{"id":16454,"date":"2022-02-13T16:12:31","date_gmt":"2022-02-13T16:12:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/manuscriptevidence.org\/wpme\/?p=16454"},"modified":"2022-11-04T15:29:10","modified_gmt":"2022-11-04T15:29:10","slug":"lead-the-people-forward-by-zoey-kambour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/manuscriptevidence.org\/wpme\/lead-the-people-forward-by-zoey-kambour\/","title":{"rendered":"Lead the People Forward (by Zoey Kambour)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lead the People Forward:
\nThe Contemporaneity
\nof the Medieval Iberian Haggadah<\/h1>\n

Zoey Kambour, MA<\/em><\/h2>\n

15 February, 2022<\/h3>\n
\"\"

Pursuit by the Egyptians. Detail of Figure 4 (see Figure 4b below). Manchester, John Rylands Library, Rylands Heb. MS 6, fol. 18v, lower. Copyright of the University of Manchester.<\/p><\/div>\n

[Editor’s Note: This blogpost, by GuestBlogger, Zoey Kambour, is published through the process of peer review by three expert reviewers, each of whom we thank. Thanks are due to the owners of the manuscripts and photographers for permission to reproduce the images here of the medieval manuscripts and architectural structures. <\/em><\/p>\n

About Zoey, see linkedin.com<\/a>, uoregon.academia.edu\/ZoeyK<\/a> (with CV), and below.\u00a0 We thank Zoey for proposing to contribute to our blog, preparing this essay from on-going research interests and projects, joining the peer-review process, responding to questions and suggestions, completing the presentation for publication in this format, and obtaining the permissions to reproduce the illustrations here. Congratulations!<\/em><\/p>\n

Zoey’s essay in the format of a blogpost presents its scholarly structure with Text, interlinked Notes, Acknowledgments, Zoey Kambour’s Biography, and Figures. All the full-size Figures appear in a group at the end, with details along the way.<\/em>]<\/p>\n

“Lead the People Forward”<\/h1>\n

Passover is a holiday that focuses on the personalized retelling of Exodus \u2014 the second book in the Torah, which tells the story of the plight, liberation, and departure of the Israelites under the prophet Moses in Egypt. In this retelling, the participants must see themselves as if they were liberated from Egypt.[1]<\/a>\u00a0 In addition, the exercise facilitates reflection on how the story of Jewish liberation applies to the current moment.\u00a0 During a time of stress and loss, such as the current\u00a0 pandemic, Passover is a deeply unifying holiday; it reminds the Jewish people of their deep connection to each other, despite the quarantined distance, through their suffering and fight for freedom. Passover conveys a message of hope that applies to any current moment.<\/p>\n

The Haggadah<\/em> (plural Haggadot<\/em>), the text recited at Seder, is not liturgical, but rather a guide. The participants follow the order of prayers and interactions with the ritual foods displayed on the Seder plate. After the Seder, Exodus is retold in the Maggid<\/em> portion of the Haggadah.[2]<\/a>\u00a0 However, unlike a standard liturgical text, the worshippers are encouraged to ad lib, improvise, and add their own unique spin upon the story of Exodus during the performance.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"

Figure 1. Rylands Haggadah. Manchester, John Rylands Library, Rylands Heb. MS 6, fol. 15v. Copyright of the University of Manchester.<\/p><\/div>\n

During the high and late medieval period in the Iberian Peninsula, many Jewish people lacked literacy in Hebrew.\u00a0 While the rituals and prayers are written in Hebrew, many surviving medieval Haggadot contain rich illuminations in the Maggid, enabling the illiterate to recite and personalize the story of Exodus, while still faithfully conveying it.[3]<\/a>\u00a0 Through reciting, performing, and personalizing the Haggadah, Jews connect the hay-yamim ha-hem <\/em>(“in those days”) with the z\u2019man ha-zeh <\/em>(“in this time”).[4]<\/a><\/p>\n

