Dieses Exemplar ist die früheste bekannte Handschrift von Moses von Coucys klassischem religionsgesetzlichem Kodex Sefer mizwot gadol (SeMaG) und zugleich der älteste Kodex in der Braginsky Collection. Möglicherweise wurde die Handschrift in Siders (französisch Sierre) im heute schweizerischen Wallis geschrieben. Diese Annahme stützt sich auf eine Handschrift desselben Werks und desselben Schreibers in der Bibliothèque nationale in Paris (ms. hebr. 370), von der man annimmt, sie sei wenige Jahre vor der Handschrift der Braginsky Collection in Siders geschrieben worden. Mehr als zwei Jahrhunderte nach der Niederschrift erwarb sie Joseph ben Kalonymos in Posen von einem gewissen Ezechiel und vervollständigte die wenigen fehlenden Seiten. Im 20. Jahrhundert befand sich dieses Sefer mizwot gadol in der berühmten Sassoon Collection.
Moses von Coucy war nicht nur ein anerkannter rabbinischer Gelehrter, sondern setzte sich auch in der Öffentlichkeit für die Festigung des jüdischen Glaubens ein. 1236 reiste er von seiner Herkunftsregion in Frankreich nach Spanien, wo er flammende Reden hielt. Er rief seine Zuhörer zur strikten Befolgung der Gebote auf. Sie sollten die Tefillin (Gebetsriemen) anlegen, die Mesusa (Schriftkapsel am Türpfosten) anbringen und die Zizit (Schaufäden) tragen. Er ermahnte sein Publikum auch, den Einheimischen mehr Respekt entgegenzubringen, und zwar sowohl in Geschäftsangelegenheiten wie in den persönlichen GesetzesgelehrteBeziehungen. 1240 nahm Moses von Coucy an der ebenso berühmten wie berüchtigten ersten Disputation über den Talmud in Paris teil.

Schöne Seiten. Jüdische Schriftkultur aus der Braginsky Collection, Hrsg. von Emile Schrijver und Falk Wiesemann, Zürich 2011, S. 58.

This is the earliest known manuscript of Moses of Coucy’s classic legal code and the earliest dated codex in the Braginsky Collection. It is possible that the manuscript was written in Sierre (Valais), Switzerland. This hypothesis is based on the fact that in the Bibliothèque nationale in Paris there is another manuscript (ms. hébr. 370) of the same work, by the same scribe, which is assumed to have been copied in Sierre a few years later than the Braginsky manuscript. More than two centuries after the writing of the manuscript, in 1528, Joseph ben Kalonymos acquired it in Posen from someone called Ezekiel, and completed the few leaves that were missing by
that time. In the twentieth century the manuscript was one of the proud possessions of the famous Schocken Collection.
In addition to being a leading rabbinic scholar, Moses of Coucy was also an interesting public figure. In 1236 he traveled from his native France to Spain, where he delivered fiery speeches to wide audiences and urged them to observe the commandments more strictly, particularly those pertaining to tefillin, mezuzah, and tzitzit. He also admonished the people to be more ethical in their behavior toward Gentiles, both in the realms of business and personal relations. In 1240 Moses took part in the disputation on the Talmud held in Paris.
His magnum opus, the SeMaG, is arranged according to the negative and positive commandments, with rich material related to them under each. He was deeply influenced by the legal code of Maimonides, the Mishneh Torah. The writings of Moses of Coucy, therefore, were one of the channels through which the Maimonidean code gained wide recognition in Ashkenaz. The SeMaG became a major and accepted source for halakhic rulings. It was frequently quoted and abridged; many commentaries were composed on it. Surviving in a relatively large number of manuscripts, it was one of the earliest Hebrew books ever printed.

A Journey through Jewish Worlds. Highlights from the Braginsky collection of Hebrew manuscripts and printed books, hrsg. E. M. Cohen, S. L. Mintz, E. G. L. Schrijver, Amsterdam, 2009, p. 34.

The central event of the festival of Purim is the reading of the biblical book of Esther from a scroll at night and on the morning of the festival. Other practices associated with the holiday include dressing in costume, participating in satirical plays or parodies, sending gifts of food to friends and neighbors (shlakhmones in Yiddish), giving charity to the poor, and partaking in a festive meal. The celebration reenacts the rejoicing of Jews saved from destruction in Persia, mentioned at the end of the book of Esther.
This manuscript contains the text of the medieval Massekhet Purim, a Purim parody by the Provençal scholar Kalonymus ben Kalonymus. Born in 1286 in Arles, he was living in Rome when he wrote this work in the early 1320s. Although it is not known when he died, it must have been after 1328, when he was back in the Provençe. Massekhet Purim, which humorously imitates the style and idiom of the Talmud, deals with eating, drinking, and drunkenness during Purim.
The illustrations in the Braginsky manuscript include harlequins, a street musician, and seven playing cards arranged as a trompe l’oeil. This illustration is in keeping with the introductory text of chapter four, “Each person is obligated to play dice and cards during Purim.” Only a few other examples of a trompe l’oeil in Hebrew manuscripts are known.
There was particular interest in Kalonymus’s Massekhet Purim in the Netherlands in the eighteenth century, when Purim parodies and special Purim plays were popular. The scarce historical documents available indicate that the Ashkenazic Jews of Amsterdam were active revelers who immersed themselves in carnivalesque festivities, including masquerades and pageants in which music was played and torches were carried. These celebrations, which extended outside the borders of the Jewish quarter, often continued after the festival. Consequently, in addition to fearing the desecration of the Sabbath, which often occurred, the Ashkenazic authorities were concerned about the effect these public festivities had on their relationships with the non-Jewish authorities. In 1767 the Amsterdam Ashkenazim even issued a statement that when Purim occurred on a Sunday Jews had to respect the Sunday rest and could not celebrate outside the Jewish quarter.

