The Kaufmann Haggadah

The Haggadah is one of the most popular religious books of Judaism, retelling the story of the Exodus from Egypt, supplemented with blessings, songs and prayers. The head of the family reads it during the ritual Seder dinner on the eve of the Passover. When the children sitting around him ask about the origins of the holiday, history comes to life via the pages of the Haggadah. These works have been very popular since the Middle Ages, and many richly illustrated and decorated copies have been produced.

The Kaufmann Haggadah was created in Spain in the 14th Century and is preserved in the Oriental Collection of the Library and Information Centre of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. It is named after David Kaufmann, the highly esteemed scholar professor of the Rabbinical Seminary in Budapest. It was donated to the Academy by his mother-in-law, Róza Gomperz together with their outstanding collections of manuscripts, early printed books and pieces from the Cairo genizah.

The Kaufmann Haggadah is one of the most vivid reminders of the flourishing Jewish culture of medieval Spain.

This facsimile edition is unique in that it follows the original page order reconstructed by researchers. Therefore, we find full-page miniatures narrating the story of the Exodus, followed by the richly illustrated text of the Haggadah.

The facsimile follows the characteristics of the manuscript as closely as possible, and due to its uniquely laser-cut page edges, it is also bound by hand.