The Moss Haggadah (A Song of David Limited Facsimile Edition) with Accompanying Commentary Volume, Rochester: Bet Alpha, 1987

Two volumes: 54 folios + 242 pages (18 x 11 1/2 in.; 458 x 292 mm). Veronese paper

Two volumes: 54 folios + 242 pages (18 x 11 1/2 in.; 458 x 292 mm). facsimile volume: [1], 1-52  [1] ff.; commentary volume:[4], 76 [102], 56 [4] pp. Number 2 of 500 numbered copies (1-500) and 50 artist's copies (I-L). Produced at Stamperia Valdonega of Verona on paper especially created for the edition by Cartiere Fredrigoni of Verona; abundant hot gold foil stamping; printed on a single color press in thirteen colors, requiring multiple impressions (up to 25 per page); cutout sheets shipped to California for precision laser-cutting, then returned to Italy for finishing in Milan by the Recalcati Legatoria, including hand-application of mirrors, and miniature book, seal, and hinged cup. Maroon crushed morocco, panel gilt stamped, gilt stamp titles on spine. Facsimile and commentary volume housed within a cloth-covered slipcase, maroon morocco trim to match facsimile volume.

' A HAGGADAH FOR OUR TIME"

In 1980 Richard and Beatrice Levy commissioned renowned Judaica artist David Moss to create a single hand-written and richly illuminated Haggadah on parchment for their personal collection of Judaica. Moss used the opportunity to create a wide-ranging visual commentary on Jewish history and experience. Using vivid and original metaphors, Moss confronts and illuminates some of the basic themes of Judaism: freedom, the passing on of tradition, persecution and the connection between the Passover story, the diaspora and the Land of Israel.

Each page of Moss’s folio-sized Haggadah makes a visual and intellectual statement that surprises, delights and educates the viewer. Artistically, the work combines a spectacular variety of media: calligraphy, micrography, gouaches, gold leaf, acrylics and paper-cuts. This work accomplishes one of the original goals of the illuminated Haggadah: to stimulate the mind and the interest of the Seder's participants. More than a Haggadah, Moss’s creation evolved into a broadly researched, imaginative and intensely personal reaction to the events of the Exodus and the Passover celebration.

The project consumed three years of Moss’s full-time efforts and required research in libraries and museums on three continents. In 1985, Neil and Sharon Norry saw a photographic copy of the Haggadah and began pursuing the idea of publishing it. The patron of the original haggadah, Richard Levy, agreed to allow Moss to reproduce the work as a facsimile edition and the artist agreed, on the condition that the reproduction be faithful to the original in every respect: size, color, detail and special techniques and special, chemically neutral, paper was created to replace the vellum of the original. An accompanying commentary volume serves as an extraordinary teaching tool and erudite explication of the symbolism of each page of the haggadah, within the broader context of the meaning of Passover.

In 1988, when the New York Public Library mounted what was at the time widely hailed as “the definitive exhibition of the Hebrew book,” A Sign and a Witness. Of the thirteen important and beautiful Haggadah manuscripts exhibited, only one was created after 1717: The Moss Haggadah. Copies of this magnificent work rarely appear in the market and none has ever been recorded at auction.