The performance of the Haggadah is not the only means of tying the contemporary moment to Exodus; the Biblical illuminations and marginalia in medieval Iberian Haggadot additionally aid in this association.\u00a0 In late thirteenth- and fourteenth-century Haggadot <\/em>shel Pesa\u1e25<\/em> (\u05d4\u05d2\u05d3\u05d4 \u05e9\u05dc \u05e4\u05e1\u05d7 or “Haggadot for Passover”)<\/span>, <\/span>such as the Rylands Haggadah<\/strong> (Manchester, John Rylands Library, Rylands Hebrew MS 6<\/a>) and the Golden Haggadah<\/strong> (London, British Library Add. MS 27210<\/a>), the visual anachronism of contemporaneous clothing and architecture present in the illuminations of a biblical story [5]<\/a>\u00a0 The images not only situate it in the current moment, but may also serve as a commentary against Christian rulers through the presence of the heraldic colors of Barcelona and the monarchical clothing of the Pharaoh.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Figure 2. Golden Haggadah, Catalonia, 1329\u20131330. \u00a9 British Library Board, London, British Library, Add MS. 27210, fol. 11r.<\/p><\/div>\n

Jews in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth century, although segregated to their communally governed communities called aljamas<\/em>, held prominent places in Christian courts for their financial and intellectual abilities, a practice that began in al-Andalus as early as the Caliphate of C\u00f3rdoba in the late tenth and eleventh century.[6]<\/a>\u00a0 This service to Christian crowns legally protected these elite Jews from persecution, but branded them as property of the crown.[7]<\/a>\u00a0 Aside from the privilege of protection awarded to the Jews of the Christian courts, anti-Semitism remained prominent throughout the Christian kingdoms.\u00a0 However, nothing brought on a wave of persecution quite like the devastation caused by the fourteenth-century plague.[8]<\/a><\/p>\n

To best demonstrate the contemporaneous application into Exodus, a focus is placed on the visual anachronism of the garments of the biblical figures and the architecture situated within or framing the illuminations.[9]<\/a>\u00a0 Almost every figure wears a saya<\/em> (also known as a gonela<\/em> in Aragon), which is a gown worn over a base camisa<\/em>, or chemise. The saya<\/em> could be worn as either a loose version, fastened at the neck with buttons, or a closely fitted version where there is lacing at either the back or the side of the garment. Sayas<\/em> could be sleeved or sleeveless and were frequently belted.\u00a0 Over the sayas<\/em>, as shown on the depictions of the Pharaoh, is a pellote<\/em> which is a kind of surcoat.\u00a0 In addition to the pellote, <\/em>the Pharaohs wear a medieval European golden crown.\u00a0 The attendants often wear a hooded garment called a capirote<\/em>. Another distinguishing costume is the headwear.\u00a0 The most common is the cofia<\/em>, a fabric cap that can be worn, for women, with a fillet that covers the ears.\u00a0 Other common forms of headwear include sombreros<\/em> (any brimmed hat), capiellos <\/em>(a cylindrical hat), and boinas<\/em> (a round hat with no brim).[10]<\/a>\u00a0 These styles of clothing are not limited to the fourteenth century \u2014 many, if not all, of these types of clothing and hats can be found in the thirteenth-century manuscript of the Cantigas de Santa Maria<\/em>.[11]<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"

Figure 1a. Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh. Manchester, John Rylands Library, Rylands Heb. MS 6, fol. 15v, upper panel. Copyright of the University of Manchester.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"

Figure 2a. Moses’ Staff transforms into a Snake. Golden Haggadah, Catalonia, 1329\u20131330. \u00a9 British Library Board, London, British Library, Add MS. 27210, fol. 11r, lower right.<\/p><\/div>\n

The upper panel of Rylands folio 15v demonstrates most of these clothing elements (Figures 1 and 1a<\/strong>).\u00a0 Kneeling in front of the Pharaoh, who dons a pellote<\/em> and golden trefoil crown, Moses and Aaron wear sleeved and belted sayas <\/em>of red and blue.\u00a0 The Pharaoh\u2019s attendants behind Moses and Aaron wear capirotes<\/em>.\u00a0 In a similar scene in folio 11r from the Golden Haggadah, as the staff turns into a snake, <\/span>Moses and Aaron wear capes over their sayas, <\/em>the Pharaoh wears the same pellote <\/em>over a saya <\/em>in addition to a golden crown (Figures 2 and 2a<\/strong>).\u00a0 The scene differs from the former only in its presentation of the attendants, one of whom wears a cofia<\/em> with a felt cap while the other wears a capirote<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Figure 3a. Pursuit of the Egyptians. Golden Haggadah, Catalonia, 1329\u20131330. \u00a9 British Library Board, London, British Library, Add MS. 27210, 14v, lower right.<\/p><\/div>\n

