Seder Hagadah from Bombay
Seder Hagadah: bi-leshon ha-ḳodesh ṿe-ʻim perush shel Maraṭi (The Order of the Haggadah: in the sacred language and with a commentary in Marathi)
Bombay: Avraham ben Yehudah Gamal, 1846
This first illustrated Indian Haggadah, which was produced lithographically, served the needs of the Bene Israel (Children of Israel), the indigenous Jews of India. The text of the Haggadah is printed in Marathi, the language of the Bene Israel, and in Hebrew. The illustrations on the left side of the page, which explain the main components and order of the Passover Seder, were borrowed from the popular Amsterdam and Venetian haggadot of the 17th century. The woodcuts depict key moments of the ceremony, including blessing over wine (kadesh), washing hands without blessing (urchatz), eating vegetables dipped in salt water (karpas), breaking the matzah (yachatz), telling the story of the exile and redemption from Egypt (magid), and washing the hands in preparation for eating the matzah (rachtzah). The steps of the ceremony are in Hebrew, while the explanations are in Marathi, in smaller characters underneath. The traditional text of the Haggadah on the right side is given entirely in Marathi.
For centuries, the Bene Israel cultivated their identity and traditions in isolation from other Diaspora Jews, yet they managed to maintain their independence from the local cultures. Originally, the Indian Jews mostly resided in small communities in rural areas. But toward the end of the 18th century they began moving to larger cities, particularly to Bombay (Mumbai), in part motivated to serve in the British army. Stronger connections among the different ethnic groups of Indian Jews as well as their adoption of European Jewish traditions began around the same time, especially following the construction of the first synagogue in the city in 1796. This Haggadah serves as a testament of assimilation of the Indian Jewish Diaspora with European Judaism, all while retaining their traditional language of Marathi for religious purposes.
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