From: A Journey through Jewish Worlds. Highlights from the Braginsky collection of Hebrew manuscripts and printed books, hrsg. E. M. Cohen, S. L. Mintz, E. G. L. Schrijver, Amsterdam, 2009, p. 138.

Throughout its history the Catholic Church has taken great interest in defining and identifying heretics and their followers. This interest increased after the invention of printing, which enabled a much wider dissemination of presumed heretical ideas. Jews were under particular scrutiny, for obvious religious and historical reasons. On 9 September 1553, after Pope Julius III had decreed that all copies of the Talmud in Rome be gathered, thousands of these and other Jewish books were set afire in the Campo dei Fiori. These public events were part of a strategy that developed in the 1540s and 1550s and resulted in the banning and burning of larger groups of Jewish and non-Jewish eretical books. An essential role in this process was played by Cardinal Giovanni Pietro Carafa (1476–1559), who became Pope Paul IV in 1555. On 12 September 1553 another papal decree was issued, demanding that all copies of the Talmud throughout the Catholic world be gathered and destroyed. In Venice – then the world center of Hebrew printing, largely through the efforts of Daniel Bomberg – the order was interpreted to include other Jewish books as well. On Saturday, 21 October 1553 all books gathered were burned in Piazza San Marco. This collection of eleven documents in Italian, which relate to this dark period in the history of the Hebrew book, was probably part of a file that belonged to a Venetian Inquisitor. They constitute a more or less chronological account of the events in Venice. Reproduced here is a summary of six papal briefs from 1518–1537 regarding the licenses to print Hebrew books in Venice granted by Popes Leo X, Clement VII, and Paul III to Daniel Bomberg. Other documents include: orders to converted former Jews to inspect Hebrew texts for heretical content; copies of the relevant papal decrees; and reports on the
events in Rome and Venice.

A Journey through Jewish Worlds. Highlights from the Braginsky collection of Hebrew manuscripts and printed books, hrsg. E. M. Cohen, S. L. Mintz, E. G. L. Schrijver, Amsterdam, 2009, p. 84.

Im Laufe ihrer Geschichte hat die katholische Kirche häretische Bewegungen und deren Anhänger immer mit Argwohn beobachtet und verfolgt. Nach der Einführung des Buchdrucks glaubte sie der Gefahr der Popularisierung von abweichenden Meinungen und Ideen besondere Aufmerksamkeit schenken zu müssen. Angesichts ihrer problematischen Beziehung zum Judentum blieb dieses davon nicht ausgenommen. Nachdem Papst Julius III. angeordnet hatte, sämtliche Exemplare des Talmud einzusammeln, wurden am 9. September 1553 in Rom Tausende hebräischer Bücher auf dem Campo dei Fiori verbrannt. Das war der Auftakt zur systematischen Vernichtung jüdischer Schriften mit angeblich christenfeindlichem Inhalt. Ein am 12. September 1553 erlassenes päpstliches Dekret weitete dieses Vorgehen gegen den Talmud nur drei Tage später auf die gesamte katholische Welt aus. In Venedig, dem damals führenden Zentrum des Buchdrucks, wurde die Vernichtungsanordnung auch auf andere jüdische Bücher ausgedehnt. Dort verbrannte man auf der Piazza San Marco am 21. Oktober 1553, wohl absichtlich an einem Samstag, dem jüdischen Sabbat, sämtliche jüdischen Bücher, derer man habhaft werden konnte. Die vorliegende Sammlung von elf Dokumenten widerspiegelt eine der dunkelsten Epochen der Geschichte des hebräischen Buches. Die Dokumente entstammen vermutlich den Akten eines venezianischen Inquisitors. Abgebildet sind Regesten (Zusammenfassungen) von sechs päpstlichen Breves (Erlassen) aus den Jahren 1518 bis 1537. Sie betreffen die Genehmigungen der Päpste Leo X., Clemens VII. und Paul III. für Daniel Bomberg, in Venedig hebräische Bücher drucken zu dürfen. Die übrigen Dokumente enthalten Instruktionen für ehemalige Juden, die zum christlichen Glauben konvertiert waren und nun hebräische Bücher auf christenfeindliche Inhalte hin zu inspizieren hatten, ausserdem Kopien einschlägiger päpstlicher Anordnungen und schliesslich Berichte über die Vorgänge in Rom und Venedig.

Schöne Seiten. Jüdische Schriftkultur aus der Braginsky Collection, Hrsg. von Emile Schrijver und Falk Wiesemann, Zürich 2011, S. 126.

