This is a page from a Haggadah that was published in Vienna, Austria in 1929. This colourful Haggadah is written in Hebrew and English.
This picture depicts a story from the Haggadah in which the sages are telling the story of the Exodus throughout the night and don't realise how late it is until their students call them for morning prayers. The Hebrew above the picture is the quote about the story from the Haggadah: "It happened that Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Yehoshua, Rabbi Eleazar son of Azariah, Rabbi Akiva, and Rabbi Tarfon were reclining [at the Pesach Seder] in Bnei Brak. They spoke of the Exodus from Egypt all that night."
The English caption underneath the picture reads "The Sage Rabbis of B'ne Brak and their disciples sitting up during the night of Passover." However, the sages in the picture are not actually the ones mentioned in the Haggadah but are other well-known sages: Maimonides, Rashi, Ba'al HaTurim, Beit Yosef, and Rav Alfasi.
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Seder – Seder night is a special evening on the first night of Pesach (and the second night in the Diaspora). The Seder is often celebrated in large groups and with extended families and involves the telling of the story of the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and their delivery from slavery. The story is detailed in the Haggadah which includes quotes from the biblical narration of the Exodus and from other Jewish sources, many of which are sung using traditional melodies. The Seder includes drinking four cups of wine, eating traditional symbolic foods such as matzah and charoset, and playing games that are directed to helping the children present understand the story. Towards the end of the Seder a festive meal is served, usually with foods that are kosher for Pesach and do not include hametz (leavened foods). The Seder has evolved throughout history, and many new traditions have been added, for example, keeping a seat empty for persecuted Jews, interfaith Seders, and special feminist Seders.
Haggadah - While Jews scattered around the world have adapted to changing times and different places, adopting independent languages and customs, the annual telling of the Haggadah – the story of the Exodus from Egypt– remained unchanged, taking place every year on the eve of Passover eve during the Seder:
And you shall tell your son on that day, saying: It is because of that which the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.
Though this core message persists, the Haggadah itself has evolved, adapting in form and content to local cultures and influences.
Jewish Community of Austria – Jews have lived in Austria since the times of the Roman Empire. In the early Middle Ages Jews were permitted to participate in commerce, but in the fifteenth century all of the community were arrested, murdered, or expelled. Around the beginning of the eighteenth century Jews slowly returned to Austria, and by 1781, when Emperor Joseph II issued the Edict of Tolerance, more than one and a half million Jews were living in the Habsburg Empire. The situation for the Jews improved significantly in the nineteenth century: a chief rabbi served in Vienna, a synagogue was consecrated in 1826, and Emperor Franz Josef granted equal rights to the Jews in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This was also a time of many prominent Austrian Jews including Sigmund Freud, Arnold Schoenberg, Gustav Mahler (who converted to Christianity), and Stefan Zweig. Two Jewish politicians, Victor Adler and Otto Bauer, served as foreign ministers after World War I. The prosperity of Austrian Jews also attracted many Jewish immigrants from eastern parts of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and by the mid 1930s more than 200,000 Jews lived in Austria. However, anti-Semitism also intensified during this time, and young people, such as Adolph Hitler himself, grew up under this anti-Jewish atmosphere. Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938, and around 65,000 Austrian Jews were murdered in death camps during the Holocaust. After the war, the Jewish community was slowly rebuilt. In 2015 approximately 9000 Jews lived in Austria, primarily Vienna; most are of Austrian origin with some originally from the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. The community has a number of synagogues, schools, and other organisations.
