Hagadah shel Pesach - The Institution of Passover. Prepared by the Brothers Moses Jacob and Aaron David Talker

(HAGADAH).

Vital Sakharam Agnihorty

Poona

1874

Title in Hebrew, Marathi and English. Hebrew and translation into Marathi translation on facing pages. Celebrated illustrations depicting local Bene Israel custom on opening nine pages. This copy with extended Marathi introduction.

Yudlov 1437.

Unlike the earlier Bombay Hagadah (1846), whose “illustrations were still closely linked to their Amsterdam prototypes, those in the Poona Hagadah have managed to drift into a sphere of their own. Even as they retain the basic pattern, they are now palpably Indian in tone and detail” (Yerushalmi, 107). Particularly distinct is the illustration depicting the preparation and baking of the Matzoth for Passover. The upper panel shows the men of the Bene-Israel community, the lower panel their female counterparts. Both are in distinctive native dress and sitting in the classic Indian squatting, or lotus position. See Israel Museum Catalogue, The Jews of India (1995) p. 25.