Aaron ben Benjamin Wolf Herlingen was born in Gewitsch, Moravia, around 1700, and worked in Pressburg (now Bratislava), Vienna, and perhaps elsewhere (see cat. no. 47). A 1736 census in Pressburg listing Herlingen as “The Moravian Aaron of Gewitsch, official in the Imperial Library in Vienna: one wife, one assistant, one handmaid,” proves that he held the position of library scribe there.
Today over forty manuscripts signed by Herlingen are extant, while approximately a dozen more are attributed to him. The Braginsky Collection contains one attributed and three signed works; this Haggadah of 1725; a book of Psalms from 1737 (Braginsky Collection 63, not in this catalogue); a sheet with Latin micrography dated 1751 (cat. no. 48); and an unsigned Grace after Meals from 1751 (cat. no. 47).
This Haggadah has sixty painted illustrations and three decorated initial word panels. The title page portrays Moses and Aaron, who flank the arch that frames the title. The scene below, with the three siblings Moses, Aaron, and also Miriam, wearing a pointed hat, combines an image of Miriam’s well with the falling of the manna. The Hebrew text between the panels is from the Babylonian Talmud (Sota 11b); it recounts that the Israelites were delivered from Egypt as a reward for the righteous women who lived in that generation. It is possible that the Haggadah was produced for a woman named Miriam.
On folio 3v the five Talmudic sages of Bene-Berak are shown seated at a table. The text recounts that they discussed the Exodus from Egypt through the night until their students came to tell them that the time for the Morning Prayer had arrived. In the Haggadot from Amsterdam printed in 1695 and 1712 the illustration accompanying this text was modeled after a biblical scene depicting the banquet Joseph gave for his brothers, in which more than five figures are present. The handwritten eighteenth-century copies based on these printed editions usually portray anywhere from six to over a dozen men in this scene. This Haggadah is one of the few exceptions in which only the five sages mentioned in the text are depicted.

From: A Journey through Jewish Worlds. Highlights from the Braginsky collection of Hebrew manuscripts and printed books, hrsg. E. M. Cohen, S. L. Mintz, E. G. L. Schrijver, Amsterdam, 2009, p. 116.

Insgesamt 60 gemalte Illustrationen und drei Zierfelder mit Initialwörtern schmücken dieses Meisterwerk der jüdischen Buchkunst von der Hand Aaron Wolf Herlingens. Die Titelseite zeigt, wie so häufig bei illustrierten hebräischen Handschriften des 18. Jahrhunderts, die Figuren von Moses und Aaron zu beiden Seiten des Titeleintrags. Im unteren Feld wird thematisiert, wie beim Zug der Israeliten durch die Wüste Manna vom Himmel fiel, und zwar im Beisein von Moses, Aaron und – was sehr ungewöhnlich ist – von ihrer Schwester Miriam (mit spitzer Kopfbedeckung). Der über dieser Szene angebrachte hebräische Text stammt aus dem babylonischen Talmud (Sota 11b), nach dem die Israeliten zum Lohn für die Rechtschaffenheit ihrer Frauen aus der ägyptischen Knechtschaft befreit wurden. Wegen der bildlichen Hervorhebung der Miriam liegt die Vermutung nahe, dass diese Haggada für eine Frau dieses Namens angefertigt wurde.
Die Abbildung auf fol. 3v zeigt die fünf Weisen von Bene-Berak, die die ganze Nacht von Pessach zusammensassen und über den Auszug aus Ägypten diskutierten. Den aramäischen bzw. hebräischen, die Sederfeier beschliessenden Liedern Echad mi-jodea («Wer kennt eines?») und Chad gadja («Ein Zicklein») sind jiddische Übersetzungen beigefügt.

Aus: Schöne Seiten. Jüdische Schriftkultur aus der Braginsky Collection, Hrsg. von Emile Schrijver und Falk Wiesemann, Zürich 2011, S. 94.

In biblical times Rosh Hodesh, the first day of the lunar month, was a day on which work was not allowed and important events took place. The prohibition against work was lifted in Talmudic times; since then Rosh Hodesh has been considered a minor festival.
At the end of the sixteenth century a custom developed among the mystics of Safed, in the Land of Israel, to fast on the day preceding Rosh Hodesh. A new liturgy was developed, based on penitential prayers for Yom Kippur. This fast was called Yom Kippur Katan, or the Minor Day of Atonement. In the course of the seventeenth century the custom spread to Italy and on to Northern Europe.
Manuscripts for Yom Kippur Katan, in vogue in the eighteenth century, included few illustrations. The Braginsky manuscript has only a baroque architectural title page with depictions of Moses and Aaron. The name of the owner was intended to be added to the empty shield at the top. The city of Pressburg and name of the scribe, Judah Leib ben Meir of Glogau (Silesia, Western Poland), are noted. No other manuscripts by him are known.
The script in this manuscript is similar to that of the famous scribe-artist Aaron Wolf Herlingen of Gewitsch. Moreover, the title page is strongly reminiscent of his works. If Judah Leib’s signature were not present, this manuscript almost certainly would have been attributed to Herlingen. It is possible that Judah Leib bought an illustrated title page from Herlingen that was devoid of text. This would explain the presence of the empty shield and the fact that the title page is bound into the manuscript as a separate leaf. Another explanation may be considered as well. In a 1736 census mention is made of an unknown assistant living in Herlingen’s house in Pressburg (see cat. no. 39). Perhaps Judah Leib was Herlingen’s assistant. If this is true, existing attributions of unsigned works to Herlingen based only on images that appear in the manuscripts should be carefully reconsidered, as this evidence may be insufficient.

From: A Journey through Jewish Worlds. Highlights from the Braginsky collection of Hebrew manuscripts and printed books, hrsg. E. M. Cohen, S. L. Mintz, E. G. L. Schrijver, Amsterdam, 2009, p. 120.

