Haggadah shel Pesach according to the Customs of the Baghdadi Community of India. Calcutta, 1841
Haggadah shel Pesach based on the customs of the Baghdadi Jewish Community in India with translation into Arabic-Jewish dialect printed by Rabbi Elazar Hakohein Araki.
Includes the famous piyyutim ‘Emunim archu shevach’ and ‘V’Ata ga’alta.’
This is one of the very first Haggadot with translation into Arabic. This Haggadah also includes halachic rulings entitled Pesach Me’Ovin by Hagaon Harav Chaim Ben Benisti of Izmir, author of Knesses Hagedolah.
Page 11b features an illustration of the order of the seder plate based on Harav Chaim Vital’s sefer Eitz Chayim.
The title page features the autograph and acronym of Harav Yitzchak Shlomo Binyamin and his son Ezra.The Haggadah features [13] bound leaves written in Baghdadi Indian script by Harav Ezra recording family events, birthdays and yahrtzeits; and a copy of the Harav Shimshon of Ostropoli’s famous letter upon D’tzach, Adash, B’Achav (see lot 14).
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Jewish Printing Press in India
Rabbi Elazar Araki Hakohein was the first Jewish printer in India. He founded the first Jewish publishing house in Calcutta in 1841, and one of the very first books he printed was the Haggadah shel Pesach presented in this catalogue (Lot 29).
During that same year, another Jewish publishing house opened in Bombay, and among the first books printed there is the present Haggadah shel Pesach printed with Mahratti translation (Lot 30).
Both of these rare Haggadot number among the premier Jewish works published in the Far East.
Jewish Communities of India
Indian Jewry was divided into 3 primary congregations: Bnei Yisrael, Cochin, and Baghdad.
The following items comprise 2 antique Haggadot published in India. The first follows the customs of the Baghdadi Jewish congregation in India and features an Arabic translation. The second follows the customs of Congregation Bnei Israel and includes a Mahratti translation.
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Harav Yitzchak Shlomo Binyamin (1809-1886) was the president of the Jewish community in Basra, Iraq. Pursued by the regional authorities, he fled his native land and settled in Calcutta where he was appointed as one of the community leader, a position he filled for a half-century.
Calcutta, 1841. [3], 49 leaves. Page size: 20 cm. 2 first and 1 last pages printed on light blue paper. Wine stains; wide margins; slight holes in margins. New binding covered with remnants of the original binding.
Otzar Hahaggados 841. Yaari. List of books published in Calcutta 3.
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