É. Apor (ed.): David Kaufmann Memorial Volume: Papers Presented at the David Kaufmann Memorial Conference, November 29, 1999, Budapest.
ORMOS, István: David Kaufmann and his Collection
ISTVÁN ORMOS prayers, poems and narrative texts to be recited on the eve of the festival of the Jewish Easter, Pesach, the Feast of the Passover, 18 2 in which the participants recall the joy of deliverance from servitude in Egypt, thanking God for his miraculous works' 8'. In the 1 1-15th centuries Haggadahs were not infrequently produced for private, family use - the Kaufmann manuscript also bears the marks of almost excessive use. Both in the Kaufmann Haggadah and the Sarajevo Haggadah there are conspicuous traces of children's drawings, a fact no doubt indicative of the considerable popularity of these manuscripts among children, which can also be explained, to a certain extent at least, by the important part children play in the traditional rite of Passover. 18 4 In view of this there can hardly be imagined a sadder scene than when one of the sons of the family appeared at the Sephardic elementary school in Sarajevo with one of the family's most treasured possessions, something they had owned perhaps for a considerable period, forced now to sell it because of straitened circumstances occasioned by the sudden death of their father: the lavishly illuminated manuscript became known as the Sarajevo Haggadah.'* 5 It may have been in a similar straitened situation that that the Schwarz family parted with the splendid, illuminated Mahzor executed in France around 1300, which they had possessed since 1702 and which was still in their possession in Miskolc, Hungary, in the 1950s. The family later emigrated to Canada and there they sold the priceless manuscript. 18 6 We can see in our mind the father who is all too fond of showing his children the splendid illustrations, both on the festival itself and at other times too. Young and old alike gather around him after dinner in order to enjoy the paintings: children play a central role in the rite of Passover and what else can arouse their interest but splendid pictures? 18 7 They are gazing spellbound at the marvellous illustration depicting the Exodus from Egypt: the bearded Moses in his pointed red hat with a 18 1 MÜLLER - VON SCHLOSSER, Bilderhaggaden 1898. 189. [=WEISZ 1906. 146-147.] VON SCHLOSSER, Bilderschmuck 1898. 211. SCHEIBER 1957. 8-12. Gabrielle SED-RAJNA, The Kaufmann Haggadah. Budapest 1990. 6. I8 ; Cf. "For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he sees the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you." Ex 12:23. ""On the decoration program of Catalonian Haggadas in general see NARKISS 1982. I. 42-44. 18 4 See the next paragraph. 18 5 WERBER 1988. 20. ""'Fine Judaica including a highly important Mediaeval Illuminated Hebrew Manuscript . Sale: Wednesday 21 June 1989. Christie's Amsterdam. 1989. 142-149 [No. 390], Gabrielle SED-RAJNA, Les manuscrits hébreux enluminés des bihliothéques de France. Notices codicologiques, relevé des inscriptions par Sonia FELLOUS . [Corpus of Illuminated Manuscripts, Vol. 7. Oriental Series 3.] Leuven Paris 1994. 172-174 [No. 68], 164