Hijman (Hayyim ben Mordecai) Binger (1756–1830) is best known for a decorated daily prayer book, now in the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana (Hs. Ros. 681) in Amsterdam, which he executed in cooperation with his sons, Marcus and Anthonie, in 1820. He also copied numerous single-leaf manuscripts of contemporary poetry, mostly for family occasions, which are now housed in various collections worldwide. Binger began his career as a bookkeeper, but later worked primarily in a clothing rental business; he also may have been active in international trading. In 1827 he inherited a lending library from his brother, Meijer Binger, to which he devoted most of his time.
Both the above-mentioned prayer book and the Hijman Binger Haggadah typify Hebrew manuscript decoration in Central and Northern Europe at the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth centuries. The previous flowering of Hebrew manuscript ornamentation and illustration started to decline around the middle of the eighteenth century. With few exceptions, notably a number of late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth century examples from Hungary (such as cat. no. 54), the Bouton Haggadah (cat. no. 56) and the Charlotte von Rothschild Haggadah (cat. no. 55), most later works randomly copied iconographic and stylistic elements from the vast tradition of the preceding centuries. As a result, the later manuscripts lack the internal consistency and relative unity of style of the earlier examples.
In light of similarities between the illustrations in the Hijman Binger Haggadah and those in some of the later Haggadot executed by Joseph ben David of Leipnik, for example, the Rosenthaliana Leipnik Haggadah of 1738 and a Leipnik Haggadah from 1739 (cat. no. 45), it is likely that a Haggadah by this artist served as Binger’s primary model. The inclusion of a Hebrew map of the Holy Land, printed in the Amsterdam Haggadah of 1695, though not unique to eighteenth-century manuscripts, may well be considered a rarity.

From: A Journey through Jewish Worlds. Highlights from the Braginsky collection of Hebrew manuscripts and printed books, hrsg. E. M. Cohen, S. L. Mintz, E. G. L. Schrijver, Amsterdam, 2009, p. 142.

From: A Journey through Jewish Worlds. Highlights from the Braginsky collection of Hebrew manuscripts and printed books, hrsg. E. M. Cohen, S. L. Mintz, E. G. L. Schrijver, Amsterdam, 2009, p. 142. (PDF-version of the catalogue: http://dare.uva.nl/record/1/319244)

Hijman (Hayyim ben Mordecai) Binger (1756–1830) is best known for a decorated daily prayer book, now in the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana (Hs. Ros. 681) in Amsterdam, which he executed in cooperation with his sons, Marcus and Anthonie, in 1820. He also copied numerous single-leaf manuscripts of contemporary poetry, mostly for family occasions, which are now housed in various collections worldwide. Binger began his career as a bookkeeper, but later worked primarily in a clothing rental business; he also may have been active in international trading. In 1827 he inherited a lending library from his brother, Meijer Binger, to which he devoted most of his time.
Both the above-mentioned prayer book and the Hijman Binger Haggadah typify Hebrew manuscript decoration in Central and Northern Europe at the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth centuries. The previous flowering of Hebrew manuscript ornamentation and illustration started to decline around the middle of the eighteenth century. With few exceptions, notably a number of late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth century examples from Hungary (such as cat. no. 54), the Bouton Haggadah (cat. no. 56) and the Charlotte von Rothschild Haggadah (cat. no. 55), most later works randomly copied iconographic and stylistic elements from the vast tradition of the preceding centuries. As a result, the later manuscripts lack the internal consistency and relative unity of style of the earlier examples.
In light of similarities between the illustrations in the Hijman Binger Haggadah and those in some of the later Haggadot executed by Joseph ben David of Leipnik, for example, the Rosenthaliana Leipnik Haggadah of 1738 and a Leipnik Haggadah from 1739 (cat. no. 45), it is likely that a Haggadah by this artist served as Binger’s primary model. The inclusion of a Hebrew map of the Holy Land, printed in the Amsterdam Haggadah of 1695, though not unique to eighteenth-century manuscripts, may well be considered a rarity.

From: A Journey through Jewish Worlds. Highlights from the Braginsky collection of Hebrew manuscripts and printed books, hrsg. E. M. Cohen, S. L. Mintz, E. G. L. Schrijver, Amsterdam, 2009, p. 146. (PDF-version of the catalogue: http://dare.uva.nl/record/1/319244)

The place of production of this illustrated prayer book for the ritual circumciser is not entirely clear. An inscription on the title page states that it was a gift from Mendel Rosenbaum to his brother-in-law Joseph Elsas of Nyitra, Hungary (now Nitra in Slovakia). The otherwise unknown scribe signed his name on folio 3v as Leib Zahr Sofer (scribe) of L”B (Lackenbach, Hungary, now eastern Austria). Although it cannot be known with certainty where the scribe copied the manuscript, Nyitra is the likeliest option for two reasons. First, it is not likely that the scribe would have signed his name with his city of birth if he were still residing there. Second, the manuscript is reminiscent of the work of the most important Hungarian scribe of the early nineteenth century, Mordecai ben Josl, also known as Marcus Donath, who worked in Nyitra. Donath is known to have produced around a dozen manuscripts, as well as an engraved megillah.
The artistic school of Nyitra is known for its use of Hebrew micrography. Using this technique, Moses is depicted here as a calligram, holding the Tablets of the Law and pointing to the five volumes of the Pentateuch. The text above reads: “Now Moses was a very humble man, more so than any other man on the earth” (Numbers 12:3), whereas the text below, inspired by Proverbs 7:1–2 (with mistakes) reads: “My son, keep my commandments and live; the commandments of the Lord he created in an enlightening manner,” includes a chronogram. The letters marked with a dot have a total numerical value of 576, i.e. the Jewish year 5576 (1816). Within the frame in the right-hand bottom corner is a paraphrase of Exodus 34:29, “And behold, the skin of his face was radiant,” to which is added in the left-hand corner “because of the 613 commandments contained in it.” Among the texts used for the calligram is that of the Ten Commandments.

