Retell the Story

It’s a favorite collector’s item, and for good reason: In the two thousand years since the oral tradition of the Exodus was recorded in the form we’re all familiar with, the Haggadah has become the world’s most widely published Jewish text. The world’s largest collection has 8,500 of them. Which Haggadah are you going to use this Pesach?

W

hich Haggadah will you use this Pesach? Do you choose the same one year after year, every wine stain evoking a memory? Or do you enjoy a different Haggadah with a new peirush every year?

Whatever your preference, you have plenty to choose from. In the nearly two thousand years since the oral tale of our people’s salvation was recorded and took the form we’re so familiar with, the Haggadah has become the most widely published Jewish text. First handwritten and illustrated, then printed, the Haggadah has followed the Jewish People throughout the long journey of exile.

The National Library of Israel (NLI) houses the largest collection of Haggadahs in the world. Its 8,500 traditional Haggadahs — manuscripts, printed texts, scanned works — date from before the invention of modern printing up until today, and come from every part of the globe.

Let’s open some of these treasured Haggadahs of the National Library. We’ll move with them through the time and space that make up our people’s history since we were freed from slavery thousands of years ago to become Hashem’s nation.