Non-traditional Haggadah with Illustrations, Printed by Stencil. Kibbutz Dafna, 1941 [תש”א]. Original Texts on the Jewish People’s Struggle to Escape the Suffering of Exile. All Pages are Double (Connected at the Edges to Add Thickness). Rare.
The Haggadah opens with original spring songs, including “Tzo’ed VeTzo’ed HaKotzer BeLo Et, ” “Vayehi Miketz Yamim Rabim, ” “Im Yesh Et Nafshecha Lada’at, ” “Ra’inu Amalenu Ke’Amal HaNemalim, ” and others like “Kumu To’ei Midbar” and “Pesach Am Shomer.” Following these is a passage titled “From the Exile to My Brothers in Zion, ” which expresses hope for salvation from exile in Zion, and then “Al Saf Shel Emunah Gedolah, ” an original text that describes the tragedies of the Jewish people in exile and the burning faith in redemption: “Amid rivers of blood and destruction, through waves of hatred and serpentine fury, the boat of Israel was tossed and reached this point. The wrath, hatred, and despair sought to push our souls to the abyss, but we saved them from annihilation and cast the anchor by the shores of this land. We ascended from the dark depths, both within and around us, to sanctify creation and redemptive labor. Around us, the fire of the Jewish people continues to burn among the nations… and we called to our brothers struggling with bitter despair and death in the dark depths: Ascend to life and rise!… Each one will save his brother from destruction on this day…”
Among the illustrations in the Haggadah is one depicting slavery in Egypt, combining an image of a watchtower from a concentration camp.
Dafna is a kibbutz located in the Hula Valley, not far from the Israel-Lebanon border, about 7 kilometers northeast of Kiryat Shmona. The founders of the kibbutz were immigrants from Lithuania, Germany, and Poland who organized into a group within the United Kibbutz Movement and initially settled in Givat Michael near Ness Ziona in 1932. Seven years later, when the group numbered almost 250 people, they prepared to move to their current location in northern Hula Valley. On May 3, 1939, the kibbutz was established as part of the Tower and Stockade campaign and was the first of the Ussishkin Fortresses. Initially called “Ussishkin Fortress A, ” it was later renamed “Dafna, ” after the ancient city that existed in the region during the Hellenistic period.
26 pages. Spine reinforced with glue. Clean and beautiful pages. Good condition.