The clearest examples of contemporary imagery are present in the scene of Exodus 14:8 \u2014 Pursuit of the Egyptians<\/em>, as seen in folio 14v in the Golden Haggadah and folio 18v in the Rylands Haggadah (Figures 3 and 4<\/strong>).\u00a0 In the lower panel of folio 18v (Figure 4a<\/strong>) in the Rylands Haggadah, the Pursuit of the Egyptians <\/em>features a procession of armed equestrian figures led by the crowned figure, all wearing high medieval armor.[12]<\/a>\u00a0 One of the shields carried by the equestrian figures bears red and gold stripes, representing the crown of Aragon, while another shield with gold and blue stripes possibly represents the House of Bourbon.[13]<\/a>\u00a0 Folio 14v in the Golden Haggadah (Figure 3a<\/strong>) similarly shows a group of equestrian knights led by the crowned Pharaoh.\u00a0 Another allusion to contemporaneous politics is similarly made in the colors of one of the shields, which bears the symbols of the House of Leon.[14]<\/a>\u00a0 The presence of the heraldry and monarchical dress visually conflates <\/span>Pharaoh and his soldiers with secular leaders.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Pursuit of the Egyptians. Detail of Figure 4. Manchester, John Rylands Library, Rylands Heb. MS 6, fol. 18v, lower. Copyright of the University of Manchester.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"

Figure 6. Entrada del Castillo Templario de Ponferrada, El Bierzo, 1178. Picture by Jgaray, Wikipedia, https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/2.5\/legalcode , August, 2006.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"

Figure 5. Lancet windows in the Santa Maria de L\u00e9on Cathedral, L\u00e9on, ca. 1205. Photo by Michael Boyles, 2015. Reproduced by permission.<\/p><\/div>\n

Rather than pyramids and nomadic structures, which one might expect in images of Egypt, the architecture in the folios manifest as late Romanesque and early Gothic architecture.\u00a0 For example, the Pharaoh in the top right section of folio 11r from the Golden Haggadah (Figure 2<\/strong>) sits underneath a trefoil pointed arch, supported by columns topped with Corinthian capitals.\u00a0 On the same folio to the left of the aforementioned scene, the Israelites build a structure than includes a double arch trefoil window, such as the window lancets at the Santa Maria de L\u00e9on Cathedral (Figure 5<\/strong>). In the Rylands Haggadah, the Israelites flee from a multi-turreted and crenelated military structure, similar to the twelfth-century castle, Castillo de Ponferrada in Leon\u2014Castile (Figure 6<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

Through the visually anachronistic depiction of medieval clothing and architecture in the Exodus illuminations, the medieval Iberian Haggadah emphasizes the reflection of the current moment through Exodus.\u00a0 While the Haggadah, regardless if it is from the fourteenth or twenty-first century, aids in the retelling of Exodus through its personalization, imagery, and guidance, the hope for freedom expressed in Exodus is applicable to any contemporary era of unrest.<\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

Notes<\/h3>\n

[1]<\/a> Based upon Maimonides’ compilation of Jewish law in the Mishneh Torah, the text <\/span>says: \u201cIn every generation one is obligated to show oneself (l\u2019harot et atzmo<\/em>) as if one has, just at that moment, been released from enslavement in Egypt.” Quoted from:\u00a0 Julie A. Harris, \u201cMaking room at the table: Women, Passover and the Sister Haggadah (London British Library, MS Or. 2884)”, in Journal of Medieval History, <\/em>vol. 42, 1, (2016) 131\u2013153.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> A maggid<\/em> is a person, typically a para-rabbi, who skillfully narrates the Torah and other religious stories. The Maggid<\/em> portion of a Jewish holiday, today, is the narrative re-telling of a part of the Torah.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Marc Michael Epstein, The Medieval Haggadah: Art, Narrative, and Religious Imagination<\/em> (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011), 14.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Ibid, 149.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Library online catalogue entries and digital facsimiles:<\/p>\n