Aus: Schöne Seiten. Jüdische Schriftkultur aus der Braginsky Collection, Hrsg. von Emile Schrijver und Falk Wiesemann, Zürich 2011, S. 50.

Dieses nur wenige Blätter umfassende Buch mit Gebeten für den Mohel, der das Beschneidungsritual vornimmt, war gemäss Vermerk auf dem Titelblatt ein Geschenk von Mendel Rosenbaum für seinen Schwager Joseph Elsas von Nitra. Ehemals zu Ungarn gehörend, ist Nitra (deutsch Neutra) heute die viertgrösste Stadt der slowakischen Republik. Der ansonsten unbekannte Künstler Leib Sahr Sofer (Schreiber) bezeichnet sich als mi-L''B, «aus Lackenbach», einem Ort, der früher ebenfalls zu Ungarn gehörte und heute zum österreichischen Burgenland. Seine Synagogengemeinde zählte zu den jüdischen «Siebengemeinden» im Fürstentum Esterházy.
Zwar ist nicht belegt, dass dieses Manuskript in Nitra entstand. Es besteht aber zweifellos eine enge formale Verwandtschaft mit den Werken des in Nitra wirkenden Kalligrafen und Illustrators Mordechai ben Josel, der auch den Namen Marcus Donath führte. Von ihm stammen rund ein Dutzend Manuskripte sowie eine gravierte Estherrolle. Mordechai ben Josel bediente sich in seinen Werken häufig der Mikrografie als gestalterischem Mittel.
Im Mohelbuch von Leib Sahr Sofer zeigt die Schlussseite das Kalligramm einer Moses-Figur, die in einer Hand die Gesetzestafeln hält und mit der anderen auf den Pentateuch zeigt. Auf Moses als Übermittler des göttlichen Gesetzes der Tora verweisen auch die beiden Inschriften über der inneren Rahmenleiste: rechts eine Paraphrase des Bibelverses «[Da nun Moses vom Berg Sinai herunterstieg,] wusste er nicht, dass sein Gesicht von Strahlen glänzte[, weil er mit dem Herrn geredet hatte]» (Exodus 34:29) und links die Worte «wegen der 613 darin [in der Tora] enthaltenen Gebote». Die obere Randinschrift lautet: «Moses aber war ein sehr demütiger Mann, demütiger als alle Menschen auf Erden» (Numeri 12:3). Am unteren Rand steht ein durch die Sprüche Salomons (7:1-2) inspirierter Text: «Mein Sohn, beachte meine Gebote, so wirst du leben, die Gebote, die der Herr in seiner Weisheit schuf!» Darin findet sich auch ein durch Punkte über den Buchstaben gebildetes Chronogramm mit dem Zahlenwert (5)576, was dem Jahr 1816 der christlichen Zeitrechnung entspricht.

Die Illustrationen dieser Haggada basieren auf unterschiedlichen Vorlagen, sowohl christlichen wie jüdischen. Die Darstellung der Vier Söhne ist von der entsprechenden Abbildung in der gedruckten Amsterdamer Haggada von 1695 inspiriert, wenngleich nach dem zeitgenössischen Geschmack der Romantik ausgeführt. Die Szene mit Abraham, der vor den drei Engeln kniet, scheint ebenfalls auf diese Bildquelle des 17. Jahrhunderts zurückzugehen, obwohl die Engel der Handschrift keine Flügel haben und Abraham auf beide Knie gesunken ist. Letztlich dürfte sich diese Illustration der Charlotte Rothschild Haggada enger an dem entsprechenden Fresko aus dem Bibelzyklus der Raffael-Werkstatt in den Loggien des Vatikans orientiert haben als an dem Kupferstich der Amsterdamer Haggada, der seinerseits zumindest teilweise ebenfalls auf dem Vorbild des Freskos beruhte.
Andere Illustrationen sind hingegen eigenständige Bilderfindungen. Zwar gibt es bereits in mittelalterlichen Handschriften bildliche Darstellungen der zehn ägyptischen Plagen, doch sind die Vorbilder der Charlotte Rothschild Haggada nicht bekannt. Besonders interessant ist die Darstellung der Tötung der Erstgeborenen: In Übereinstimmung mit dem Zeitgeschmack kamen in dieser kleinen Szene ägyptisierende Motive zur Anwendung.
Die Sederszene des Pessachfests verbindet auf einzigartige Weise zwei unterschiedliche Herangehensweisen, dessen Inhalt darzustellen: als historisches Ereignis und als in der Gegenwart verankerte Feier. Während die Inszenierung der Wohnungskulisse und das Erscheinungsbild des Hausherrn in der Mitte der Szene dem Stil der Epoche entsprechen, zeigen die Gewänder der übrigen Teilnehmer ein Amalgam aus historistischromantischen und orientalisierenden Formen. Nur in diesem einen Bild brachte Charlotte Rothschild ihre Initialen an, auf der Rücklehne des Stuhls im Bildvordergrund. Moritz Daniel Oppenheim malte später mehrere ähnliche Sederszenen, wobei er wahrscheinlich eher durch Charlotte Rothschilds Bildarrangement inspiriert war als sie von diesen.
Höchstwahrscheinlich schrieb Charlotte Rothschild die hebräischen Wörter innerhalb der Abbildungen selbst. Obwohl schön ausgeführt, halten die goldenen Buchstaben aus ihrer Hand keinem Vergleich mit der Schriftkunst Elieser Sussman Meseritschs stand. Charlotte Rothschild verfügte zweifellos über gewisse Hebräischkenntnisse. 1832 schrieb sie ihrer Schwester Louisa, sie habe sich zunächst überlegt, ob sie ihrem Vater wohl einen Brief auf Hebräisch schreiben könne, doch bitte sie nun Louisa, dem Vater ihre Überlegung mitzuteilen, sie glaube, ein auf Englisch geschriebener Brief würde ihm mehr Freude bereiten, da er sich doch als Engländer betrachte.

