Arthur Szyk’s Haggadah and the Jews of Lviv

Irvin Ungar

An image from “Family at the Seder,” from the 1935 Haggadah by artist Arthur Szyk (b. 1894, Lodz, Poland—d. 1951, New Canaan, Connecticut). Photo: courtesy Irvin Ungar

This Passover, we are sickened by the degradation, oppression, and murder of Ukrainian civilians at the hand of a hardened, modern pharaoh, as we witness a new exodus of those seeking refuge. We are commanded, then, to enforce the directive of the Haggadah narrative “Let all who are hungry, come and eat,” by feeding the needs of our fellow human beings and being sensitive to their plight.

Arthur Szyk’s Haggadah art of the 1930s speaks directly to the Jews of Lwów (now Lviv, Ukraine, a.k.a. Lemberg), providing a measure of affection and inspiration, awareness and vigilance, in another time of need.

Family at the Seder. Image: “The Haggadah,” Arthur Szyk, 1935.

At the top center of the above image lies the emblem/coat of arms of the Polish city of Lwów. Additionally, on the fluttering ribbon, Szyk inscribed the Latin words Semper Fidelis, meaning “Always Faithful.”

Why did Szyk include this coat of arms in his Haggadah, both to the Jews of Lwów and its local government, at a time when Hitler had come to power in neighboring Germany? The answer: Jews from that city had formed a cooperative to support the artist’s work, and he reciprocated with recognition and appreciation.

The Lwow medallion: Szyk draws iconic images on his chest as a proud Jew and Pole for the cooperative seal. Image: Lwów Medallion, Arthur Szyk, 1933.

Out of this consortium — following a 1936 visit by Szyk to the Lwów home of Herman Horowitz, in which he showed the Haggadah drawings to a group of his fellow citizens — the Beaconsfield Press in London was established for the sole purpose of publishing “The Haggadah.” These Lwów Jews would enable the Lodzer Jew, Arthur Szyk, to declare through his visual Haggadah commentary a heroism in the face of evil during their own day.

The Great Halleil: One of Szyk’s many heroic warriors featured in his Haggadah. Image: “The Haggadah,” Arthur Szyk, 1935.

In honor of one of the easternmost cities in Poland (now a western city of Ukraine), Szyk even considered calling his masterwork The Lemberger Haggadah, in honor of its former name, as witnessed in an unpublished dedication page.

The Yiddish and Polish text there reads: “Wanting to pay tribute to my ancestral homeland, the residence of my forefathers, I dedicate with great devotion and affection this particular Haggadah. And in honor of the notables of the city of Lemberg, who were stimulated by my work, I am calling this book The Lemberger Haggadah.” 

Dedication to the Jews of Lwów page. Image: Arthur Szyk, 1936. Unpublished.

Eventually, two other dedication pages were chosen to be included in the 1940 First Edition, published in London. One was dedicated in English to King George VI, with Szyk identifying himself as an “Illuminator of Poland. A second was dedicated in French, beginning with the words, “I am but a Jew praying in art…” and signed by Szyk as “Imagier d’Israel” — painter of Israel. Still, Szyk never forgot the Jews of Lwów and its city, combining both his Polish and Jewish identities, with the placement of its coat of arms at the beginning of his Haggadah.

While he had numerous, shifting identities during his lifetime, one thing remained the same: Arthur Szyk’s unwavering loyalty and commitment to pursue freedom and justice wherever and whatever the place-name, while enabling us through the spirit of his Haggadah to inspire, uplift and support our brothers and sisters in every age.

Irvin Ungar, a former pulpit rabbi and antiquarian bookseller, has devoted the past quarter-century to scholarship on Arthur Szyk. He has curated and consulted for numerous Szyk museum exhibitions and is the author of “Arthur Szyk: Soldier in Art,” the co-producer of the documentary film, “Soldier in Art: Arthur Szyk,” and the creator and publisher of the luxury limited edition of The Szyk Haggadah. He has also served as the curator of The Arthur Szyk Society in Burlingame, California.

