Obj. ID: 37970
Jewish printed books Haggadah shel Pesach, Kibbutz Merhavia, 1951
This text was prepared by William Gross:
Illustrations by Shraga Weill adorn this Kibbutz Haggadah of Hashomer Hatzair, published just a few years after the founding of the State of Israel.
The celebration of the Passover in the Kibbutzim in the first half century of their existence took on a form different from that of the religious holiday. The holiday was celebrated in various degrees of the regular traditions of the Haggadah, but special prominence was given to the theme of the coming of spring and the honoring of that event. Additional significance was awarded to concepts found in the Haggadah that were central to the early kibbutz pioneers' ideology: national freedom and socialist ideals.
The staggering number of kibbutz Haggadot (an estimated 1,000 different versions) can be attributed to the fact that few were actually printed; most of those produced in the 1930's and 40's were mimeographed in small numbers, to be used in a particular year by a particular kibbutz. These publications often contain striking graphics which were drawn by members of the Kibbutz, many of whose names were not recorded. It was only later that official kibbutz federations published standard versions of the Haggadah for the kibbutz population. Taken together, these kibbutz Haggadot – their revised texts and innovative illustrations - offer a fascinating perspective on this still evolving social movement.
The youth movement Hashomer Hatzair was a crucial component in the establishment and development of the kibbutz movement. Founded in Eastern Europe on the eve of the First World War, Hashomer Hatzair quickly adopted a Zionist ideology, and stressed the need for the Jewish people to normalize their lives by changing their economic structure (as merchants) and becoming workers and farmers, who would settle in the Land of Israel and work the land as "chalutzim". Their commitment to this cause was realized through promotion of settling in Palestine and their establishment of kibbutzim. Hashomer Hatzair kibbutzim were in the forefront of the battle to win the final liberation of Israel.