Aus: Schöne Seiten. Jüdische Schriftkultur aus der Braginsky Collection, Hrsg. von Emile Schrijver und Falk Wiesemann, Zürich 2011, S. 80.

In his memoirs, the first modern Jewish painter, Moritz Daniel Oppenheim (1800–1882) wrote: "But the culmination of my instruction came when she illustrated the Haggadah for her uncle Amschel. I made the designs for the subjects, and she carried them out in the style of old missals. . . . For this she procured . . . from the Paris Library manuscripts with illuminated miniatures." Oppenheim is referring to Charlotte von Rothschild (1807–1859), the niece of Amschel Mayer Rothschild (1773–1855), for whom she created the Haggadah on the occasion of his seventieth birthday. She included a German dedication and wrote her initials on the back of a chair in the scene of a contemporary seder. While some of Oppenheim’s preparatory sketches are discussed in art-historical literature, until the manuscript’s recent acquisition for the Braginsky Collection researchers were unaware the codex was extant.
This Haggadah, the only Hebrew manuscript known to have been illuminated by a woman, contains ten full-length and eight smaller text illustrations, in addition to decorated and historiated initials, and smaller ornamental devices. Particularly interesting are the illustrations accompanying Ehad Mi Yode’a and Had Gadya. Framed within foliate designs and placed in a columnar arrangement within the text space, to the left (on pages 92 and 94) or right (96 and 98) of the writing, a small vignette illustrates each of the references in the two songs. The inclusion of these scenes reflects the familiarity of Rothschild and Oppenheim with manuscripts of the eighteenth century, which included such cycles created in that period for handwritten, rather than printed, versions of the Haggadah. In the Charlotte von Rothschild Haggadah, the miniatures in Ehad Mi Yode’a and Had Gadya, as well as other scenes throughout the work, demonstrate that earlier models were not copied slavishly. Instead, original compositions and images based on previous sources were combined to create a masterpiece of nineteenth-century book art.

From: A Journey through Jewish Worlds. Highlights from the Braginsky collection of Hebrew manuscripts and printed books, hrsg. E. M. Cohen, S. L. Mintz, E. G. L. Schrijver, Amsterdam, 2009, p. 148.

Hijman (Hayyim ben Mordecai) Binger (1756–1830) is best known for a decorated daily prayer book, now in the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana (Hs. Ros. 681) in Amsterdam, which he executed in cooperation with his sons, Marcus and Anthonie, in 1820. He also copied numerous single-leaf manuscripts of contemporary poetry, mostly for family occasions, which are now housed in various collections worldwide. Binger began his career as a bookkeeper, but later worked primarily in a clothing rental business; he also may have been active in international trading. In 1827 he inherited a lending library from his brother, Meijer Binger, to which he devoted most of his time.
Both the above-mentioned prayer book and the Hijman Binger Haggadah typify Hebrew manuscript decoration in Central and Northern Europe at the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth centuries. The previous flowering of Hebrew manuscript ornamentation and illustration started to decline around the middle of the eighteenth century. With few exceptions, notably a number of late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth century examples from Hungary (such as cat. no. 54), the Bouton Haggadah (cat. no. 56) and the Charlotte von Rothschild Haggadah (cat. no. 55), most later works randomly copied iconographic and stylistic elements from the vast tradition of the preceding centuries. As a result, the later manuscripts lack the internal consistency and relative unity of style of the earlier examples.
In light of similarities between the illustrations in the Hijman Binger Haggadah and those in some of the later Haggadot executed by Joseph ben David of Leipnik, for example, the Rosenthaliana Leipnik Haggadah of 1738 and a Leipnik Haggadah from 1739 (cat. no. 45), it is likely that a Haggadah by this artist served as Binger’s primary model. The inclusion of a Hebrew map of the Holy Land, printed in the Amsterdam Haggadah of 1695, though not unique to eighteenth-century manuscripts, may well be considered a rarity.

From: A Journey through Jewish Worlds. Highlights from the Braginsky collection of Hebrew manuscripts and printed books, hrsg. E. M. Cohen, S. L. Mintz, E. G. L. Schrijver, Amsterdam, 2009, p. 142.

