Chag Pesach Sameach!
Passover 2026
A couple of weeks ago, about 30 Nicolet High School students and teachers visited Special Collections as part of a Hebrew-language class facilitated by UW-Milwaukee. They were introduced to and spent time reviewing numerous Hebrew publications, from state-of-the-art facsimiles of medieval illuminated manuscripts to contemporary Hebrew artists' books.
Passover begins this evening (April 1). Among the works reviewed the students were several Passover Haggadot, including the Barcelona Haggadah (top image) and the Rothschild Haggadah (bottom image). The original illuminated manuscript of the Barcelona Haggadah was produced in Barcelona around 1340, and this facsimile was reproduced from the original manuscript in the British Library in 1992 by Facsimile Editions of London in an edition of 550 copies. The Rothschild Haggadah was originally produced in northern Italy in 1479, and was reproduced by Facsimile Editions in 2000 from the original in a collection of bound manuscripts called the Rothschild Miscellany held at Israel Museum, Jerusalem, and printed in an edition of 400 copies.
The image below is of the students assembled in front of our library, named in honor of Ukrainian-born Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir because she was raised and educated here in Milwaukee before eventually emigrating to Israel.
Happy Passover!
View another post from the Barcelona Haggadah.
View another post from the Rothschild Haggadah.
View more posts from Passovers past.
