. At right, a similar framework with a golden shield, though here the color layers are largely flaked off, depicting a partially damaged image of a purple wing. The left shield has been identified by some as the coat of arms of Queen Margarita of Aragon and others as that of the Jewish family Ben Shoushan, while the wing in the right one has been associated with the Sanz family.

The Sarajevo Haggadah manuscript is an exquisite example of Medieval Hebrew illuminated and decorative art. The Haggadah (story) is a Passover Haggadah read during the Jewish feast of Passover. It contains a collection of lyrical works from the “Golden Age” of Jewish-Arab culture from the 10th-13th centuries, prayers for the Passover feast and instructions for the evening prayer on Passover eve. It’s one the first, perhaps only, illuminated Jewish manuscripts and has survived a range of trials and tribulations over the centuries. It evokes times when Christians, Jews and Muslims lived together in medieval Spain and offers testimony to the expulsion of Jews from Spain.