Hijman (Hayyim ben Mordecai) Binger (1756–1830) is best known for a decorated daily prayer book, now in the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana (Hs. Ros. 681) in Amsterdam, which he executed in cooperation with his sons, Marcus and Anthonie, in 1820. He also copied numerous single-leaf manuscripts of contemporary poetry, mostly for family occasions, which are now housed in various collections worldwide. Binger began his career as a bookkeeper, but later worked primarily in a clothing rental business; he also may have been active in international trading. In 1827 he inherited a lending library from his brother, Meijer Binger, to which he devoted most of his time.
Both the above-mentioned prayer book and the Hijman Binger Haggadah typify Hebrew manuscript decoration in Central and Northern Europe at the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth centuries. The previous flowering of Hebrew manuscript ornamentation and illustration started to decline around the middle of the eighteenth century. With few exceptions, notably a number of late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth century examples from Hungary (such as cat. no. 54), the Bouton Haggadah (cat. no. 56) and the Charlotte von Rothschild Haggadah (cat. no. 55), most later works randomly copied iconographic and stylistic elements from the vast tradition of the preceding centuries. As a result, the later manuscripts lack the internal consistency and relative unity of style of the earlier examples.
In light of similarities between the illustrations in the Hijman Binger Haggadah and those in some of the later Haggadot executed by Joseph ben David of Leipnik, for example, the Rosenthaliana Leipnik Haggadah of 1738 and a Leipnik Haggadah from 1739 (cat. no. 45), it is likely that a Haggadah by this artist served as Binger’s primary model. The inclusion of a Hebrew map of the Holy Land, printed in the Amsterdam Haggadah of 1695, though not unique to eighteenth-century manuscripts, may well be considered a rarity.

From: A Journey through Jewish Worlds. Highlights from the Braginsky collection of Hebrew manuscripts and printed books, hrsg. E. M. Cohen, S. L. Mintz, E. G. L. Schrijver, Amsterdam, 2009, p. 142.

Diese hebräische Prachthandschrift ist eine der ungewöhnlichsten aus der nachmittelalterlichen Zeit. Jede Seite ist überaus reich verziert. Lapislazuli und Gold beherrschen die Farbskala. Bunte florale Elemente sind subtil zu regelmässigen, ineinander verwobenen Mustern arrangiert und laufen zu den Rändern hin in haarfeinen Linien und Ornamenten aus. Die Textfelder sind mit winzigen Goldsprengseln bedeckt. Stil und kunsthandwerkliche Ausführung orientieren eng an Vorbildern aus der persischen Buchkunst, insbesondere an den glanzvollen Werken der Schule von Schiras aus der Zeit zwischen 1560 und 1580.
Die einzige figürliche Darstellung der Bouton Haggada zeigt die Feier am ersten Abend des Pessachfests mit fünf um den Sedertisch gruppierten Männern und zwei Frauen in orientalisierender Kleidung. Festgehalten ist der Augenblick, in dem der Hausherr den Segen über den Wein spricht. Allerdings fehlen auf dem Tisch die traditionellen symbolischen Speisen der Pessachtafel. Die Szene ist Ausdruck einer überzeugenden künstlerischen Verbindung der zeitgenössischen Strömungen des Orientalismus und Historismus. Perfektion, erlesener Geschmack und Luxus sind die eindringlichsten Signale, die von dieser Haggada ausgehen.
Das Werk ist nicht signiert. Es ist nach dem Künstler Victor Bouton benannt. Geboren 1819 im lothringischen Épinal, verbrachte er die meiste Zeit seines Lebens als Zeichner, Wappenmaler und Graveur in Paris. Meisterschaft erlangte er auch als Kopist historischer Manuskripte, etwa des mittelalterlichen illuminierten Falkenbuchs des Königs Dancus in der Bibliothèque nationale de France. Im Musée d’art et d’histoire du Judaïsme in Paris befindet sich ein von Bouton kopiertes und signiertes, ebenfalls kostbar ausgestattetes hebräisches Buch mit den täglichen Gebeten, dasEdmund James de Rothschild (1845-1934) als Geschenk für seine Mutter Betty (1805–1886) in Auftrag gegeben hatte. Darin ergänzte Bouton seinen Namen mit den Worten sofer mahir («kunstfertiger Schreiber»), der üblichen Bezeichnung professioneller Kopisten. Eine biografische Notiz zu Bouton erwähnt, er habe für einen reichen Juden eine Haggada angefertigt und dafür die enorme Summe von 32'000 Francs in Gold erhalten. Dabei wird es sich vermutlich um eine weitere Auftragsarbeit für die Rothschilds gehandelt haben und mit grosser Wahrscheinlichkeit um die Bouton Haggada der Braginsky Collection.

Aus: Schöne Seiten. Jüdische Schriftkultur aus der Braginsky Collection, Hrsg. von Emile Schrijver und Falk Wiesemann, Zürich 2011, S. 86.

This is one of the most unusual Hebrew manuscripts of the post-medieval period. Every page is illuminated with geometrical designs executed in lapis lazuli and gold; subtle, multicolored floral elements with separate designs surround individual lines
of text, while delicate blue pen-work extends into the outer margins. Tiny sprinkles of gold embellish the pages. The manuscript emulates closely works from a school of Arabic manuscript illumination of Shiraz, Persia, of the period between 1560 and 1580. The designs also appear in later Arabic manuscripts, especially from Turkey and Afghanistan.
The sole illustration depicts a seder scene in which five men and two women, most of whom are dressed in orientalized clothing, sit at a table. The central male figure is reciting the benediction over wine. It is striking that the table is devoid of anything related specifically to Passover, including the ceremonial foods eaten at the seder.
The Haggadah was decorated by Victor Bouton, who is best known as a heraldic painter. Born in Épinal in the Vosges region in northeast France in 1819 and active in Paris most of his life, he was involved in politics, and imprisoned between 1851 and 1856. Recently Sharon Mintz was able to identify the artist based on a signed, equally sumptuous, daily prayer book, which is now in the Musée d’art et d’histoire du Judaïsme in Paris. It was commissioned by Edmond James de Rothschild (1845–1934) for his mother Betty (1805–86). Notably, Bouton signed his name in Hebrew there, followed by the Hebrew words Sofer mahir
(skilled scribe), a common designation of professional Jewish scribes. Bouton, therefore, may also be identified as the scribe of both masterpieces. P. Heili reports that Bouton received the enormous sum of 32,000 gold francs for a Haggadah he executed for a wealthy Israelite. It is likely that Heili was referring to the Braginsky manuscript, which may have been another Rothschild commission.

