Name/Title
Haggadah for Yom Haazma'utEntry/Object ID
K_0528Tags
storageDescription
See file for full Sotheby's description. Commissioned by Ben-Zion Dinur, Minister of Education and Culture. Author and playwright Aharon Megged produced a text that could be recited on Yom Haatzma'ut. Combines structure and some iconic language from the Passover Haggadah with Zionist spirit of the holiday celebrating the statehood of the new country of Israel. Photographs, illustrations throughout of defending/building the young state. Originally published in 1952 Yom Haatzmaut edition of newpaper Maariv. Though the haggadah was originally intended for use in the IDF, the paper's editor expressed the belief that perhaps "in the future it will become the holiday Haggadah of the entire Jewish people." Instead, it aroused fierce opposition among religious circles that objected to its secularization of Passover liturgy and removal of God from the story of the state's founding. Ben-Gurion ordered the removal from circulation of copies that had already been distributed.
From auction listing:
In the early days of the State of Israel, efforts were made to place the ceremonies of its Independence Day (celebrated on or near 5 Iyyar) within a traditional Jewish framework. For this purpose, the Minister of Education and Culture, Ben-Zion Dinur, commissioned the budding author and playwright Aharon Megged (1920-2016) to produce a special text that could be recited as part of the day's celebration. The result was Haggadat ha-atsma'ut, a pamphlet that combines the structure and some of the iconic language of the Passover Haggadah with the Zionist spirit of Yom Haatzmaut. Many of the work's photographs and illustrations depict scenes of soldiers and civilians defending and building the young state, while the text traces the history of Zionist immigration and organization, resistance to the British, and declaration of independence. Examples of passages include: "Behold, I am ready and prepared to recount the events of the War of Liberation..." and "Not via an angel, not via a seraph, and not via a messenger did we smite the enemy and overcome him, but via the Israel Defense Forces..."
The Haggadah was printed in ten thousand copies and its text was published in the 1952 Yom Haatzmaut edition of the newspaper Maariv (5 Iyyar coincided that year with April 30). While it was originally intended for use in the IDF, the paper's editor expressed the belief that perhaps "in the future it will become the holiday Haggadah of the entire Jewish people." Instead, however, the the Haggadah aroused fierce opposition among religious circles that objected to its secularization of the beloved Passover liturgy and its removal of God from the story in the state's founding. In response to the criticism, Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion himself ordered the removal from circulation of those copies that had already been distributed. A short column tucked away in the bottom-left corner of the front page of the May 7th edition of Maariv explained that "out of consideration that the form of the pamphlet and some of its contents are likely to offend some soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces, the authorities in the General Staff did not approve the publication of the pamphlet and prohibited its dissemination among the military units."Made/Created
Date made
1952Place
Country
IsraelRegion
Middle EastContinent
AsiaDimensions
Height
7-3/4 inWidth
5-7/8 in