Builders find 2,000-year-old Roman cemetery in Gaza

REUTERS

Men work in a newly discovered Roman cemetery in Gaza, in this handout photo obtained by Reuters, February 17, 2022. / (photo credit: REUTERS)

A 2,000-year-old Roman cemetery containing at least 20 ornately decorated graves has been uncovered near the shoreline in the northern Gaza Strip, with the antiquities ministry calling it the most important local discovery of the past decade.

Gaza is rich with antiquities having been an important trading spot for many civilizations, from as far back as the ancient Egyptians and the Philistines depicted in the Bible, through the Roman empire and the crusades.

Ruins discovered there include the remains of a siege by Alexander the Great as well as a Mongol invasion.

Twenty Roman graves have been located so far and the team expects to unearth 80 in total within the 50-square-meter cemetery. Only two graves have been opened, one contained skeletal remains and some clay jars.

Because of the shape of the graves and the relatively ornate decorations, they likely belonged to “senior ranking people” in the Roman empire during the first century, said Jamal Abu Rida, director-general of Gaza’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

Men work in a newly discovered Roman cemetery in Gaza, in this handout photo obtained by Reuters, February 17, 2022. (credit: REUTERS)

Unlike Muslim graves from later periods that face north to south, the Roman graves lie east to west, he said.

“We have made several discoveries in the past, this is the most important archaeological discovery in the past 10 years,” said Abu Rida.

The area is closed off to journalists and the public while the site is organized and made safe for visitors, the ministry said.

The site, which is being supervised by a French team of experts, was found by a construction crew working on an Egyptian-funded housing project. When they came upon some of the cemetery’s large, ancient bricks, they stopped work and called in the archaeologists.

Gaza is run by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which has fought four wars with Israel since 2008.

The conflict has crippled the local economy and authorities usually engage international groups to help excavate and preserve archaeological findings, said Abu Rida.

Worse Than Wrong: The Danger of Misleading Headlines About Terror Wave in Israel

Gidon Ben-Zvi

Israeli security and medical personnel secure the scene of an attack in which people were killed by a gunman on a main street in Bnei Brak, near Tel Aviv, Israel, March 29, 2022. Photo: Reuters/Nir Elias

Battling media bias begins at the top: the headline.

A shooting on Dizengoff Street in central Tel Aviv on April 7 by a Palestinian assailant that left three people dead and 15 wounded, was the latest attack to roil Israel as part of a terror wave. Thursday night’s was the fourth deadly occurrence in less than three weeks.

Together, 14 people have been killed.

But while Israel tries to defend itself from an onslaught — which is a direct result of incitement by radical Islamist and terrorist elements urging Palestinian youths to murder Jews — news headlines around the world are misleading readers about what’s really going on.

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The problem with ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​these headlines is that they do not convey the true picture, even if they aren’t outright false.

As a result, readers are left unable to fully conceptualize actual events, and may instead be left with inaccurate “impressions.”

Enter our organization, which tackles such “stealth” bias on a daily basis.

For example, an otherwise well-researched and well-written April 6 article published by The Daily Express, originally had this misleading title: “Israel’s Naftali Bennet seeks control of social media to prevent ‘new wave of terrorism.’”

While the piece notes that social media platforms are being used to incite violence against Israelis, the assertion that Jerusalem is seeking to clamp down on all social media use is incorrect.

One can make the case that the headline implied that Israel is sliding towards authoritarianism.

This implication, however, is belied by data.

Israel was recently ranked above Italy, Spain, and the United States in a respected global index of democratic values. The latest edition of the annual Democracy Index from the prestigious Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) gave Israel 7.97 points out of a maximum of ten, just behind France (7.99 points) and Britain (8.1 points).

Even while Israel is being forced to contend with a wave of terrorism, the country remains a modern, Western-orientated, liberal democracy.

After we contacted editors at The Daily Express to clarify this point, the original headline was amended to:

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News From Israel- April 11, 2022

ILTV Israel News

News From Israel- April 10, 2022

ILTV Israel News