From: A Journey through Jewish Worlds. Highlights from the Braginsky collection of Hebrew manuscripts and printed books, hrsg. E. M. Cohen, S. L. Mintz, E. G. L. Schrijver, Amsterdam, 2009, p. 154.

This calligram, a decorative form created from a written text, depicts King David playing a harp. It comprises the Latin texts of what is known as the Seven Penitential Psalms (6, 31, 37, 50, 101, 129, and 142) and of Psalm 138. The grouping of these psalms is in the Roman Catholic, not Jewish, tradition. The seven psalms are sung during the days of Lent, the forty days before Easter. The artist used micrography, a technique in which text is written in miniscule letters. In order to produce a clear image he first painted the figure of David using faint gray washes for modeling and then varied the intensity of the ink used for the text. The calligram is signed “Aaron Wolf, Kayserl. Königl. Bibliothec-Schreiber in Wienn.
Anno 1751” (Aaron Wolf, Imperial and Royal Library Scribe in Vienna. Year 1751) in the framing element at the bottom. This is the well-known Jewish scribeartist Aaron Wolf Herlingen, the creator of a Haggadah from 1725 in the Braginsky Collection (cat. no. 39; also see cat. nos. 47 and 41). He also signed his name “Aaron Wolf 1751,” at the end of the last line of the calligram here. Herlingen was a gifted calligrapher and one of two Jewish scribes of the eighteenth century who wrote not only Hebrew, but also Latin. Among his most interesting works are five calligraphic single-sheet manuscripts of sizes smaller than a modern letter-size sheet of paper on which he combined the texts of the Five Scrolls in five different Semitic and European languages and types of script. Two unsigned illustrated micrographic Esther scrolls are also attributed to him. Herlingen wrote this calligram for Prince Joseph II (1741–1790), the son of Empress Maria Theresa and Emperor Francis I. The Latin dedicatory inscription at the bottom compares the young prince’s lineage to that of King David, who is traditionally believed to be the author of the book of Psalms. Other calligraphic works by Herlingen and by his contemporary Meshullam Zimmel of Polna, who also worked in Vienna, were dedicated to the Imperial family as well. It is not known how these works were presented, if at all.

A Journey through Jewish Worlds. Highlights from the Braginsky collection of Hebrew manuscripts and printed books, hrsg. E. M. Cohen, S. L. Mintz, E. G. L. Schrijver, Amsterdam, 2009, p. 134.

Die Darstellung des Harfe spielenden Königs David, der als Verfasser der biblischen Psalmen gilt, ist mit einem dekorativen Rahmen eingefasst. Erst bei näherem Hinsehen entpuppt sich die Figur als ein erstaunliches mikrografisches Kalligramm. In der jüdischen Kunst kann die Mikrografie auf eine lange, bis ins Mittelalter zurückreichende Tradition zurückblicken. Sie ging dem Judentum nie verloren und wird bis heute von geschickten Kalligrafen ausgeübt. Die sieben Busspsalmen (6, 31, 37, 50, 101, 129 und 142) und Psalm 138 entsprechen einer Gruppierung, die auf eine Überlieferung der katholischen Kirche zurückgeht und ihren Platz in der vorösterlichen Liturgie hat. Sie formen hier in mikrografischen Minuskeln die Figur Davids. Zunächst konturierte der Künstler die Umrisse der Figur mit blasser Tusche und akzentuierte dann durch Modulation der Buchstaben-Strichstärken die Verteilung von Licht und Schatten und damit die Plastizität der Figur. Das Kalligramm ist im unteren Teil des Schmuckrahmens mit «Aaron Wolf. Kayserl. Königl. Bibliothec-Schreiber in Wienn. Anno 1751» signiert. Am Ende der letzten Kalligramm-Zeile ist nochmals vermerkt: «Aaron Wolf 1751». Herlingen war im 18. Jahrhundert zusammen mit Meschullam Simmel von Polna einer der wenigen jüdischen Schriftkünstler, der auch lateinische Buchstaben verwendete. Wir kennen von seiner Hand fünf kalligrafische Einzelblätter in Mikroschrift. Ausserdem werden ihm zwei unsignierte mikrografische Estherrollen zugeschrieben. Herlingen widmete das vorliegende Psalmenblatt dem Prinzen Joseph (1741–1790), Sohn Maria Theresias und Franz I. von Lothrin gen. Die lateinische Dedikationsinschrift vergleicht die Abstammungslinie des jungen Prinzen mit derjenigen von König David.

Schöne Seiten. Jüdische Schriftkultur aus der Braginsky Collection, Hrsg. von Emile Schrijver und Falk Wiesemann, Zürich 2011, S. 108-109.